Bhagavad Gita 3.42

indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur

indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ

manasas tu parā buddhir

yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ

 

“The senses are powerful, the scriptures say,

Beyond them, the mind holds greater sway.

Higher than mind is reason’s might,

Yet beyond them all shines the soul’s true light.”

 

My dear Lord, in my war against temptation, please let me be on guard to ensure that the inner enemy doesn’t penetrate to the top levels of my inner defence establishment and destroy me with an inside-out top-down sabotage. My mind is higher than my senses in my defence establishment because it can  fabricate graphic sensual fantasies that can impel me to violate my sensory boundaries from within. That is like a person inside the defending territory opening the gates for the enemy to come in. Bless me, O Lord, to keep my mind absorbed in you, leaving it no idle time for sensual fantasizing. 

Higher in my inner defence establishment than the mind is the intelligence, because its rationalizations can end up perverting my sense perceptions. That is like the top military commander convincing the boundary guards that the invaders are friends. Bless me, O Lord, so that my intelligence is guided and guarded by your words of wisdom. Beyond intelligence is the soul itself, which is the source of my consciousness and free will. Bless me, O Lord, to activate my soul with spiritual desires—to realize its divinity as a part of you and to relish spiritual happiness in connection with you. And bless me, my Lord, to ensure that all subordinate faculties—intelligence, mind, and senses—align harmoniously with the soul’s healthy intention.

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03.42 The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.