Gita 15.07 Even when the mind is directed by the senses, it still directs the senses

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
thank you in this verse Krishna speaks about how he is the whole whose parts we all are there are two parts in this verse the first part describes our relationship with Krishna we are the eternal parts of Krishna that is how we eternally are second part says that the six senses led by the mind they cause the soul to struggle in material existence the section previously 12.1 to 4 was talking about the upside down tree of material existence and how we are entangled in it and how with the weapon of detachment we can come out of it then Krishna talked about how we need to surrender to him and how we are actually through the surrender we will attain his abode and attaining that we will never come back he is saying here now after talking about his abode which is the destination now he will talk more about how we are entangled in this world how we can strive to come out so he is going to describe the process of transmigration which the soul undergoes while in material existence and through that he will signify he will communicate how the soul can eventually become liberated so here he says that what causes the struggle of the soul in material existence is the mind and the senses in some places Krishna talks about mind and senses separately as for example in 3.40 when he is talking about the location of lust in us he says so the mind is one among the senses and also the mind is one above the senses that means that Krishna says in the 10th chapter when he is describing the devotees so Krishna places the mind as one among the senses and as well as one above the senses that means he states that the mind is surely the entity that is the most powerful among the senses we could place it as one among the senses in the sense that it is external to the soul and it is a part of the mechanism that the soul uses for interfacing with the world so analytical frameworks can be different at different times and here Krishna places the mind as one among the senses and yet the mind is a sense which deserves mention which he considers noteworthy of special mention which also indicates that the mind is not ordinary there is something special about the mind which we need to be aware of and which we need to consider the mind directs the senses even if the mind is directed by the senses in the sense that the mind is directed by the senses of by something within sense perception the mind gets captivated by that and chooses after that still the mind selects which of the senses it will act upon which of those inputs it will respond to so in the sense that even when the mind is directed by the senses it is also the director of the senses that the mind is one among the senses and the mind is also the one above the senses so it is actually because our mind is filled with so many conceptions of enjoyment those conceptions cause us to get illusioned to get captivated, to get trapped and the way out of those illusions is by not just restraining ourselves from contacting the sense objects but it is from redirecting the mind and where the mind needs to be redirected is conveyed in this verse itself and it is said that Krishna is the whole of whom we are parts so we need to redirect our consciousness towards Krishna and by such redirection we will be able to move closer to him and ultimately go beyond the scope of worldly gratification so the important thing in all situations for us as souls is to move closer and closer to Krishna and thereby move out of the pull of the mind and the senses when there is a gravity pull and objects that are up in the sky fall down because of the gravity like that, the mind and the senses which are filled with material desires they cause the soul’s consciousness to gravitate downwards towards the world which is filled with agitation and tribulation but the more we place ourselves in Krishna’s gravity pull the more we can come out of whatever forces are influencing us and the more we can move closer to Krishna and ultimately attain him so what is needed for us is not just to try again and again to get out of the pull of the senses of course we need the knowledge and the conviction that the senses and the mind will only put us to suffering, they will not give us pleasure that conviction is beyond doubt essential for the soul but that conviction alone is not enough complementing that conviction and taking us further beyond that conviction is the understanding that we as souls are meant to purify ourselves that we as souls are meant to be pure and we are parts of Krishna and to the extent we situate ourselves in our relationship with Krishna to that extent we place ourselves in Krishna’s gravity pull and that will pull us out of the world’s gravity pull which are through our mind and senses so Shri Prabhupada writes in the purport how the soul is shackled in this world and getting out of this world or getting out of the shackles is not easy but actually our problem is that is not that we are caught by worldly desires our bigger problem is that we are disconnected from Krishna so often if we fight or if we fight for giving up worldly desire that is a negative fight and that fight is not sustainable because we simply feel deprived so we need to fight positively that means we need to focus on positive energy we need to focus on positive reality and that connection with Krishna will will generate a positive energy of attraction towards Him and that attraction is what will help us move away from sense objects we are parts of Krishna but unfortunately we are apart from Krishna so instead of being apart we should become apart be not apart, be apart be a part of Krishna, that’s what we are so in a sense spiritual growth is not about becoming it is about realizing what our being is we could say it’s not that we have to become parts of Krishna we are eternally parts of Krishna so spiritual realization spiritual growth is not about becoming it is about realizing it is about being, or more precisely realizing the nature of our being and that realization can come by the medium practice of Bhakti Yoga wherein we act on the spiritual platform on the devotional platform more particularly even when we don’t feel devotional but using our intellect and we act devotionally, gradually we get purified and then we will be able to situate ourselves on the spiritual platform Thank you