02.62-63: A tiny crack, a mighty crash
02.62-63: A tiny crack, a mighty crash
A tiny crack in a dam is not a tiny thing. The massive pressure of all the dam water forces the crack to enlarge till one deathly day the whole dam crumbles with a mighty crash and results in a colossal disaster. It all began with a tiny reparable crack that could and should have been repaired.
The same principle applies to our spiritual lives. The spiritual philosophy and devotional culture of Krishna consciousness build in our consciousness a dam to check the water of our passions. This dam serves two purposes:
- Checks our passions from flowing imprudently or immorally
- Redirects those passions toward purifying and fulfilling devotional engagements
For our steady spiritual advancement this dam is indispensable. But during our spiritual advancement it is not impenetrable. Cracks tend to form in it due to either our past conditionings or our present circumstances or a combination of both. These cracks impel us to re-contemplate the immoral pleasures that we had resolved to reject. The more we contemplate on those indulgences, the more our passions start flowing through the cracks. As the cracks enlarge due to this flow, more passions start flowing, thereby unleashing a fatal cycle that terminates in a mighty crash. As the entire dam collapses, our passions propel us to immoral, even bestial, actions that can defile our devotional integrity, wreck our sacred relationships and ruin our entire life.
The Bhagavad-gita (2.62–63) gives a graphic analysis of this scary spiral from the tiny crack of contemplation to the mighty crash of depravation.
It all begins with a tiny reparable crack, a minor temptation that can and should be resisted.
If we can just convince ourselves that a tiny crack is not a tiny thing, we can save ourselves tons of trouble.