श्रीमद् भगवद्गीता

मूल श्लोकः

महाभूतान्यहङ्कारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च।

इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः।।13.6।।

English Commentary By Swami Sivananda

13.6 महाभूतानि the great elements, अहङ्कारः egoism, बुद्धिः intellect, अव्यक्तम् the unmanifested (MulaPrakriti), एव even, च and, इन्द्रियाणि the senses, दश ten, एकम् one, च and, पञ्च five, च and, इन्द्रियगोचराः objects of the senses.

Commentary:
The field and its modifications are described in this verse. The twentyfour principles of the Sankhya school of philosophy are mentioned here.Great elements Earth, water, fire, air and ether are so called because they pervade all modifications of matter. The elements here referred to are the subtle, not the gross ones.Egoism is the cause of the great elements. It is the selfarrogating principle. Intellect is the cause of egoism. The function of the intellect is determination. Buddhi is the faculty of determination. The cause of the intellect is the Unmanifested (which is the undifferentiated energy of the Lord). (Cf.VII.14 Daivi hyesha gunamayi mama maya duratyaya -- This divine illusion of Mine, caused by the alities, is difficult to cross over.) The above Nature is divided eightfold (Cf.VII.4).The ten senses are the five organs of knowledge (ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose), so called because they enable the mind to get knowledge of the external world, and the five organs of action (hands, feet, mouth, anus and the generative organ), so called because they perform actions.The one This is the mind. This is the eleventh sense whose function is thinking and doubting (Sankalpa and Vikalpa).The five objects of the senses are sound, touch, form (colour), taste and smell. These are the fivefol pastures of the senses.All the great elements, egoism, intellect, the senses and mind are all absorbed in the Unmanifested at the time of the cosmic dissolution.Mind is Maya. Mind is Avidya (ignorance). Mind is at the root of all activities. It gives strength to desires, fosters fear and builds castles in the air. It confers force on egoism and stimultates,aspirations. Every tendency has its origin in the mind. It augments passions, gives strength to hope and awakens the sense of duality. It increases ignorance and plunges the senses in the ocean of senseobjects. It creates distinctions and differences. It separates, divides and limits. It is a strong wall or an iron barrier that stands between the individual soul and the Absolute. It is this mind that has brought Brahman to the condition of the individual soul. It is the storehouse of error, cravings, doubt, delusion and ignorance. It is an everrevolving wheel that generates thoughts. It is a miraculous thoughtproducing machine. It creates at one moment. It destroys at the next moment.

English Translation of Abhinavgupta's Sanskrit Commentary By Dr. S. Sankaranarayan

13.6 See Comment under 13.7

English Translation Of Sri Shankaracharya's Sanskrit Commentary By Swami Gambirananda

13.6 Mahabhutani, the great elements: Those elements which are great owing to their pervasion of all midifications, and which are subtle. As for the gross elements, they will be spoken of by the word indriya-gocarah, objects of the senses. Ahankarah, egoism, which is the source of the great elements and consists of the idea of 'I'. Buddhih, intellect, the source of egoism and consisting of the faculty of judgement; ca, and; its cause, the avyaktam eva, Unmanifest itself, the Undifferentiated, the power of God spoken of in, 'Maya of Mine৷৷.difficult to cross' (7.14). The word eva (itself) is used for singling out Prakrti (Nature). The Prakrti divided eightfold [The undifferentiated (avyakta), mahat, egoism and the five uncompunded subtle elements] is this much alone. The word ca (and) is used for joining the various categories. The dasa, ten; indriyani, organs : The five, organs ear etc., which are called sense-organs since they produce perception, and the (other) five organs-organ of speech, hands, etc.-which are called motor-organs since they accomplish actions. They are ten. Ekam ca, and the one-which is that?-the mind, the eleventh, possessed of the power of thinking etc. (see fn. on p. 173). Ca, and; the panca, five; indriya-gacarah, objects of the senses-such objects as sound etc. The followers of the Sankhya call these which are such the twenty-four categories. Thereafter, the Lord now says that even those alities which the Vaisesikas speak of as the attributes of the sould are certainly the attributes of the field, but not of the Knower of the field:

English Translation By Swami Gambirananda

13.6 The great elements, egoism, intellect and the Unmanifest itself; the ten organs and the one, and the five objects of the senses;