Chapter III · Śloka 40
इन्द्रियाणि मनो बुद्धिरस्याधिष्ठानमुच्यते ।
एतैर्विमोहयत्येष ज्ञानमावृत्य देहिनम् ॥
एतैर्विमोहयत्येष ज्ञानमावृत्य देहिनम् ॥
indriyāṇi mano buddhir asyādhiṣṭhānam ucyate |
etair vimohayaty eṣa jñānam āvṛtya dehinam ||
etair vimohayaty eṣa jñānam āvṛtya dehinam ||
The senses, the mind, and the intellect are said to be its seat; through these it deludes the embodied one by veiling knowledge.
Desire operates through three progressively subtle instruments — the outward senses, the inner mind, and the discriminating intellect itself — and thus has the capacity to corrupt judgment at every level. When even the buddhi is captured by desire, the last defence of self-knowledge is lost.