Bhagavatam-daily 304 – 11.13.37 – Austerity is meant not to torment the body but to transcend the body

Thank you so here Krishna is explaining how a self-realized person should live within the body he is explaining in the previous text he has given the example of how an intoxicated person is not aware whether I am wearing the dress or not so similarly a self-realized person doesn’t care whether one has a material body or not that theme can lead to misunderstanding that not caring for the body doesn’t mean that deliberately neglecting or torturing the body as in starving it or in doing self-flagellation self-flagellation is sometimes people whip themselves as a gesture of a tote so is that tote Krishna is recommending? no not at all he explains that that this body we have got and it will continue to be with us as long as our karma is there as long as the karma doesn’t run out we have to live in the body and we can’t and shouldn’t prematurely damage or destroy it so the point of not caring for the body simply means not letting oneself be infatuated by it not letting oneself be be carried away by the promises of bodily pleasure that come into our consciousness because of the body-mind complex now when we live in the body at that time the bodily consciousness at one level can manifest in using the body as a tool for our enjoyment but bodily consciousness can also manifest in using the body as a tool for self mortification there is self gratification or self gratification as the word commonly is used where we try to indulge in pleasures with the body but the same bodily consciousness can in a perverse way manifest in tormenting the body now as devotees when we do austerities the point of the austerity is not to torment the body the point of austerity is to minimize the distractions from focusing our consciousness on Krishna so for example when we fast on certain days now it is difficult if you are not habituated to fasting then it can be difficult it can be painful also but our purpose is to minimize the distractions involved in preparing for the body’s needs in cooking food, arranging for food and then eating food so we want to minimize the whole distraction all those distractions and focus on Krishna and it is for that purpose that we neglect or reject that we fast now if someone else is going through so much pain I am going through so much pain and somehow normally we get pleasure in pleasing the body in giving the body pleasant sensations but sometimes in Tamoguna a person can get a perverse sense of pleasure by causing pain to oneself there are even perverse forms of sexuality where some people get sexual pleasure by whipping and other forms of things like that the point is that in the condition stage the soul can be so deluded that sometimes pain can also seem to be a source of pleasure this is Tamasic this is not at all transcendental Krishna talks about in the 17th chapter when austerity is done simply for the sake of karashayantah sharirastham when it ends up simply torturing the body bhutadramam machetasah mam chaiva that is torturing the body and I also feel distressed to see why is this person going through so much distress unnecessarily so such pain Krishna says is actually undesirable and now the such people are asuras and one shouldn’t get carried away by this kind of austerity Krishna is not at all recommending that so just as bodily gratification is a result of bodily consciousness similarly bodily mortification can also be a result of bodily consciousness and this bodily mortification doesn’t usually lead to purification it is when we fast, when we do austerity there is a certain amount of bodily mortification involved but that bodily mortification is primarily for the purpose of pleasing for the purpose of intensifying absorption in Krishna and thereby pleasing him so as sadhakas we focus even when we are in the body our focus is Krishna and serving Krishna and we see the body neither as a thing for gratification nor a thing for mortification but we see it as a thing for utilization the body can also be used in Krishna’s service in fact when we are in the material world a substantial amount of our services are done through the body and if we do not have the body that means if our body is not functioning properly then many of our services get interrupted so we do need to take care of the body and we take care of it with the understanding that this is Krishna’s gift to us and by using it properly we are rendering service to Krishna because we are using we are taking care of what Krishna has given in our care and with that vision of seeing things in connection with Krishna seeing even the body and the body’s maintenance in connection with Krishna we can avoid entanglement at a preliminary level we can see that if we are in bodily consciousness then also we can see yes I need to maintain the body and it is Krishna who is providing for the maintenance of the body so that is one level of God consciousness where we think it is my body and it is my life but for maintaining it I need Krishna’s help and that is why I am grateful to Krishna but for a devotee they appreciate a much deeper level of consciousness a devotee understands that I belong to Krishna my body belongs to Krishna and Krishna has given me this body so that I can render service to him so let me take care of the body as a tool so that I can serve him

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Shrimad Bhagavatam, 11.13.37 So here, Krishna is explaining how a self-realized person should live within the body. In the previous text, he has given the example of how an intoxicated person is not aware whether I am wearing a dress or not. So, similarly, a self-realized person doesn't care whether one has a material body or not.

Now that theme can lead to misunderstanding that not caring for the body doesn't mean that deliberately neglecting or torturing the body as in starving it or in doing self-flagellation sometimes some people whip themselves as a gesture of a tort. So is that tort Krishna is recommending? No, not at all. He explains that that this body is God and it will continue to be with us as long as our karma is there.

As long as the karma doesn't run out, we have to live in the body and we can't and shouldn't prematurely destroy it. So, the point of not caring for the body simply means not letting oneself be infatuated by it. Not letting oneself be carried away by the promises of bodily pleasure that come into our consciousness because of the body-mind complex.

Now, when we live in the body, at that time the bodily consciousness at one level can manifest in using the body as a tool for our enjoyment but bodily consciousness can also manifest in using the body as a tool for self-mortification. No, there is self-gratification or self-gratification as the word commonly is used where we try to indulge in pleasures with the body. But the same bodily consciousness can in a perverse way manifest in in tormenting the body.

Now, as devotees when we do austerities the point of the austerity is not to torment the body. The point of austerity is to minimize the distractions from focusing our consciousness on Krishna. So, for example, when we fast on certain days now it is the if you are not habituated to fasting then it can be difficult.

It can be painful also. But our purpose is to minimize the distractions involved in preparing for the body's needs in cooking food, arranging for food and then eating food. So, we want to minimize the whole distraction and focus on Krishna.

And it is for that purpose that we neglect or reject that we fast. So, now if someone else says, Oh, I am going through so much pain. I am going through so much pain.

And somehow normally we get we get pleasure in pleasing the body. In giving the body pleasant sensations. But sometimes in Tama Guna a person can get a perverse sense of pleasure by causing pain to oneself.

There are even there are even perverse forms of sexuality where some people get sexual pleasure by whipping and other forms of things like that. The point is that in the condition stage the soul can be so deluded that sometimes pain can also seem to be a source of pleasure. This is Tamasic.

This is not at all transcendental. Krishna talks about in the 17th chapter when austerity is done simply for the sake of karshayantah sharirastham when it ends up simply torturing the body. bhutadramam machetasah maam chaivam that I am present in the body and I also feel disturbed to see why is this person going through so much distress unnecessarily.

So such pain Krishna says is actually undesirable. now the he calls talvidhya asura nishchana such people are asuras and one shouldn't get carried away by this kind of austerity. Krishna is not at all recommending that.

So this tells bodily gratification is is a result of bodily consciousness. Similarly bodily mortification can also be a result of bodily consciousness. And this bodily mortification doesn't usually lead to purification.

It is yes when we fast when we do austerity there is a certain amount of bodily mortification involved. But that bodily mortification is primarily for the purpose of pleasing for the purpose of intensifying absorption in Krishna and thereby pleasing him. So as sadhakas we focus even when we are in the body our focus is Krishna and serving Krishna.

And we see the body neither as a thing for gratification nor a thing for mortification. But we see it as a a thing for utilization. The body can also be used in Krishna's service.

In fact when we are in the material world a substantial amount of our services are done through the body. And if we do not have the body then that means do not have means if our body is not functioning properly then many of our services get interrupted. So we do need to take care of the body and we take care of it with the understanding that this is Krishna's gift to us and by using it properly we are rendering service to Krishna because we are using we are taking care of what Krishna has given in our care and thus with that vision of seeing things in connection with Krishna seeing him in the body and the body's maintenance in connection with Krishna we can avoid entanglement.

At a preliminary level we can see that if we are in bodily consciousness then also we can see yes I need to maintain the body and it is Krishna who is providing for the maintenance of the body. So that is one level of God consciousness where we think it is my body and it is my life but for maintaining it I need Krishna's help and that is why I am grateful to Krishna. But for a devotee appreciating a much deeper level of consciousness a devotee understood I belong to Krishna my body belongs to Krishna and Krishna gave me this body so that I can render service to him.

So let me take care of the body as a tool so that I can serve him. Thank you.