Gita 18.38 The pleasure of titillation leads to the agony of tribulation

Transcript

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thank you yoga Krishna in this section is talking about happiness in the three modes and previous verse was about goodness the next verse will be about ignorance this verse is about happiness in the mode of passion and he speaks that happiness which comes by the contact of the senses with the sense objects and which tastes like nectar in the beginning but in the end it turns out to be like poison that is known as happiness in the mode of passion now why does it turn out to be like poison in the end primarily because the happiness is temporary Krishna has hinted at this earlier also when he said this area by the contact of the senses with the sense objects when we work to try to get some pleasure then that pleasure soon ends that pleasure ends because the sense objects themselves are available in a finite quantity their capacity to give pleasure is finite even if they are available in finite quantity and even if their capacity were unlimited still our capacity to enjoy that pleasure remains limited consider eating for example sometimes delicious items are there in the menu in a feast but they are available only in a finite quantity and even if we suppose were in a feast where say the desserts cookies or the cake or whatever were available in an infinite quantity still that wouldn’t mean that we would be able to eat it somehow we managed to get as much as we desired as many helpings as we wanted but after sometime our body’s capacity to eat gets exhausted we can’t eat anymore and then usually when people stop sense indulgence it is not because their desire is satisfied but because their capacity is exhausted so the craving is never satisfied it is the capacity that is exhausted and that’s why we stop when we stop it is not with satisfaction but it is with we would like more but we can’t do more therefore for us it is vital that we move onwards in our spiritual journey recognizing the nature of material pleasure and that it cannot give us satisfaction and only with frustration and of course somebody may say no I can enjoy again and I can get that pleasure again ok I can’t eat right now but in my next meal I’ll eat and then I’ll enjoy yes that’s possible but in between we can’t just stay peaceful with every indulgence the craving becomes stronger and stronger till it’s almost impossible to get rid of the craving it’s almost impossible to live peacefully because the craving keeps tormenting us so shochati and kankshati craving craving craving that agitates us when it’s over lamenting it’s over that agitates us more often than not even at a physical level sensual indulgence especially sensual indulgence when we do it for the sake of getting pleasure it has counterproductive consequences we may end up feeling frustrated exhausted we may get sick people who drink too much they get liver problems people who eat too much may get obesity and a whole variety of issues people who have indiscriminate sex may end up with a variety of nasty painful sexually transmitted diseases dukkha yonaya evate the poison is unavoidable no matter what we do and understanding this the wise person does not indulge in it somebody may say no there are people who have been enjoying for years and they have not got any reaction they are enjoying and enjoying so then we have to understand that their enjoyment is still temporary they may be going through some phase of good karma by which they are meant to be insulated from suffering and thus whatever happens to them they continue on with their good karma so whatever they do they don’t get any reaction at that time but that phase of good karma is not going to last forever everything in life is temporary so the good karma will end and then the bad karma the reaction is going to come so the result may come immediately or the result may come later but to be sure the poison is going to be there some drink is a poison drink it’s very very bitter, it’s very very foul, it’s very very toxic but if it were covered with a layer of sweet juice on top now that layer of sweet juice may be brief or it may be thin or it may be little bigger but as compared to totality of the drink it is very small suppose we have a huge water tank and in that water tank it’s filled with poison but at the top there is nectar now because that water tank is huge it may appear that the tank the nectar is also huge but still it is finite primarily it is a poison tank and we could say that with a glass we will just drink the top nectar and then we will not drink the poison but it’s not like that with respect to sensual indulgence because the action-reaction come together as a set which is separated only by time but it is not separated otherwise it is distanced only by time but can never be separated to an action the reaction will be there and ultimately from the spiritual perspective the most damaging reaction is the reaction that on our consciousness that the more we become materially infatuated the more we become spiritually deaded and the more we become incapable of even appreciating life’s spiritual dimension leave alone relishing spiritual happiness we will not be able to focus on Krishna or absorb ourselves in Krishna and that deprivation of eternal spiritual happiness is the greatest danger the greatest loss caused by material infatuation that is the vishwa which makes us stay bereaved of Krishna’s joy of loving Krishna and makes us stay within this material existence suffering the distresses of old age, disease, death and rebirth that’s why wise people do not delight in this pleasure Thank you