Gita 02.62 – Whatever catches our attention catches us

Conquest makes our life peaceful and joyful.

Thank you. So, Krishna has in the previous verse talked about how one should fix the consciousness on him. And in this verse, he is telling the consequences of not fixing the consciousness on him.

If we are not thinking of him, we have to think about something. Now we have our work to do and we think about it. But eventually after that, we have to have some satisfying object for thought.

If you do not have a satisfying object for thought, then we will look for some object and satisfying object for thought. And by default, our consciousness will go towards the sense objects. So, Krishna is telling over here, when we contemplate on the sense objects, what is the consequence of that? Dhyayato vishayan bhumsah.

Dhyayato means contemplate. Vishayan bhumsah, the person who contemplates on the sense objects. So, what happens to such a person? Attachment to the sense object develops.

Sangat, through the attachment, a strong desire develops. Kama is a very strong desire develops. And then, kama krodho bhi jayate.

Out of kama, krodha, anger develops. So, when the desire for sensuality is not fulfilled, then that unfulfilled desire manifests as anger. So, the sequence will continue in the next verse.

Let us focus on this verse right now. So, the principle we can say that whatever catches our attention catches us. Whatever catches our attention catches us.

So, we see that this is the principle on which most of the advertisements work. The advertisements try to present certain images, certain soundbites, certain sensory stimuli, which are arranged in such a way to grab our attention. And once our attention gets grabbed, then naturally, we get caught in the process.

So, dhyayato vishayan bhumsah, vishaya, sense objects. We see the sense objects. Now, we have movies and sometimes the movies have brutal violence.

And then there is also terrible obscenity that is depicted. And often, the justification, the rationalization that is given for this is actually nobody is going to do this in real life. It is just something which they are watching for entertainment.

But then, if that were the case, that people are watching it just for entertainment, then the question would be that why is it that so many people are caught up with that, so many advertising agencies are putting in so much money. Now, advertisements are not there for entertaining people. That advertisements, they put in big money for just a few seconds, maybe half a minute or a minute or sometimes less than that also.

And maybe a little more sometimes, but in general, it is very short. If the consumers, the viewers were not going to act based on the advertisements, they are not going to purchase, then certainly, there will be no point in making this kind of advertisements. The fact that the advertisements are made and the fact that so much money is pumped into them indicates that there must be returns, there must be handsome returns.

Or depending on the perspective, there must be quite a big killing to be made, that people can be fleeced in this way. So, by watching a promotion of a particular product, say some VIP saying that I purchased this, I enjoy this, I eat this, I drive in this or whatever, people do take it. So, what this means is that whatever we observe, we eventually end up doing, not everything that we observe, but whatever is depicted, what in our observation zone and depicted in an attractive captivating way, that we end up doing.

And that principle needs to be understood if we are to go beyond the entrapment of such setups. These things are set up to trap us. If you are not to be trapped by them, then we have to be aware of the mechanism by which these things happen.

So, the mechanism refers here to actually the way whatever we are observing that starts having, that starts creating subconscious impressions within us. Now, brain research or brain science is still not very developed and it is highly speculative. But to a large extent it has been more or less found that actually repeated indulgence in a particular activity leads to the reconnection of the neurons in the brain in particular patterns, which make that particular action more and more probable.

That means, let us say, if a person has, just like you see, there is a hardwiring in the brain according to our behavior, just like we have programs in a computer. And as soon as the computer is turned on, certain set of default programs start running. So, similarly, there is a kind of hardwiring that happens.

In the brain, there are neuronal cells, there are axons and there are dendrites. And the dendrites, through their endpoint synapses, they connect with the neighboring nearby neurons. Now, which dendrite or which neuron will connect with which neighboring neuron, because there are thousands of neurons nearby, they are all very small and numerous.

So, with which they connect and how they connect and how strongly they connect, these to some extent shape our thought patterns. Now, of course, we can change our thinking, but we all form prejudices and or thought habits. So, for example, if somebody has a great hatred for people of a particular race, say in the past people had a prejudice against African Americans or say in the past the higher caste had a prejudice against lower caste or the lower caste had a prejudice against the higher caste, whatever we want to look at it.

So, but the point is whenever there is a prejudice then the brain cells get wired in a particular way that immediately a particular reaction comes up in the mind. Now, this wiring is not permanent. And if one consistently thinks in a different way that wiring can be changed.

But the point is the wiring does occur. That's what neural science says. And to some extent that is a physical correlate of what Krishna is talking about over here.

That when we contemplate that a certain pattern occurs in the way we mentally respond to things. So, for example, an alcoholic sees a bottle of alcohol. Dhyayato vishayan pumsaha.

So, vishaya is the bottle of alcohol. Dhyayato contemplates. Maybe that contemplation is on television where one sees the advertisement for alcohol or it may be a hoarding, a billboard on a road, whatever it is.

Then what happens? Sangas te shupa jayate. Hey, that's nice. I want it.

Then sangat sanjayate gaamaha. So, that's nice is attachment. I want it.

Whatever happens, that is actually, it is much stronger. That is infatuation. That is actually much level of the oxygen.

I want it. Very strong, overwhelming. And then, no, no, you can't afford it.

It's not good for your health. You are told you are, you made a fool of yourself by drinking last time. You should not drink.

Who cares? I am going to drink. So, what happens is, kaamat krodho bhijayate. Krodha means anger, fury.

Who says I can't have it? I am going to have it. Who is there to stop me? Let me see who will stop me. That is krodha.

So, in this way, we become entangled. So, what begins with contemplation ends with infuriate. Person becomes infuriated.

And that fury is the cause of great misery. As we will see, it eventually leads to a fall down. So, in this work, Krishna talks about these four stages in the sequence to fall down.

So, now, going back to talking about the neuronal hardwiring, you know, a person who has never drunk alcohol, that person will just see a bottle of alcohol and add about alcohol and nothing happens. There is no reaction at all because the habit is not there. And at a neuronal level, the brain circuitry has not been rewired in such a way as to prompt the instinctive reaction of a craving for alcohol.

Now, for somebody who has indulged a few times and has got some fascination for it, then the neural circuitry is rewired in such a way that that is an option which comes and tends itself. But for a person who is habituated to drinking, then that is not just an option, that is a default option and that forcefully thrusts itself forward. And unless one consciously and forcefully rejects it, a person just acts.

Oh, as soon as you see alcohol, take the hand forward and get a bottle or get a glass and drink. And in this way, persons are calm. So, the speed at which one will move from dhyayato to sanghaar to kama to krodha down to the next verse will talk about pranashyati.

This is a sequence that will happen to everyone. But the speed with which it will happen will vary depending on how habituated a person is to a particular indulgence. Now, a person who has not drunk alcohol at all, but if that person keeps watching advertisements of alcohol and sees images of how people are drinking it and people are supposedly enjoying it, then that repeated dhyayato, dhyayato, dhyayato again and again which is happening will eventually lead to the sangha, kama, krodha and pranashyati also.

So, this is a sequence which will happen to everyone and it can be avoided by avoiding dhyayato. Krishna is not saying here drishyato vishyan pumsah. We cannot move around the world with closed eyes, but whatever we see, we don't have to contemplate on it.

You see, okay, and we have other things to contemplate. We have Krishna, our service to Krishna and our constructive things we have to do in our life to contemplate on. And by contemplating on positive things, we can avoid this negative downslide.

Thank you.