Verse 28: What do the objects-of-sense do?

śabdadiṣu pañcānām ālocana-mātram-iṣyate vṛttiḥ |
vacana-ādāna-viharaṇa-utsarga-ānandāḥ ca pañcānām ||

pañca – five
ālocana – perceiving/beholding/observing
vṛtti – fluctuations

vacana – speaking
ādāna – grasping/handling
viharaṇa – moving
utsarga – elimination/excretion
ānanda – pleasure/procreation

Five of them perceive specific kinds of objects and five are active.

  1. The five knowing objects-of-sense perceive. Each object-of-sense reacts to only a specific kind of object and not other kinds of objects (see verse 26). For example, the eye observes form but not smell or taste.
  2. The functions of the five action of objects-of-sense are speaking, handling, walking, excretion and procreation.

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