Sense Organs

Pancha Jnanendriya: Ministers of the Soul

You may not know us, but we exist in your minute moves every millisecond or maybe less. Without any one of us, you have been physically challenged which in turn affects your life.

 

We are the Pancha jnanendriyas, the five means of perceiving, or the sensory organs. The term comes from the Sanskrit, Pancha, meaning “five”; jnana, meaning “awareness” or “higher knowledge”; and indriya, meaning “sense” or “organ.” We are known as the sense organs that allow you, the humans, to perceive the world around you.

 

The Pancha jnanendriyas include the eyes (netra), nose (nasika), ears (karna), tongue (rasana) and skin (tvak). We are related to, but differ from, the five senses, known as the Pancha Tanmatra: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch.

 

In your daily life, we play an immensely pivotal role. In any situation you face, to comprehend it and act accordingly you need us. We are the regulators of your actions and reactions and most of all the functioning of your cerebrum. If we didn't exist, the cerebrum would have been idle just like the lazy boy next door without a job.

 

 

Darshanendriya (The Eyes)

 

We, the 'Eyes', are organs of the visual system. We provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enable several photo response functions that are independent of vision. We detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons.

By collecting light from the visible world around us, we convert it into nerve impulses. The optic nerve transmits these signals to the brain, which forms an image, thereby providing sight.

 

Our structures and functions are complex. A pair makes us One. Each of us constantly adjusts the amount of light it lets in, focuses on objects near and far, and produces continuous images that are instantly transmitted to the brain.

 

Our Virtues and Vices!

 

HOW MANY COLORS CAN HUMANS SEE?

Researchers estimate that most humans can see around one million different colours. This is because a healthy human eye has three types of cone cells, each of which can register about 100 different colour shades, amounting to around a million combinations.

 

WHAT'S THE VA RATING FOR EYES?

All diseases of the eye are rated under VA Schedule 38 CFR 4.79. Diseases of the eye or eye conditions may be assigned readings from 10% to 60% except for blindness, which may carry a rating of 100% depending on the full circumstances of the Veteran and any related disabilities.

 

Ghranendriya (The Nose)

 

I, the human nose, am the most protruding part of the face. I consist of the nostrils and am the first organ of the respiratory system. I allow the air to enter your body, then filter the debris and warm and moisten the air. I have two cavities, separated from one another by a wall of cartilage called the septum. The external openings are known as nares or nostrils. I give you a sense of smell and help shape your appearance.

 

Your nose is important to your health as it filters the air you breathe, removing dust, germs, and irritants. It warms and moistens the air to keep your lungs and tubes that lead to them from drying out. Your nose also contains the nerve cells that help your sense of smell.

 

 

Setting the Beauty Standards!

 

WHAT IS A BEAUTIFUL NOSE?

In Western culture, a beautiful nose is relatively small, straight along the bridge, with small nostrils that are neither flared nor pinched. The tip of the nose neither dips too far down nor projects too far outward or upward.

 

WHO HAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NOSE?

Science Says Kate Middleton and Scarlett Johansson Have Perfect Noses. Here's How You Can Tell. A new study published in the JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery journal has found that when measured from the lip up, the angle of the upturn of the nose is found as most attractive by both men and women at 106 degrees.

 

CAN YOU LIVE WITHOUT A NOSE?

Without the nose, the body wouldn't be able to taste food nearly as well. What humans call “taste” is a mixture of different sensations. One of the sensations is the smell. When food is eaten, the nose smells the food and sends information to the mouth in a process called olfactory referral.

 

WHAT IS THE RAREST NOSE SHAPE?

Nose 14: The Anonymous

The rarest of all the nose types, this flat, rounded shape was found in only one face out of 1793 considered - 0.05 per cent of the population. For this reason, the study author says there are no important figures to represent this nose.

 

WHY DO WE HAVE 2 NOSTRILS?

Two eyes, two ears, two nostrils. We need our doubles for stereoscopic vision, stereo sound, and super smelling. Our nostrils are separated by a septum, in effect giving us two noses. Most of the time, one nostril allows less air to pass through than the other, with the nasal flow switching every few hours.

 

 

Sravanendriya (The Ears)

 

We are the ears, the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, we are usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear.

We, the human ears, organ of hearing and equilibrium that detects and analyzes sound by transduction (or the conversion of sound waves into electrochemical impulses) and maintains the sense of balance (equilibrium), are located on either side of the head, directly over the temporal lobe of the brain. This is the part of the brain that controls speech, hearing, memory, and some emotion.

 

Hearing how it sounds!

 

HOW DO EARS WORK?

IEM's work using wireless technology (via radio frequencies – high frequencies), much in the same way a radio stereo works. An audio signal (monitor mix) is sent from the sound desk to the transmitter. This transmitter then sends the signal wirelessly via an antenna to the belt pack receiver that the artist wears.

 

Swadendriya (The Tongue)

 

I am the tongue, a mobile muscular organ in the mouth that partly extends into the upper throat. Even though everyone knows what the tongue is, my complexities in the mouth might be surprising.

I am covered with moist, pink tissue called the mucosa. Tiny bumps called papillae to give me my rough texture. Thousands of taste buds cover the surfaces of the papillae.

 

I am very helpful and important for eating, taste, speech, and breathing.

 

Licking in some facts!

 

DO HUMANS HAVE 2 TONGUES?

A major function of the tongue is the enabling of speech in humans and vocalization in other animals. The human tongue is divided into two parts, an oral part at the front and a pharyngeal part at the back.

 

WHERE DO TONGUES END?

 

The apex of the tongue is the bit at the end that makes contact with the teeth. Linguists studying articulation often discriminate between the apex and the blade of the tongue—essentially, while the apex is the very tip of the tongue, the blade of the tongue is the teeth-facing region just before the apex.

 

HOW LONG IS YOUR TONGUE IN YOUR BODY?

The average tongue is about 3 inches long. Tongues are measured from the epiglottis (a flap of cartilage in the mouth at the back of the tongue) to the tip. An adult man's average tongue length is 3.3 inches (8.5 cm), and an adult woman's average tongue length is 3.1 inches (7.9 cm).

  

Sparshendriya (The Skin)

 

Me, the skin is the outer covering of the body and is the largest organ of the integumentary system, made of water, protein, fats and minerals. I protect your body from germs and regulate body temperature. The nerves that run through me help you feel sensations like hot and cold.

I have up to seven layers of ectodermal tissue guarding muscles, bones, ligaments and internal organs of your body.

I provide a protective barrier against mechanical, thermal and physical injury and hazardous substances. I also prevent loss of moisture and reduce the harmful effects of UV radiation.

 

Touching the core to knowledge!

 

IS SKIN A TISSUE OR ORGAN?

The skin is the largest organ in the body — both in weight and in surface area — and separates the body's internal environment from the external environment. The skin has many diverse roles.

 

WHAT ARE THE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE SKIN?

Protection: It helps prevent the body from drying out and the sun's radiation.

Body temperature regulation

Excretion: Release sweat through the sweat glands.

Information gathering: A receptor that transmits it to the nervous system.

Vitamin D production

 

IS SKIN MADE OF WATER?

The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.

 

HOW STRONG IS SKIN?

The maximum tensile strength (0.871-1.169 Newton) and energy calculations (3.75-6.432 N.mm) was offered by living skin equivalents, made with human types I and III collagens, cultured at the air-liquid interface.

By now you all have known us, the sensory organs very well. So, we can expect that you will take good care of us. We are a part of you and we hope to get that respect that we deserve. After all, we are the ministers of your soul and bring out the very essence of your stance on anything and everything, isn't it?

  (By Koyena Chatterjee, Senior Editor, Editorial Department, Adolescence Development Club)