The verse names where the enemy is encamped. "The indriyas, the manas, the buddhi — these are said to be its adhishthana. Through these, kama deludes the dehin, having veiled jnana." Three concentric stations. Outermost: the indriyas — the senses. Middle: the manas — the inner instrument that processes sense-data. Innermost: the buddhi — the discriminating intellect. Kama occupies all three. From the indriyas it sends out the seeking-toward-objects; in the manas it generates samkalpa, the volition that pictures the object as desirable; in the buddhi it produces adhyavasaya, the conviction that this object will satisfy. Each layer reinforces the others.
Madhva gives the military reading: knowing the enemy's adhishthana — its garrison — is the prerequisite for hritadhishthana, dislodging the enemy from that base. Once kama is dislodged from the buddhi, it cannot reach the manas; once dislodged from the manas, it cannot reach the indriyas; once dislodged from the indriyas, the practitioner walks unobstructed.
Madhusudana gives the most granular anatomy: indriyas include both jnanendriyas (eye, ear, etc., apprehending sound, touch, form, taste, smell) and karma-indriyas (speech, hands, feet, excretory organs). The covering is total when all three layers are seized. The verb vimohayati — deludes — names the result. The dehin is not destroyed by kama; he is moh-ed, fogged, made unable to see what he otherwise could see. The verse is a mapping of the territory before the strategy. The next verse names how to begin the dislodgement.