Bhagavatam-daily 189 – 11.10.31 – The more we understand that we are controlled, the more we can break free

Bhagavatam 11, 10 31 gunaha sujanti karmani gunohan sujate gunan jivastu gunasanyukto bhumte karma phalanya saun gunaha sujanti karmani gunaha refers to the senses so the senses impel us to do karma karma refers to pious and impious activities gunohan sujate gunan and gunoh refers to modes of material nature the modes impel the senses to act and jivastu gunasanyukto and the jiva who is entangled with the modes in the senses bhumte karma phalanya saun that jiva enjoys the fruits of one bhumte here refers to not only enjoy which can also refer to suffer basically undergoes the consequences now the point was made earlier about how in the previous text it was said how going to heavens is futile ultimately and then it was also mentioned how going to hell that sinful living entities will go to hell so now the question comes up when the souls move either up or down are the souls free or are they helpless are they spoiled here and there so this verse talks about addresses that issue in a very intriguing way actually it states here that gunohan sujate karmani now if you look at the causal chain we may say that the soul whether the soul is the doer or not the soul is certainly the endurer endurer means the soul has to endure the reactions that means when misery comes upon us we can’t just say somebody else is suffering that we do have to undergo the misery old age, disease, death these come upon us and these are miserable and there are so many other miseries also come in life and they are also miserable the important point is that to recognize the principle that we are all undergoing misery in mortal existence now we have to understand what is the cause of it so it is stated that it is the more which impel us to action so we can all see that sometimes when we see a beautiful sense of object it’s attractive sense of object we feel a pull towards that object we feel pull towards that object so in many times unless people are having some reason to discern and have enough sattva, enough self control to actually restrain themselves people just get dragged by the pull to the sense of object so impelled by the senses we act and the senses are impelled by the modes normally we may say that actually the senses are impelled by the sense of objects but it is not true, the sense of objects are not themselves consciously pulling us yes there is a force which pulls us towards the sense of objects but for example if we are attracted to some gulab jamun the gulab jamun is not a conscious being that is pulling us towards itself now we feel pulled so where is that pull coming from the pull is actually a push which is coming from the modes which are influencing our subtle body, our mind and within the senses just like there is when our subtle body, when our mind is influenced by the mode of passion and we are filled with the enjoy mentality and then we perceive sense of object then a rope we can visualize this as a rope that is thrown between rope of this form that joins the subtle body through the senses to the sense of objects and that rope pulls us towards the sense of object so whether it is a although we sense it as a pull from the sense of object actually it is a push by the modes, the modes actually drag us along the point is whether it is push pull or drag the important point is that we are constrained to act and quite often when we do something uncharacteristic, when we do something unprincipled, something which we would normally not have done and we regret later why did I do that, that time we understand actually I was not a doer, how did I end up doing this and then at such times when we find ourselves dragged into doing things which we had often resolved not to do which were against the principle that we want to hold sacred then we can understand that we are impelled to act so this was that the modes are the doer does it imply that the soul is absorbed of responsibility no, actually the soul is responsible for whatever happens simply because the soul is the supreme being, the soul is the desirer, not the supreme being sorry, soul is under the control of the supreme being, the modes are also under the control of the supreme being and the soul is the desirer the modes are what drag us and it is to the extent that we identify with the kartahamiti manneti as Krishna states in the well known 3.27 prakriti kriyamanani gunai karmani sarvasah ahamkaram modhahatmah kartahamiti mannete Krishna states over there that prakriti kriyamanani actually everything is done by the modes of material nature gunai karmani sarvasah but ahamkaram modhahatmah but because of false ego, the deluded soul thinks kartahamiti mannete, the soul thinks that I am doing things. So now the point is that the modes are doing, does that mean that the soul is not doing? Then if the soul is not doing, why soul has to endure the reactions? Actually we are doing in the sense that we are desiring.
So by the desire we sort of flip the switch which gives the modes the control of us. Just like once we turn on the switch of a television say and we turn on a particular channel and say if it’s dark everywhere only the television screen is light lit, then it’s almost automatic and inevitable that our consciousness will flow to whatever is being displayed on the TV. Similarly, actually our consciousness, similarly once we with our desire flip the switch of the mode, so when we desire something for self-gratification, a desire that is in the mode of passion, then the mode of passion gets switched on and then we get dragged into passion.
So the point of this analysis to say that we are not the doers is not to say that we are exempt from responsibility but to recognize that what we are doing is not what we should be doing, what we are doing is not what is in our best interests and therefore not to get carried away by that, to at least recognize that when we are doing something it is the mode that we are doing and then we disassociate ourselves from them, recognizing oh this rush of passion that has come over me which is making me crave for this sense of object, this is foreign to my nature and therefore I will distance myself from it. So we chant Krishna’s names, we contemplate the philosophy, we beg for Krishna’s mercy and try to extricate ourselves from the forceful push of the modes and in that way we will avoid bhunkte, we will not have to endure karma phalan yasa, we will not have to endure the fruits of the action. So the point of analyzing how we are compelled by the modes through the senses is to distance ourselves from this modes and senses.
So it is to disentangle ourselves from them, to distance ourselves from them and thus come out of their control. So the point of recognizing that we are not in control is to regain control. Of course we can’t regain control as independent controllers, we regain control by surrendering to the supreme control, the supreme law.
That’s why Krishna says that those who surrender to him can cross over illusion.