Word Of The Day: panch Kirsaanaa

Theme for the Week:
Aristotle, the great Greek Philosopher and fine scientist (384 – 322 BC) is credited with the traditional classification of the five sensory organs in human beings – eyes, ears, tongue, skin and nose. We see with our eyes, we smell with our nose, we hear with our ears, we taste with our tongue, and we touch with our skin.

Our brain receives signals from each of these organs, and interprets them to give us a sense of what’s happening around us. The corresponding five senses – sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch – are the five main tools that humans use to perceive the world.

Our senses allow us to learn, to protect ourselves, to enjoy our world, and also to indulge excessively in it (its temptations and snares). The mind makes our sensory organs run blindly to satiate its own traits, tendencies and desires. The mind too constantly runs around, which explains why it is so difficult to bring it under control. When it is out of control, this creates havoc in our life and strays us from the path of moderation.

To explain the roles and behaviour of the senses vividly, various metaphors are used in Gurbani. Through this set of five words and verses we shall learn about some fascinating metaphoric references made about the five senses.

??? ??????? (pa?ch kirsaanaa)
Meaning: noun: Five farmers, farm-hands.

Quote:
???? ???? �??? ?? ???? � ???? ??? ????????
dehee gaavaa �jeeu dhar mahtau�� basahi pa?ch kirsaanaa.
The body is a village, the mind is the owner of its land, and five farm-hands live there.
– Bhagat Kabeer, Guru Granth Sahib, Page 1140

Message: Imagine you are the manager of a company and some people work under you, but none of them obey your instructions. When asked, they give excuses and construct clever arguments. You will end up losing not only your staff�s respect but also the business.

Likewise, our body is like a village, and the mind is like the owner of its land. The five sensory organs, our eyes, nose, ears, tongue and skin are like the five farm-hands (workers) who live there and work for the owner, the mind. But they don�t heed the call of the mind. They have gone out of the mind�s control and instead of planting crops like rice etc, they are destroying them.

If the mind controls the five senses, then the senses will plant the right crops and give the mind a good harvest. Meaning, if we control our senses and perform the right actions, we will reap the right rewards too. We will have good results in our life. We will make ourselves and others happy too.

Keen to Explore Further?
Etymology: From Sanskrit krishaa? (ploughing) ? Punjabi/Hindi kisaa? (farmer, field labourer).