“The tenth man counts the other nine, each of whom is visible to him, but forgets himself, though his Self is ever known to him”. Swami Sarvapriyananda expands on the allegory of “the Tenth Man” as taught in Chapter 7 of the book, Pancadasi by Vidyaranya.

This chapter is inspired from a verse from the Brihadharanyaka Upanishad (Mantra 4.4.12):

"If a man knows the Self as ‘I am this,’ then desiring what and for whose sake will he suffer in the wake of the body?"

Mantra 4.4.12:

आत्मानं चेद्विजानीयादयमस्मीति पूरुषः ।

किमिच्छन्कस्य कामाय शरीरमनुसंज्वरेत् ॥ १२