THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER TWO
SAMKHYA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE
VERSE NUMBER 68
Text in Transliteration:
tasmaad yasya mahaabaaho nigrrheetaani sarvasah
indriyaanee ‘ndriyaarthebhyas tasya prajnaa pratishtthitaa
Text in English:
Therefore, O mighty-armed, his cognition is well poised, whose
senses are completely restrained from their objects.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:
The very purpose of
being blessed with the senses is defeated if they are not allowed to contact
the objects. That they should be rendered defunct is not the teaching of the
Lord. The deciding factor between good and evil is the attitude with which the
senses are directed on the sense-objects. Perceiving them with covetousness is
sin, while viewing them as objects of adoration is virtue. Gluttony and slavery
to the tongue is sin; eating to keep the body fit for a noble purpose is
virtue. Beholding the body of a person with a lustful eye is sin; viewing it as
the temple of God is virtue. All the five senses can be sublimated and the
sense-objects sanctified in such a way that the divinity alone is contacted in
and through all of them. Sri Ramakrishna perfected his sense of sight so well
that all womenfolk including the street-walker were to him veritable
embodiments of the Divine Mother. Sublimation of the senses was at its zenith
in him. Mastery over the senses in this manner makes one competent to gain
intuitive knowledge of the imperishable. This knowledge once obtained persists
for ever.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:
Blinkers have to be
used in order to break a horse to the rein. Otherwise it will not be tamed. Vulgar
desires have to be done away with in order to obtain the Divine. Purity of
mind, complete sense-control, desirelessness—these divine qualities make one
competent to gain Godhood.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
When the senses are completely controlled, the mind cannot
wander wildly in the sensual grooves. It becomes steady like the lamp in a
windless place. The yogi is now established in the self and his knowledge is
steady. (Cf. III.7 )
Comments by the blogger:
Arjuna is called by the Lord here as mighty armed, not
because he has big hands; but his hands are rock-steady when he aims at an
objet which connotes the steadiness of his mind and power of concentration. Only
his power of concentration gets externalized by the steadiness of his hands as
an archer. So he is called as the mighty armed. Indeed he is mighty-minded. If the
mind which has senses indulge in sense objects with satvic moderation for the
sheer maintenance of the body and soul together, then that man is mightily endowed. Everything
depends on our power of control. Uninhibited pursuit of pleasure through the
five senses leads to bondage. But, some of us come into the world with a
particular trait.
The following is the story of a girl who could not eat
moderately, as told by Sri Paramahansa Yogananda:-
“Her name is Giri Bala,” i informed my companions. “I first
heard about her years ago from...(she lives) in Nawabganj near Ichapur( in
northern Bengal).” With these introduction the author of, “Autobiography of a
Yogi” from page number453, chapter 46, describes the non-eating woman saint’s
story. It goes like this: that Giri
Bala, as a girl had an voracious appetite. He mother used to chide her for her
slavery to her tongue. She also warned her she would suffer much at the hands
of her future mother-in-law! As told by her mother, once Giri Bala was married
she started to have problems at the hands of her mother-in-law for her
voracious appetite and eating much. This became a torture for the little girl. Then
she started to pray to the Lord and soon all her appetite stopped to the extent
of having not to eat or drink anything!
The readers may refer to this chapter in the book of the
incomparable yogi!
So, if some of us are filled with lust, the best way is to
treat the bodies of the opposite sex as the veritable temples of the Lord. If we
can give up smoking or other such harmful habits, we can win our senses by
prayer. Prayer is a powerful machine that never fails to deliver. Likewise praying
for our enemies will boost our inner person and power. And our hatred also
would come to an end!
So, apart from the yogis who have got their yama niyama, dos
and don’ts, the ordinary folks like me can easily curb the senses while
indulging in the sense objects(which is a must for life) can get over the
individual problems through prayer!
Thus whatever is possible for other yogis is possible to the
bhakti yogi or the yogi of devotion. Only we should pray for good and sound
things for us and others, not evil things which will have a harmful effect on
the practitioner and the devotee!
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