Bhakti Shastri (067) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 03 Text 40 to 43

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kurvaṁ gītāṁ hṛtaṁ dadau loka-trayopakārāya tasmaiḥ kṛṣṇa-ātmanena mahā Hare Kṛṣṇa. Welcome back to our Bhagavad-gītā-Bhakti-śāstra course. We are coming to the end of the third chapter.
We are discussing the last section, the answer to Arjuna’s question, what is it that causes one to act sinfully even against one’s will? So we discussed Krishna’s answer that it is lust. And then yesterday we concluded with how lust is situated in the body, the mind, in the mind the senses and the intelligence. Let’s look at that theme further.
And then after that we will discuss the verse, next verse. Let’s look at this verse once again. indriyāṇi mano buddhir aśyāntiṣṭhāna-mucchate etair vimohanyateśu jñāna-māvṛtti-dehinam So, it’s interesting that we can understand that lust is situated in the senses, in the mind.
But why is Krishna saying that lust is situated in the intelligence? Normally we would expect that the intelligence is what frees us from lust or is what enables us to see the danger of lust and try to free ourselves from it. So why does Krishna say that lust is situated in the intelligence also? Actually, in many cases, lust takes over the intelligence. And then after that, intelligence instead of being used to curb lust is used to fulfil lust.
So, we discussed earlier about, say, internet. There is filth on the internet and to put it there requires intelligence. But that intelligence is used to perpetuate and propagate illusion not to eliminate illusion.
So, intelligence can also become perverted by lust. And when that happens, then the person can become extremely dangerous because the person is not just impelled by whimsical passion, impulses, but there is a methodical madness that comes up in the person. So, for example, there are some people who may be like serial rapists.
So, very brutal kind of people. But then they make a plan how to catch their victim and then brutalise the victim. So, there the lust is actually, the person is acting intelligently, but their intelligence is made perverted.
there is lust. Prabhupada also said that in our case also, those cases we say are extreme, that is true, they are extreme. But in our case also, often when the enjoying mentality becomes too strong and at that time we also want to maintain the facade in the devotee community that I am a good devotee, but we want to enjoy.
Then what do we do? We try to find out a way privately when nobody is seeing. At that time we indulge in sense gratification. So, what are we doing? We are taking all possible precautions so that nobody finds out.
But then we want to do it. So, rather than worrying whether people find out, we should worry why lust is finding me out. Why am I letting lust find me out? If we stay strong in Krishna consciousness, then lust will not be able to find us out and attack us and torment us.
So, people can enjoy intelligently. Prabhupada writes in a letter that intelligence is meant to give up the enjoying mentality, but our problem is that we are habituated to enjoying intelligently. That means we use our intelligence to enjoy, rather than to curb the enjoyment.
Now, enjoyment is not wrong. The soul is meant to enjoy. But there is enlightened enjoyment and there is ignorant enjoyment.
So, enjoyment at the spiritual level is enlightened, at the bodily level is ignorant. So, at the very least, we should be in the transition. There is regular bodily enjoyment that is allowed, but the focus should be on trying to get more and more spiritual enjoyment.
So, lust occupies the intelligence also. And that is why in the sadhanaka stage, at least initially in our spiritual life, we cannot put too much trust in our intelligence. If we put too much trust in our intelligence, then the intelligence may mislead us.
Sometimes we go into temptation and at that time, nothing is going to happen. I am just doing this for the sake of service. I have no ulterior motives.
I am doing this for the sake of service. That may be the motivation initially, but whether it will stay the motivation eventually, one cannot say. And at a contact with the sense objects, it corrodes our intelligence.
And as the intelligence becomes corroded, corroded, corroded, then gradually the contamination becomes so much more that we start thinking of something else only. So, in general, the exposure to sense objects has to be minimised as much as possible. And certainly, if the others are warning us, then we have to be careful that we should not assume that nothing is going to happen.
If we trust our intelligence too much in the sadhaka stage, then we will get ourselves into trouble because right now our intelligence is not trustworthy. Intelligence is sabotaged by lust. It is hijacked by lust right now.
So, what does this mean? Don’t trust the intelligence too much. Of course, at a functional level, at a daily level, we have to use our intelligence. Should I do this? Should I do that? Should I go here or go there? At a normal level, should I go catch this bus or wait for the next bus? Should I use this? Should I say, use this computer or that computer? Whatever.
We have to make so many decisions and we will have to use our intelligence over there. That is fine. We will use our intelligence because that intelligence is given for that purpose.
But especially, when we are doing activities which the scriptures have told are dangerous. They involve, for example, prolonged contact with the sense objects. Sometimes a person may say that, a preacher may say that I am associating, I am actually giving counselling to a woman.
And for that purpose, a preacher may start associating too much with that woman. Now, initially the motive may be benevolent. But that can change very easily.
So, especially when one is doing something which scriptures warn us to be careful about. At that time, if we think, nothing is going to happen. So, when we talk about not trusting the intelligence too much, that especially means that when our intelligence prompts us to do things that are contrary to scripture but are not necessarily directly wrong at that time.
So, the classic example of how intelligence gets perverted, not exactly by lust, but by something separate from the absolute truth, is Bharat Maharaj. Now, Bharat Maharaj, when he saw the baby deer flowing away helplessly in the streams of the river, at that time, it was a benevolent thing to do to jump into the river and take care of that, save that baby deer. That is very, that is good.
Now, the thing is that when there is a danger, when there is an emergency, we should help. But after that, Bharat Maharaj’s, we could say error, was that he thought that now that I have rescued it, I have to maintain it. I have to maintain it.
This deer has no one who will take care of it. I will take care of it. So now, yes, in emergency, we can give up our dharma, not give up entirely, but we may have to do the needful to take care of situations.
But then if we have a prescribed duty, so for Bharat Maharaj, who has renounced the world, has to focus entirely on God, to take up the responsibility of taking care of a deer, that is a misunderstanding of one’s duty. And then after that, when the deer started distracting him while doing his bhajan, he said, oh, the bhajan can be done later. The deer is important.
I have to make sure that the deer is protected, that deer should not feel displeased. Deer should be given proper attention. And then slowly but surely, eventually, he got so distracted from his bhajan that he started chasing after the deer.
And in the moment of death, he was thinking of the deer. So then he got the body of a deer. So here, Bharat Maharaj is not attracted to anything sinful.
But the point is, the intelligence led him in the wrong direction. So we can say we have material intelligence and spiritual intelligence. So material intelligence is the intelligence which directs us towards materialistic things.
Spiritual intelligence is the intelligence which directs us towards Krishna. So spiritual intelligence primarily comes from Guru, Sadhu, Shastra. So material intelligence is the intelligence which is used in material things.
And it is not necessarily always bad. But it has to be subordinated to spiritual intelligence. So, here when Krishna is saying that intelligence is also covered by lust, that means that it is the material intelligence that is covered by lust.
It is the material side of one’s rational faculty, contemplation faculty, that can get taken over by lust. So now, Prabhupada gives a very intriguing purport. He talks about it in terms of a battle itself.
He says, just like when a battle is going on, the enemy starts, when the enemy wants to attack, say there are two armies and the two are facing off. So there are two sides of a river and both of them are facing off. And there is one bridge.
So now what will be critical is, both sides will want to conquer the bridge. If they have the bridge, they can cross over and come to the other side. So conquering the bridge is like a strategic point by which they can come from this side to other side.
So strategic means those which are of very significant importance. Prabhupada says that the enemy, which is lust over here, has taken up, has captured, Prabhupada, first sentence is, the enemy has captured different strategic positions in the body of the conditioned soul. And therefore, Lord Krishna is giving hints to those places of those places.
So different strategic positions. What are the strategic positions? The senses, the mind and intelligence. Now when we say Krishna is giving hints, Krishna is giving direct statements.
There is mind, intelligence and senses. So why is Prabhupada using the word hints? Because, actually speaking, these locations are not literally physical. There is a difference between physical and material.
We may use the words interchangeably, but physical largely refers to gross material. And material itself can be subtle also. So, the body that is visible to us is a physical body.
The mind is not exactly considered physical. Of course, now terms can have different meanings at different times. So, we may even consider in some terminology, some context, the mind may also be considered physical when the word physical is used as an equivalent of material.
But in general, physical and mental are the two aspects of material. So, when we say lust is situated in the eyes, so the eyes are lusty, eyes always want to look at sense objects. Now, what does it mean? It’s not that if I take a scan of the eye and find out, ok, at the north-eastern side of the eye, at a particular location, the lust is captured.
No, lust is not at a physical location. So, when we are talking about lust being, lust itself is subtle, we are talking about senses, the senses also, if you remember, we discussed earlier, there is a spiritual eye, there is a subtle eye and there is a faculty of sight and there is an organ of sight. So, when Krishna is saying the senses are situated in the, senses are the seating places, seating places of the lust, that means it’s not the gross eye, it’s the faculty of sight which gets attracted to sense objects again and again.
So, that’s why the senses are hints. We can’t have a, we can’t have a gross physical gun and shoot it. You have to, it is all through inference, okay.
When the eyes are just constantly going towards sense objects then you understand, oh, my eyes are becoming lusty, my eyes are going in wrong directions, like that. So, it’s giving hints and then, how does lust attack now? We will discuss that with respect to the next slide. But basically, the mind, senses and intelligence, they are there.
Now, in this purport, Srila Prabhupada explains how lust may sabotage a person’s conceptions. And he quotes a verse which seems to have nothing to do with lust. So, this is the well-known verse from 10.84.13 Lakshaman Bhagavatam.
This is when Vasudeva performs sacrifices at Kurukshetra. He is given instructions. So, yasyatma-buddhi kunape tridhatuke svadhi kalatra vishbhau vichidhi yatirtha buddhi salilena karchiju janeshwa biggeshu saiva gokharaha So, yasyatma-buddhi So, one who thinks that I am the body, atma-buddhi, that is one’s self, by one’s buddhi, one thinks, what is the thing? kunape tridhatuke that this body which is made up of three elements, that is, kapha, vata, pitta, one thinks that I am that body.
Then, svadhi kalatra adishu So, one who thinks that the by-products of the body, kalatra adishu, that means the relatives and others, they are svadhi, they are my people. They are my people. Why? Because they are connected with my body.
And, bhoma-ijyadhi So, bhoma is the earth, ijyadhi, ijya is worshipable, dhi is the intelligence which thinks one’s motherland to be worshipable. Bhoma-ijyadhi. Now, in some cases, the acharas also mention that this also refers to think of just stone statues to be worshipable.
That means to consider not understanding the transcendental aspect of the deity, to take any stone statue and think it to be worshipable. Bhoma-ijyadhi. yat-tirtha-buddhi salilye na karichyaju So, tirtha-buddhi is that when one goes to holy places, one’s idea is salilye.
Salilye is to take a bath. Na karichyaju. But what one doesn’t do is janeshu abhijyu.
One doesn’t associate it with those janeshu, those people who are abhijyu. Those who know, those who have spiritual knowledge. Abhijyu is to know.
So, abhijyu is to know properly, those who have proper spiritual knowledge. Such people, yashya, that was the start of the verse, such people are what? Sa-eva-gokha-raha. Such people are like cows or arses.
So now, what is the point of saying they are like cows or arses? Arses are, as we know, considered unintelligent, mudha. Often a person who is unintelligent is compared to an ass. So, they are unintelligent.
Now you may wonder, why is it compared to a cow also? Cow is a cow is considered holy. We say mother cow and Krishna loves cows and then we protect cows. That’s true.
But at the same time, the soul in a cow’s body is in a sub-human body. And, the cows, they are gentle, they are loving. But at the same time, they are capable of being put under illusion.
How is that? When a calf is brought in front of the cow, the cow herself may not give milk very easily. But when the calf is brought near the cow and the calf touches the udder, then the cow starts giving milk. And after that, even the calf is taken away and still the milk can be taken out from the udders and sometimes look-alike of the calf is brought.
Just by seeing that calf, the udder starts feeling that look-alike of the calf. The milk may start flowing from the udder. Often that’s how milk is taken out from the cow.
So, the point here is, there are different ways of looking at things. So, when we are looking at the Krishna connection of the cows, yes, they are holy, they are loved by Krishna so they should be cherished by us. But from another perspective, it’s an animal body and it’s an animal body so there is the capacity of the soul going under illusion and not just capacity, that’s the natural way it is and because it is that way, so therefore, Gokaraha.
So, Saiva Gokaraha. The point is, such a person is in animal consciousness. Now, what is the connection of this verse with the discussion about lust? You see, it’s not saying over here that the person goes and starts indulging in lusty activities and going into affairs with people and why is this, what is this got to do with lust? Actually, this is what happens, this kind of conceptions come up when the buddhi is contaminated.
So, if you see, the word buddhi comes twice in this verse and buddhi is there even in the the words and discussion from the Gita. Buddhi is one of the places where intelligence where lust is situated and when lust is situated in the buddhi, what happens? One starts thinking like this and I am the body, those kind of things, the body are mine. So, now, we may think of lust as making people do immoral activities, people do brutal activities, that’s lust, no doubt.
That’s the effect of lust, no doubt. It makes us do wrong things which are even from the today’s legal system point of view, wrong. So, people forcibly violate others and things like that but from the Bhagavatam’s perspective, from the Vedic perspective, even if a person is engaging in now, all these activities are, they are dharmic activities, they are good activities in the, from the point of view of material goodness.
To be patriotic is considered good, to be going to a holy place is considered to be good, to be, to be taking care of one’s family is considered to be good, so all this is good. But if that is all a person gets consumed by and the person doesn’t understand there is something higher to life, then that person’s consciousness is considered to be equivalent to a gokharaha out of a cow or an ass. So, here, Prabhupada is quoting this verse as an example of how the buddhi gets contaminated.
Now, let’s move forward. tasmad tumindriyan nyadau niyamya bharatarsabha paapamanam prajabheen venam jnananigyana nashanam tasmad tasmad means therefore, so therefore what previous verse it has said, where is lust situated and how lust acts, lust acts by covering our intelligence and where is it situated? Mind, sense and intelligence. Therefore, now that you know where the enemy is, what the strategy of the enemy is, therefore, now conquer it.
How do we conquer it? tasmad tumindriyan nyadau begin with the intelligence. niyamya bharatarsabha niyamya bharatarsabha means regulate, oh Arjuna, bharatarsabha best among the bharatarsabha, the word rishabha refers to bull. So, in the Vedic cultural context, the lion or tiger is considered to be the strongest of the out of the wild animals and the bull is considered to be among the strongest in the domestic or indoor animals.
If a bull becomes wild, the bull can run into people and knock them over and can cause a stampede in which people can get brutally wounded. So, especially if a bull goes mad, then it can be quite devastating and that’s why matadors who try to fight with bulls, they have their swords and they have their red cloth and bulls come charging at them or there are rodeos where people sit on bulls and then the bull charges out and how long can they sit on the bull holding on to it or the bull tries this way and this way and that way to try to throw them off. So, all these sports are considered exciting because bulls are hostile.
If bulls were like pussy cats, nobody would go on to see how long somebody can sit on a pussy cat, a gentle sweet cat or who fights with a pussy cat. Bulls are not like bulls. Bulls can be fierce.
So, Purusha Arshabha is a word used to describe how a person is so fierce, so powerful. this is a positive glorification for a Kshatriya that Purusha Arshabha, this has come before also Arshabha, Bharat Arshabha, Purusha Arshabha. Purusha Arshabha had come in 2.15 So, one who is not disturbed in happiness and distress, that person will attain liberation.
Oh Purusha Arshabha, oh best, oh bull among human beings, that means oh best among human beings, so here Bharat Arshabha, that is, oh bull among the descendants of Bharata in the Bharata clanisty. Bharat Arshabha, so the context is yes Arjuna, you are powerful but your true power will be seen not just in how you conquer Karna or Duryodhana but your true power will also be seen in how you conquer lust. That requires heroism.
See, in today’s society often heroism is defined as gratifying lust. That means in movies who is shown as a hero? A person, there is a hero and there is a heroine and then the hero has to fight against various odds and then beats up the villains and then rescues the heroine from some dangers and finally they get their hand together, they join hands, they are united and so a person who does this is considered to be heroic. Now, if somebody is in danger and protection is offered at that time that is a heroic activity.
But that is not the only definition of heroism. That is a definition of heroism from the material perspective. So yes, even that is accepted for Kshatriyas when they are rulers that they have to be heroic and protect others.
But just as heroism is required to protect someone but actually a far greater heroism is required to protect ourselves from lust and to set an example by which we protect others from lust. So, heroism is to be able to reject lust, to fight back lust and to drive it out from our consciousness. So, Krishna said to Arjuna be this kind of purusha of Shiva.
So we know Arjuna, he, at one level we could say that he had many wives, Indraupadi was there, Subhadra was there. So, he had several wives but still we see that also when he went to Uruvashi he refused because for Kshatriyas to have many wives is not considered wrong. Polygamy was allowed in the Vedic culture because often the number of women would be more than the number of men.
And also when women needed to be protected so they would have a man especially a strong Kshatriya who is capable of keeping many women satisfied and protected and provided for, that person can have many wives. But we see that Arjuna’s control, sense control also when he went to Uruvashi and Uruvashi offered her but he said no, this is not according to Dharma. So Purushar Shabha.
So heroism is also sense control, not just fighting to get the desires of the mind and senses fulfilled. In many cases that in some cases that fighting to get the desires of the mind and senses fulfilled can be within the precincts of Dharma and that may be from the subtle point of view heroic but in many cases those same desires can drag a person to terrible things which make the person into a villain. So if we see many of the movies that are there, there is a hero, there is a heroine and there is a villain.
Now if you look at it, this movie storyline is very similar to the story of the Ramayana. There is a hero, there is a heroine and there is a villain. There is Ram, Sita and there is Ravana and then the villain has an evil eye on the heroine and the heroine will fight and then the hero wins.
That’s how many movies are. So is the Ramayana and the typical romance movie similar? Actually from the spiritual perspective, in the movies, the hero and the villain are both villains. Why is that? That is because both have a self-centred enjoying mentality.
Of course, the hero may be having consensual relationship with the heroine and the villain may be having forcible relationship with the heroine. And that is a significant difference. That is not a difference to be glossed over.
But at the same time, everybody in that situation is under illusion. Everybody is in the bodily conception and everybody is thinking that gratifying oneself at the bodily level is going to satisfy us. So, in that sense, everybody is under illusion.
So, it’s just a matter of relative degree. Some illusion, so the hero’s illusion of bodily attraction is not making that hero do something which is morally wrong, whereas the villain’s attraction is making that villain do morally wrong things. Of course, the hero may also do morally wrong things, but they are not considered wrong in today’s society because they are consensual.
But that consensus is not the basis of moral truth. Consensus means people agree to it. Consensus is the basis of moral truth.
Then, what Hitler did, killing millions, killing lakhs of Jews, it was right, because majority majority people felt that yes, the Jews are obstacles and they should be killed. So, consensus cannot be used to decide what is right and what is wrong. You have to know from scripture.
So, actually speaking, if you see, in the Ramayana, when Ravana sees Sita for the first time, Ravana is at the time in the garb of a garb of a mendicant and then when he sees Sita, he thinks that if women, if they are praised for their beauty, then they feel very pleased by that. He said that will soften her heart towards me. And he was thinking initially that actually, if I praise her and then she becomes positively disposed towards me and then I tell who I am, then she will happily come with me.
I am so wealthy. I am so powerful. I am the king of the Rakshasas.
Why will she not come? So, he initially started praising her. And when he was praising her, what did he I think that after making you, the creator must have retired. Because, the creator must have realised that there can be no greater perfection, no greater beauty that can be created than yours.
Now, many romance movies have songs like this. Same thing, you know. How much can I praise the creator who has made your beautiful face? So, there are songs like that.
So, what is the difference? In the romance movie, the hero is speaking this to a heroine and here the villain is speaking it to the heroine. So, what is the difference? Actually, there is a big difference from the material moral perspective. But, from the transcendental perspective, both are under illusion.
So, this is not meant to deny the fact that there can be material beauty at the material level and the material morality is also important. But, when we are talking from a philosophical perspective, from the perspective of the soul, then even this is an illusion. Even the attraction at the physical level is an illusion.
So, all this we are discussing is that a true hero is one who can conquer the senses, who can conquer lust. And this is means this is very sinful. Conquer word.
Gyaana Vigyaana Nashanam is very significant. What is Krishna using the word? It is the destroyer of Gyaana, that is knowledge. And Vigyaana can be realisation.
So, Prabhupada uses the word realisation in the translation. Slay this destroyer of knowledge and realisation. And Prabhupada also says that further actually it also refers to the urge for self-realisation.
So, Gyaana Vigyaana Nashanam. When lust comes over us, it makes us forget that I am not the body and the soul. So, Gyaana is Nashanam.
But along with that, Vigyaana, Vigyaana is realised knowledge or the knowledge or the urge by which we get the realised knowledge. So, the urge for self-realisation is also destroyed. Because, when lust starts attacking us, we don’t feel like chanting, we don’t feel like calling out to Krishna, we don’t feel like doing anything which will decrease that lust.
Because, this is enjoyable, let me do it more and more. So, it destroys our spiritual knowledge and it destroys our inclination for acquiring spiritual knowledge also. That’s why, when people have too much sensual enjoyment easily available, then they don’t feel the impetus for practising spiritual life.
So, having a certain level of austerity in our life, accepting some sort of difficulty at the material level in our life, helps us to have a fighting spirit, helps us to remember, remember, this is not a comfortable place, I have to get out of here. So, having too much pleasure in the material level, too much comfort in the material level, creates a complacency by which we become willing captives in the hands of lust. We are captives, but we become willing captives.
Willing captives means one who doesn’t resist. Yes, there is a prison, I am happy in the prison, no need to find out a way out, I am happy here. So, we become captives in We become captives in the prison.
We become captives prison. We become captives in prison. We become captives in the prison.
We become captives in the prison. We become captives in We become captives in the We become captives in the prison. We become captives in the prison.
We become captives the prison. become captives in the prison. We become captives in the prison.
We become captives the prison. We become captives in the prison. captives the prison.
We become captives Bhagavatam and he quotes a verse from there where the words jnana and vijnana come. So jnanam paramaguriyam me yaj vijnanasamanyatam sarasyam tatam yam ca ruhanaguditamaya. This is 2.9.31 in the Bhagavatam.
So the Supreme Lord is speaking this to Brahmaji. There is a chatushloki Bhagavatam which in the Bhagavatam’s message comes in four succinct verses. So the knowledge of the Self and the Supreme Self is very confidential.
Jnanam paramaguriyam me. It is paramaguriya this jnana. So the Lord is telling Brahmaji that the knowledge that I have given you is paramaguriya.
It is very confidential. Yaj vijnanasamanyatam. And I have given it to you with realisation.
Sarasyam tatam yam ca. And that knowledge with its categories, ruhanaguditamaya, it can be understood when if you contemplate on it, when I have imparted it to you and you contemplate on it, you will be able to understand it. So just as the Lord gave the knowledge to Brahmaji over there, the Lord is also giving the knowledge to Arjuna over here.
And now Prabhupada explains. So first Prabhupada’s purpose talks about jnan and vijnan. And then he talks about adau.
Prabhupada says adau, what does it mean? First he says it is best that we start in the beginning only. If one is educated in Krishna consciousness from the very beginning, that natural love of God cannot deteriorate into lust. When love of God is deteriorated into lust, it is very difficult to return to normal condition.
But it is so powerful that even a late beginner can become a lover of God. So it is best, for example, if children are brought up right from the childhood without having too much exposure to sensual stimuli, they are brought in a protected culture, then there are no bad impressions which will keep dragging them away. But if somebody has got a lot of bad impressions, then they come to Krishna consciousness, and the bad impressions act like ghosts, which keep haunting, keep haunting.
But Krishna consciousness is so powerful purpose that even a late beginner can become a lover of God. So no matter when we have become, no matter what our past conditionings are, we should start. So Prabhupada gives two meanings of adau therefore.
So what are the two meanings of adau? He says, from any stage of life, or from the time of understanding its urgency, one can begin regulating senses in Krishna consciousness. So from any stage of life, that means ideally would be the earliest childhood stage. As Prahlad Maharaj says, kaumaram acharet prabhu, right from childhood, once you start practising.
In fact, it is even before. The Karmadhan samskara attracts a good soul into the body of the female through the male. But from any stage of life, now he is talking about we ourselves practising, so from any stage of life, or from the stage of understanding its urgency.
Okay, it’s so important, I must do it. Dasmatul indriyani adau. So now what does it mean, indriyani adau, with the, in the beginning of the senses.
So let’s look at that. Yeah. So here, this hierarchy which Krishna talks about in the next verse, Krishna is talking about this four level hierarchy.
The sense object, the senses, mind, intelligence, soul, and ultimately the super soul. So with this hierarchy in mind, let’s look back at the verse, and then I’ll come back to this hierarchy. Indriyani paranya ahur, indriyebhya param manah, anasastu parabuddhe, yo buddhye paratastu saham.
So indriyani paranya ahur. So superior to senses, the senses are superior to ahur. Ahur here refers to the body.
So the body is made up of material elements. So the senses are superior to the material elements. Indriyebhya param manah, superior to the senses is the mind.
Manasastu parabuddhe, superior to senses, the mind is the intelligence. And yo, yo refers to that soul. Buddhye paratastu saham, yo buddhye, that saham, that soul is superior to the intelligence also.
Saham refers to the soul here. So let’s look at this once again pictorially. So you’ll see here that now this does not, so what is told in this verse is just the central circle.
Soul, intelligence, mind, senses. Now for the sake of continuity and completeness, we can also add further elements which the Prabhupada mentioned in the purport. So above the soul is the super soul and below the senses are the sense objects.
So this way there are six elements in the hierarchy, in the connection. So the super soul, now if you see what is there in the big circle, the elongated circle, it is four elements. So these four elements together comprise the conditioned soul.
So soul alone would be just the top element. But soul along with intelligence, mind and senses, that is the conditioned soul. So Prabhupada often uses the word living entity to refer to the conditioned soul.
And the soul itself to refer to the soul proper, just the soul. But living entity refers to the soul in embodied existence. So then this particular oblong circle, flattened circle would be like, would be the living entity or the conditioned soul.
Now, the living entity or the conditioned soul, what is it doing? It is in middle existence and it is surrounded by subtle body and the gross body. So the senses are superior to the sense objects. Why is that? So gross matter means, the sense objects are made of gross matter.
So senses are superior to sense objects means, in general, it is senses that go to the sense objects. Usually sense objects do not come to the sense, it is not that if there is delicious food in the fridge, it is not that the fridge will push the door open, the delicious food will open the door and walk out and come to us and put itself in our mouth. So it is inert matter.
So of course, you may say senses are also matter, but senses are connected with the soul. And because of the soul’s presence, the senses have some default energy, because of which they start getting attracted towards certain things. So because of this senses are considered superior to the sense objects.
Now above the senses is the mind. Why is that? Because the mind’s energy is far greater and far longer than that of the senses. Far greater means, a senses may see a sense object and may think, okay, I’ll enjoy, but the mind just rushes far, far ahead.
And then the mind keeps thinking of the sense objects and dreaming about sense gratification far longer than the mind, than the senses. For example, when we are sick, the senses cannot enjoy anything. But still the mind is dreaming about sense enjoyment.
The mind may still have desires. And not only that, apart from that, even when a person is in dreams, so at that time senses are not acting, but still at that time the mind is still acting, mind is dreaming, fantasising. So in that sense, the mind is superior to senses.
Of course, the mind is also the centre point where all the sensory input comes, just like we discussed the palms. The palm is the centre of all the fingers. So Indriyana, the Bhagavad Gita 15 chapter 9th verse says that, So all the five senses are centred around the mind.
So in that sense, the mind is superior to the senses. And going back to the chariot body analogy, the horses are like the senses, the reins. Reins can control all the horses.
So in that sense, reins are superior to the horses. So then after that, above the mind is the intelligence. Why is the mind intelligence considered to be above? Because the intelligence has the capacity to control the mind.
There are times when all of us feel like doing certain things, but we don’t do those things because our intelligence tells us not to do it. For example, if we are in office and the boss shouts at us, we may feel like shouting back at the boss, but we will not do that. Now, it may be because we are concerned about the ramifications of that.
If we understand the good intelligence, I may lose my job, I’ll get into far greater trouble if I shout back at him. So the point is the mind may have certain default feelings, but the intelligence can restrain and reject those feelings, can curb those feelings. So because the intelligence has that capacity, the intelligence is considered higher than the mind.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that this is the way the hierarchy will always work, but the hierarchy is there. As we discussed, the reins are meant to control the senses. The arrangement is such a way made that the reins will be able to control the horses, not the senses, the horses.
But sometimes the horses may become so turbulent that the reins may not be able to control the horses and the horses will just run off. And the reins will also get, maybe the charioteer is there who is trying to hold the reins, the charioteer also gets knocked off, charioteer becomes powerless because the horses are running so fast. But these are exceptional situations.
In the normal situation, the hierarchy is such that the chain of power runs from top to bottom. So the intelligence is higher than the mind and the mind is higher than the senses. Now, above the intelligences, yoguddhe paratastu sah.
That is the soul. Why is the soul considered to be above the intelligence also? Because even the intelligence is dependent ultimately on the soul. Unless the soul gives chetana, unless the soul gives consciousness, nothing can happen.
So the soul is the source of consciousness and consciousness is the energy which enables the whole body-mind apparatus to function. And that’s why the soul is considered to be higher. Now in the ideal situation, how should things work? There are the chariot body analogy if we say, the person who is driving, the king.
The king should direct, this is where I want to go. And the king tells the charioteer, charioteer, okay, I’ll take you there. And the charioteer controls the reins and then takes the horses in that direction.
Similarly, the soul decides, I have been wandering in mental existence for a long time, I want to return back to Krishna. And the soul understands this, then the soul communicates this to the intelligence, this is what I want to do. And the intelligence uses the mind to control the senses and takes the soul on the path of self-realisation.
This is how one should normally work. For one to work like this, one should, the soul should be in control. That means the soul should be spiritually aware of what the goal is and how to get there.
And the soul will tell the intelligence, okay, now go along this direction. So now, in this hierarchy, there is a problem. The problem is that the sense, the attraction, the senses to the sense objects is very strong.
So just as there is, the sense objects are shown here below, in the sense that the senses naturally fall toward the sense objects, just like there is gravity. So if I hold some object over here, and then if I just let it go, it will fall. Why will it fall? Because it’s gravity.
So like that, if we just let our senses wander, they rush toward the sense objects. That’s what naturally happens. Because that’s the default attraction that is there present in the senses right now.
Because that’s the way the senses have acted for a long time. So because of this attraction, there’s this whole mechanism of the mind-body complex connected with the soul. There’s a downward pull which pulls it down toward sense objects.
So by default, if we let our mind just go idle, it will go toward the sense objects. And then we will also fall in sense gratification. So therefore, there has to be something which will stop it.
And that, the first step Krishna says is regulation. Tasmat tam indriyan yadav. Indriyan yadav means Krishna says again, regulate the senses.
So for example, there is a limit of dharma. Man is attracted to woman, yes, but that will be within the limits of dharma. There is marriage for that.
So like that, first beginning is the limit on the sense gratification. Tasmat tam indriyan yadav. So unless the senses are regulated, at least at some basic level, one will not be able to think of anything higher.
So if the senses are not regulated, if one is indiscriminately engaging in sense gratification, then one cannot think seriously about spiritual truths because this last is jnana-vijnana-nashinam. It is the destroyer of knowledge, destroyer of the urge for self-realisation also. So therefore, what one needs to do is first regulate.
That means this downward pull that is there of the senses toward the sense objects, first check it, regulate it to certain limits. And then after that, that alone is not enough. That will make us feel deprived in many cases.
I want to enjoy, but I’m just forcing myself to not enjoy. Then the second part is what Krishna will tell in the next verse, that is you have to establish an upward connection. Let’s look at that verse and then we’ll come back to the upward connection.
So here basically Prabhupada explains this hierarchy and then he says we have to develop param drishtvani vartate, the higher taste. The last verse of this chapter now, evam buddhe param budhva samsthavyaatmanam atmana jahishatrunmahabahu kamarupam durasadam. So evam, that is buddhe param budhva, that is with one’s intelligence, param budhva, know oneself to be param, know oneself to be transcendental and then samsthavya, samsthavya means study oneself, situate oneself.
Atmanam atmana, atmanam, Prabhupada translated the mind by deliberate intelligence, atmana is the soul. So Prabhupada says situate the mind on using intelligence on the spiritual platform. Atmanam atmana, jahishatrunmahabahu, jahishatrunmahabahu, conquer over this enemy.
And again Krishna encourages Arjuna by saying that yes, you can do it, you are mahabahu, you are a great warrior, capable of doing this. And conquer kamarupam durasadam, this great enemy kamarupam, which is durasadam, it is formidable. So here Krishna is telling, essentially what is the message? Situate yourself on the spiritual platform using intelligence.
So in that hierarchy which we discussed, there is the soul, there is the intelligence and there is the mind. So Krishna is telling, buddhe, by your intelligence, parambuddha, know yourself to be transcendental, know yourself to be soul. Yes, I am feeling like enjoying at the bodily level, but I am not the body.
I am not the body. Therefore with intelligence, understand oneself to be spiritual and then samsthavya atmanam atmana, that means situate the mind on the spiritual platform. How do we situate the mind on the spiritual platform? That means think spiritual thoughts.
So then what will happen is, one will go beyond the pull of lust. Because the pull of lust will be there as long as I think I am the body and I have to enjoy at the spiritual level, at the material level. But if I situate myself on the spiritual level, I experience spiritual happiness and the pull of lust will no longer be there.
Then one will need to conquer lust. So now what does situating oneself on the spiritual platform mean? So the flow of the Bhagavad Gita is itself developing and right now Krishna has not talked about himself so much. So actually the best way to situate the mind on the spiritual platform is to think of Krishna.
So when we think about Krishna, samsthavya atmanam atmana, when we situate ourselves on the spiritual platform by thinking about Krishna, we experience higher happiness. Once we experience that higher happiness, then lust becomes conquered. So Kulasekhar Maharaj in one of his prayers, he says that, Oh Cupid, now Cupid is Kamadeva.
So Cupid is considered to be the personification of lust. So whenever lusty desires come in the heart of somebody, that means Cupid is attacking. So we may see sometimes people have the symbol of heart and an arrow is piercing in the heart.
So what is that arrow? That is the arrow of lust. The lust is said to have Pushpamana. Pushpamana means that there is an arrow which seems like a flower in the beginning.
It has a front tip of a flower. So when it first touches, oh it is so soft and soothing. Suppose a flower touches our heart, oh it is so soft, so nice, so comfortable.
But then as it penetrates further, the flower part disappears and the hard arrow part comes. There is pain after that. So Cupid is supposed to have Pushpamana, flower arrows.
So flower arrows mean they are sweet initially but painful afterwards. So when lust shoots its arrows, it can be very tormenting. So Kulasekhar Maharaj says that, Oh lust, don’t dare to come in my heart.
Why don’t dare to come in my heart? He says that you have already been burned by Lord Shiva. Har Nayan Krishnal Kshasri. He says that by the third eye of Lord Shiva, you are already burned.
And more powerful than Hara is Hari. So don’t forget his power. He is already there in my heart.
And he is there in my heart. If you try to come over there, he will destroy you completely. Don’t dare to come over here.
So this is the mood of confidence of a devotee. Yes, lust is powerful. I cannot conquer it.
But if I can invoke Krishna’s presence in my heart, then Krishna will protect me. How will Krishna protect me? He will drive away temptation. He will give me a higher taste by which the temptation will no longer seem appealing.
So that is the conclusion message of this chapter. So how do we situate ourselves on the spiritual platform? By thinking of Krishna. So let’s look back at that chart once again.
So here we will see that there are two connections talked about between the soul and a super soul. So one is directly. The direct connection is when we are situated on the spiritual platform and the soul has a natural affinity, natural love for Krishna.
So then at the level of Preeti, the soul is spontaneously connected with Krishna. Just like an object is falling down. Suppose we are falling down from somewhere and we need something to hold on to.
So if I have something to hold on to, then by holding on to that object, I will not fall down. So a shirt is say hung on a hook and then it slips off the hook, it falls off. So if there’s some other hook along the way, it will hold on that shirt which is hooked, will not fall down.
So like that, if we are not hooked to something higher, then we’ll be dragged down to something lower. So how do we hook ourselves to Krishna? If we have bhakti, if we have Preeti for Krishna, then naturally the soul will be attracted to Krishna. But when we don’t have that, then we have to use buddhi.
That’s why there’s a second connection that is shown over here. That connection is from the subtle world, the mind and the intelligence. So at the sadhaka stage, there is no spontaneous attraction to Krishna.
Therefore, there has to be conscientious cultivation of the attraction. Conscientious means cautious, attentive. Slowly, surely, what do we do? We connect ourselves with Krishna through the intelligence and the mind.
That means we use our intelligence, evam buddhe param buddhva. So we use our intelligence to contemplate. I am not the body, I am the soul.
My real happiness is in loving and serving Krishna. So therefore, let me not think about this. Evam buddhe param buddhva.
Thinking oneself to be spiritual, samsthavya atmanam atmana. Situate yourself on the spiritual platform. So and by this one can conquer lust.
This is Krishna’s recommendation. So actually speaking, that means Krishna has given two recommendations. One in 41st verse and one in 43rd verse.
41st verse is regulate the senses. Asmatyam indriyan nyadam. And 43rd verse is samsthavya atmanam atmana.
Situate yourself on the spiritual platform. By doing these two things, one can control lust. And not only control, but conquer lust.
Jaihi shatrum, Krishna says. In essence, what Krishna has told over here is similar to what he has told in 2.61. 2.61 was tani sarvani sanyumya yuktasita matparaha. Tani sarvani sanyumya is the same as asmatyam indriyan nyadam.
And yuktasita matparaha, that was then 2.61, that is similar to this. Evam buddhe param buddhva samsthavya atmanam atmana. So first step is restraint.
And second step is redirection. So restraint is, don’t let the senses in an unregulated way engage in sense gratification. Have some restraint.
That restraint will create a platform by which we can chant Hare Krishna, we can think of Krishna. If there is no restraint, then there is constant gratification of senses, then there is no possibility to think of Krishna. But with the restraint.