Even If We Cant Drive Away Inner Impurities We Can Still Drive Away From Inner Impurities BG 05.23

Even if we can't drive away impurities we can still drive away from impurities suppose near our home some obscene billboard comes up if we want our neighborhood to be family friendly we may want to have it removed but if we don't have the necessary power to remove it then at least we can remove that hoarding that billboard from our consciousness we needn't dwell on it physically glaring at it or mentally condemning it we can just move on with our life doing important things and the billboard won't affect us directly we need a similar pragmatic approach when some impure images pop up in our consciousness if we are trying to live purely then we may be annoyed angered alarmed and especially if those impurities don't go away even when we want them gone what can we do in such situations even if we can't drive away impurities we can drive away from the impurities to understand how let's envision our consciousness in two ways as the inner territory and as inner torch light that illumines the territory when some sensuous image appears in the territory of our consciousness we don't have to focus our flashlight on it if we focus that flashlight elsewhere that is we focus we strive to direct our consciousness toward something else something important for us then that impure thought may be present but it won't influence us recommending such strategic redirection the Bhagavad Gita 523 states शक्णोतिहै वैहसोर्हुम् प्राक्षरीर्विमोक्षणात् कामक्रोधोध्भवं वेगं सयुक्तह ससुखी नरहा प्राक्षरीर्विमोक्षणात् just by the being in embodied condition we will be subject to desire and anger that arise from the soul's contact with the body now we need to accept their presence without succumbing to their influence how to do that the next verse recommends that we turn inwards that we absorb our consciousness in spiritual reality the Gita subsequently reveals that the highest spiritual reality is Krishna the all attractive supreme person and when we connect devotionally with him by inner remembrance and outer service the resulting absorption is so sublime and satisfying that it initially protects us from being agitated by that impurity and eventually frees us from that, purges that impurity from our heart thank you.