Periyava Golden Quotes

The senses pertaining to knowledge or Gnanendriyas create awareness about the objects around us. The eyes see the objects around us. The ear listens to the sounds. The nose identifies the smells. The skin, through touch, is able to pin point the texture of the object placed against it – whether it is smooth or rough. The mouth (tongue) helps us to realize the taste of an object. While these senses help us to identify the objects around us there are those five senses that labor to do new tasks or Karmendriyas. The legs walk; the hands perform certain tasks; there are body parts to flush out wastes like urine and solid waste; the mouth talks.

What do we see here? It is only the mouth which acts as both a sense of knowledge and a sense of work – it can taste and it can talk and laugh. Even when it is a Gnanendriyam, this sense has a lot more work to do than the other senses. It does not confine itself to identifying the taste of the food. It secretes saliva, chews the food and swallows it. (I am including the entire mouth-lips and teeth along with the tongue as one of the senses). Hence the mouth has more work to do than the other senses – it has to taste, in other words eat and talk. Since it has do twice the work of other senses, Parameswara must be of the opinion that both these tasks must be halved. – Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal