Gita 15.09 The mind makes chasing mirages the soul’s tragic habit

Transcript

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thank you in all of these they are centered around me Vishayan Upasevate we try to serve the supreme lord Vishayan Upasevate so the important thing in our life is that we serve our lord with devotion this is the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita and we are disconnected from him then we do Vishayan Upasevate we think that we are enjoying the sense objects but we end up serving them Krishna in 15.7 stated that Manah Shashtani Indriyani Prakriti Sthani Karshati the soul in eternal existence is struggling with the six senses headed by the mind that reference to six is elaborated in this verse three verses later from 15.7, 8 and 9 two verses later here Krishna is stating that Shariram that means the body which we get it was mentioned how the soul leaves one body and gets another body that was mentioned in the previous verse 15.8 Shariram Yadavaapnoti Achyapyutkaramateeshwaraham Kruhitvaitani Sanyati Vayur Gandhanibhashayat the soul goes from one body and gets another body and now the key thing that is stressed here is that when the soul goes into another body what exactly happens there the soul functions according to the particular propensities of that body so in each body we have a particular set of senses which are centered on the mind so the centering on the mind is a significant point simply because the body is meant to serve as a resource for fulfilling the desires that are stored in the mind Krishna has stated earlier how sadatat bhav bhavitaha whatever is our disposition that will become our destination in 8th chapter 5th and 6th verses he has talked about it and here he takes things forward and he is elaborating that the five senses are centered around the mind so for example if in the human body a person has too much desire to eat meat then nature reciprocates and gives a set of senses that are appropriate for that particular desire in the mind so adishtaya manashtaya based on the desire stored in the mind and then the appropriate set of resources in terms of the senses are provided so if you want to eat meat then to have fangs which will be more conducive for catching and ripping flesh and then eating it they are provided now all this the desires in the mind they are endless and they cause us to go lifetime after lifetime from one body to another to try to fulfill whatever desires are there and in each body the senses are centered around the mind according to the mind’s conceptions various things develop so critical for us is the understanding that the mind is not something that is superficial the mind is actually a substantial formidable force which shapes our existence of course the mind is superficial to the body sorry to the soul in the sense that the mind is not the soul the mind is separate from the soul and still the soul’s trajectory substantially influenced by the mind and it’s all for vishayan upasevate we all are innately pleasure seeking and we will seek pleasure wherever it seems to be most promisingly available and we all get attracted to certain sense objects which are meant for our elevation that’s what we feel we are promised elevation in terms of oh this will give me so much pleasure and I am looking for pleasure so when we pursue sense objects nobody pursues them wanting to get into trouble nobody wants to get entangled nobody drinks with the intention of drinking alcohol they drink because they think that I just get some kick some pleasure but in the process of seeking that pleasure they get trouble so vishayan upasevate the sense objects that we are all seeking these keep us captivated in material existence and captivation is the word used more for the emotional context at the level of the mind oh I am captivated by this so that means that we are very attracted to it but captivation can also be used in a overall context where we understand that captivation means somebody is made into a captive so captive can be physical where somebody is bound, tied the soul is not so much tied as dragged towards one sense object to another or the karshati that was mentioned in 15.7 the struggle the grinding exhausting degrading struggle that the soul goes through is all because the soul can’t understand what I am meant to live for the soul thinks that since pleasure is the purpose of life then it can’t avoid entanglement it simply keeps pursuing one sense object after another and the sense objects keep moving and then when one sense object is enjoyed and it is the enjoyment doesn’t live up to the anticipation then another sense object is sought and this way chasing mirages becomes a habit to chase mirages is tragic because one is desperately racing with all of one’s energy to seek something which just doesn’t exist there is no water in the mirage but when chasing mirages becomes a habit that’s tragic that’s almost at the level of people of the soul not being sentenced to suffering but sentencing oneself to suffering when a person is put in jail person has to do grinding hard work in the jail but would anyone put themselves in the jail but we are creatures of habit and we keep doing the same thing worst one time, two times, three times, four times five times then gradually it becomes a habit and once it has become a habit then it is almost impossible to resist the force of the inclination that is created because of the habit that just keeps pushing us just as a stone will keep rolling down an inclined slope like that our thoughts and our actions keep gravitating towards a particular kind of behavior so an alcoholic keeps drinking even when alcohol does not give much pleasure so for the soul in material existence while in a particular body a particular set of sense objects seem attractive and the soul keeps chasing them and when the soul goes to a next body it finds another set of sense objects attractive and it keeps chasing them and in this way chasing the mirage of sense objects becomes the habit, the composition of the soul and thus the soul goes lifetime after lifetime struggling and suffering in material existence it is only when the soul realizes that the ultimate vishay is Krishna that he is all attractive and whatever pleasure any sense object may promise all that and more will be provided by Krishna if I just direct my mind and senses towards him and with this understanding when the soul applies oneself to the diligent practice of Krishna Bhakti that is when the soul gets freed from the futile struggle of chasing mirages and then soul arrives at the oasis of Krishna who is supremely attractive who is the source of the attractiveness of everything that has attracted the soul for so many hundreds of lifetimes so that Krishna is the supreme destination of the soul that will be talked about by Krishna towards the end of this chapter Purushottam yoga, the yoga of the supreme person here Krishna is describing the tragic fate of the soul who is not recognizing that Krishna is my vishay is chasing after the vishay and various other vishay, these other sense objects soul goes on lifetime after lifetime till soul finally attains Krishna