Can people change their habits without practicing bhakti-yoga?
So, is it possible for people who are non-devotees to change themselves, especially when Krishna Arjuna says that I am forced to act in particular ways. What is it that is forcing me to act? So, now here, in the Bhagavad Gita, there are two different things which Krishna talks about.
So, if we look at 3.34, Krishna says that nigraha kim karishyasi, what can repression accomplish? Which seems to indicate that Arjuna should just act without trying to repress himself. That is actually 3.33, nigraha kim karishyati. But then, if we see immediately after that, the section of 3.36 to 43 talks about lust and how to control lust.
And Krishna repeatedly says, tasmatam niyamyam adam, in the beginning itself control lust. And in this way, that is 3.41, then 3.43 says in this way, jahishatru mahabaho, conquer over this lust. let me complete this.
So, here when Krishna is talking, he is not saying what will repression accomplish. He is saying control it. Control it in the beginning with the senses, then conquer it by rising to the spiritual platform.
So, there are two different things which are being talked about. One is one's own swabhava, which broadly can be classified in terms of brahman, kshatriya, vaisya, shudra, which cannot be repressed. But, lust, anger, greed are anarthas, which need to be regulated.
Everyone needs to regulate them. So, nobody can say that, you know, I steal, I do shoplifting, because that's what I feel driven to do. No, that is something which we can control.
So, the anarthas, in terms of, that means, within us, there are certain anarthas, which are lust, anger, greed, which we can call technically as vasanas. They are very strong, irrational, and often anti-dharmic passions. Whereas, we have our psychophysical nature, which is like our swabhava.
And the swabhava cannot be changed. So, for example, if somebody is a short-tempered person, now, relatively speaking, a person who is brahmanical will be much more mild-mannered. A person who is kshatriya will be much more assertive and aggressive.
But even within this, there are variations. Some kshatriyas will not just be aggressive, they may be even brutal. So, some other kshatriyas may be, like we see the difference between, even among the Pandavas, between Bhima and Yudhishthira.
Bhima is very much like a kshatriya-kshatriya, whereas, Yudhishthira is almost like a brahman-kshatriya. So, there can be ranges within that also. So, now, Bhima is often told to curtail his anger.
So, anger, relatively speaking, will be more in kshatriyas than in brahmanas. Brahmanas are almost always enjoying to forgive. So, there will be range, which is like an acceptable range for each swabhava.
And, the idea is that decreasing the negative extremes is possible. So, a kshatriya who is very short-tempered can relatively become more even-headed. But, a kshatriya cannot become temperamentally like a forgiving brahmana.
So, that means, there are ranges of changes which are possible. And, not only possible, often they are desirable and essential. So, but, a brahmana, even physically, is not a very hefty-bodied person.
So, a brahmana cannot really fight in physical wars very fiercely. So, that is a physical build which can't be changed. Similarly, there is a mental build which may not be so easy to change.
So, the important point to recognize is that the swabhava is something which Krishna says which we cannot change. But, the vasanas which we have, lust, anger, greed, they can be changed. Or, in terms of cricket, say, there may be some batsman who is very talented.
The batsman can hit any shot from anywhere and brilliant technique, brilliant class. But, that batsman is very temperamental, gets angry, gets upset, and just gets deflated sometimes, gets worked up sometimes. Now, that temperament can be changed.
Now, and by changing the temperament, the person can improve one's performance. There can be another batsman who is not all that talented, but that person is a very even, has a very good steady temperament, very strong steady temperament. And they can perform better.
So, there is, so what we are talking about is, basic talent, you could, in this example, basic talent is like the subhava, which cannot really be changed. You know, some people can just do mathematics, some mathematical geniuses, they can multiply 13 digit numbers in their mind. Now, we can't, no matter what we do, we can't do that.
So, that talent, if I try to, I may, by doing mathematics diligently, I can definitely improve my capacity. But, I cannot become as talented as, say, a mathematical genius. But, so what, so this, I am comparing talent with subhava, and temperament with vasana.
So, just as any batsman cannot develop magical talent, but any batsman can improve their temperament. So, similarly, the Gita says that we cannot change our, we may not be, we can't change our subhava. But, our vasanas, we can and should change them, we should discipline them.
So, by disciplining them, we can move onwards towards Krishna more steadily. Or, towards success even in our worldly life, in worldly life, more steadily. So, the initiative for changing ourselves rests primarily with us.
Now, even Krishna cannot change us if we don't want to change. And that is demonstrated with Krishna going as Shanti Duta and Duryodhana's obstinately rejecting Krishna's peace initiative. So, we can change by our own accord, but it will be slow.
The magnitude of the change, the speed of the change, and the longevity of the change, all these three will increase. Yeah, if we are practicing bhakti yoga, then by Krishna's mercy, we can do it much faster. But, without bhakti yoga, it is possible because people can individually, they might be acting in the Rajoguna, but they can choose to act in Satvaguna.
So, simple, small, small things, if people make changes, say, you know, somebody has a habit of sleeping too much, then just by having an alarm clock, and diligently having an alarm clock, they can cut down their sleep. There is no guarantee of that. They can just switch off the alarm clock and not and continue to sleep.
But, by having an alarm clock, by setting an alarm clock, relatively speaking, they can make changes. So, now this, it is all a little subtle. So, by their Tamoguna, they may want to sleep 8 hours.
By putting an alarm clock, they may sleep for 7 hours. Yeah, or it may be that they may overall adjust their lifestyle and they may manage to change themselves. Or they may not, that change may not last for long.
All that will depend on their determination. And without the determination, even devotees may try to improve themselves and they may not sustain themselves. So, it is like, it is like, say, somebody tries to pedal on a cycle and move onwards.
And somebody else is riding a cycle, but they catch hold of a truck which is moving fast from behind. And the truck propels them forward. So, they still have to stay upright on the cycle.
And they still have to hold on to the truck. So, practicing Krishna Bhakti is like holding on to the truck and moving fast, very fast, moving forward very fast, whereas trying to improve oneself without Bhakti is like just propelling oneself by one's own paddles. It is much more difficult.
But relatively speaking, it is possible with board because the onus for change primarily rests on the soul.