Gita 03.41 – Regulation is the foundation for purification

Tasmāt tvaṁ indriyāṇyādau nīyamya bharata-rśabha pāpa-mānaṁ prajahīyayenaṁ jñāna-vijñāna-nāśanaṁ Bhagavad Gita 4.3.41 tasmāt therefore this is leading on from the previous verse the previous verse said that lust has lust resides in our senses, mind and intelligence and that's how it curbs us it actually deludes us, covers our knowledge therefore tasmāt therefore what should you do? Krishna is telling as part of the solution now so till now that means the analysis of 37 to 40 was describing the problem and 41 to 43 will be focusing on the solution the first step of the solution is told in 41 there is further analysis is given and then 43rd is the second the decisive step tasmāt tvaṁ indriyāṇyādau therefore indriyāṇyādau in the beginning nīyamya in the beginning you should regulate the senses discipline the senses nīyamya bharata-rśabha or descendant of bharata and pāpamānam prajahīya enam pāpamānam that which is the symbol of sin that which impels you to great sin you should be able to prajahī you should be able to curb it and Krishna gives another fearsome description of lust where he says jñāna-vijñāna-nakṣaṇam jñāna-vijñāna so knowledge and vijñāna can refer to realize knowledge vijñāna can also refer to the urge for realizing knowledge the urge for gaining more of experienced knowledge whichever way you look at Krishna is saying nāśanaṁ destroyer so earlier Krishna has used the word āvṛtaṁ jñānam it covers knowledge and now he is saying lust destroys knowledge so what does it actually do does it cover or it destroys essentially it is the same you know covering is also the same as destroying because if something is covered for all practical purposes not available to us I may have eyes but if a blindfold is put on my eyes then I can't see anything and if I can't see anything then it's almost it's as if I don't have eyes so here the important point to recognize is that lust destroys our knowledge acquiring capacity and further our inclination to acquire that knowledge also jñāna vijñāna nāśanaṁ so if we see the vijñāna if we use it to say as the urge for urge for realizing the knowledge basically the urge for knowledge then we see that not only does lust destroy our spiritual knowledge but when people get comfortable in sensual enjoyment then they feel that there is no need for spiritual knowledge also they feel that oh I am enjoying here quite a lot I am enjoying here comfortably why do I need to do anything more why do I need to tackle any further issues so that way the urge for spiritual inquiry goes off when one indulges in lust one is captivated by lust now actually lust doesn't satisfy but still what lust does is it makes one feel that I will soon become satisfied that I just need to maybe get a better sense object or maybe just get some medicine to improve my sensory capacity or maybe just learn some new ways of doing sense gratification and by that I will become I will be able to enjoy so lust keeps us dissatisfied but that dissatisfaction does not lead to reorientation of our desire towards the spiritual that dissatisfaction leads to reinforcement of the desire for the material that is the great power of the illusion of lust that although we are dissatisfied we don't think that oh I just need I need to explore a new way of finding happiness there is no reorientation of desire from the material to the spiritual but there is just actually reinforcement of the desire for something new material oh this thing gave me a little pleasure but I must do something else by which if I get just this particular sense object it looks so attractive if I just get get that then I will be so happy so in that way lust deludes us so it takes away not only our knowledge but also the urge for knowledge because it makes us feel that oh I just need to get a better sense object or do something in a better way increase my sensory capacity and then I will enjoy so now tasmatam indriyanyadau now Krishna is telling that if we are to conquer lust it has to beginning it has to begin with controlling the senses aadau aadau is in the beginning first control the senses aadau can also of course mean that as early as possible in the childhood itself if we if we can give children pure impressions in their childhood then it's so much easier for them to actually move onwards when adolescence hits upon them and puberty hits upon them if they have pure impressions then they can deal with the attack of lust much better but even if we have not done it now when we understand how dangerous enemy lust can be aadau we can start so if it is a aadau in terms of time then it can be as soon as possible or as soon as we realize the urgency or we take an aadau in terms of from where we should deal the we begin the battle against the lust it says that at the first level it is at the senses there has to be some sense control so for example in most in most cultures all cultures all over the world practically speaking there is there is the institution of marriage so there may be variations there may be polygamy polyandry, polygyny whatever but still institution of marriage is there and that brings about the regulation on the way the sexual energy expresses itself in people and only when that is there then people can think of something higher otherwise if we have the example of Ravana practically his only business was searching for more women to enjoy he had a big harem and he wanted more and more and wherever he would go he would exploit those women he would find women, abduct them, exploit them and he would enjoy them so basically if a person does not have some regulation on lust it may be external, social such as that happens with marriage but if that is not there then there will be no possibility of that person being able to think of anything higher because just the hope oh maybe I can make a one night stand with this person or make a hook up here I can have an affair there I can do this, I can do that so the mind will go wild if there is no regulation at all so therefore regulation is the beginning of purification tasmatam indriyanyadau so once a person understands okay now I say for example I am married so then I can have sexual relationship with what person and that is that is it so what happens by this is one gets the experience of sex and whatever pleasure is there the experience of sex makes one realize that actually the the depiction is a gigantic exaggeration gigantic exaggeration that is the actual experience is of much much lesser pleasure and if the person is immoral and the person may think maybe there is something wrong with the person with whom I am having sex if I have sex with somebody else then maybe I will get more pleasure and then that person stays same in the same endless endless trap of material consciousness but if the person has some moral scruples then that person understands okay if this is not there if there is no pleasure here then where should I seek happiness becomes more ready to start exploring spiritual happiness so regulation what Krishna talks about here that allows us to fulfill lust at some level but the regulation ensures that we don't get carried away in trying to find newer and newer means for gratification but instead we focus on getting purified because we understand that okay this is not going to satisfy me therefore let me seek something else let me seek something higher and so the way to combat lust is to recognize the falsity of its promises and regulated gratification helps exposes the falsity of its promises if there is no regulation then we think okay the promise is not fulfilled in this form of enjoyment maybe in that form of enjoyment and maybe after that in that form of enjoyment and like that it will go on but when we understand that actually when there is regulation then we understand that actually there is nothing much over here nothing to get so excited and wild about it let me now seek higher happiness and that when we see when we experience ourselves the falsity of the promise of lust then that gives us the impetus to fight against it you are a liar I will not listen to you anymore I will you will never provide me happiness I will look for happiness elsewhere I will not do what you are telling me to do and thus the regulation gives us realization and that realization helps us bring about gives us the determination for a confrontation with lust and by that willingness for confrontation we resist lust and then we pursue spiritual realizations wherein ultimately we get spiritual satisfaction by developing ourselves by devoting ourselves to Krishna and relishing the joy of pure spiritual love.