Verses on Sāṃkhya 36.3

36.3

sāntaḥkaraṇā antaḥkaraṇe ahaṃmanasī tābhyāṃ saha vartate yā buddhiḥ sā tathoktā | sā buddhiḥ sarvaṃ viṣayaṃ niravaśeṣaṃ triṣv api kāleṣu yasmād avagāhate vyāpnoti gṛhṇāti śabdādyaṃ pañcavidhaṃ tasmād eva tanmanobuddhyahaṅkāralakṣaṇaṃ trividham eva karaṇaṃ sādhanaṃ, kriyate 'nenetikṛtvā | śeṣāṇi punaḥ dvāri bāhye yāni buddhikarmendriyatayā pratītāni śrotravākprabhṛtīni daśa tāni tasyā eva mano'haṅkārayuktāyā buddher viṣayagrahaṇāya dvārāṇi pratīkāny eva na tu karaṇatayā sānvayāni | tathā etair daśabhir dvāraiḥ sāntaḥkaraṇā buddhir eva viṣayān gṛhṇātīti trividham eva karaṇam ity arthaḥ //

"Along with the internal instruments": intellect that exists together with the two internal instruments, egoity and mind, is so described. Since that intellect dives into—pervades, grasps—every object without remainder in all three times, namely the fivefold [domain of] sound and the rest, therefore this threefold instrument alone, characterized by mind, intellect, and egoity, is the means, because it is that through which [action] is done. The rest, on the other hand, known as the ten external sensory faculties and action faculties—ear, voice, and so forth—are the gates for the intellect, which is endowed with mind and egoity, at the gatekeeper, for the purpose of grasping objects; they are merely portals, not intrinsically instruments. Thus, intellect alone, along with the internal instruments, grasps objects through these ten gates; therefore, the instrument is threefold alone; this is the meaning.