SB 11.23.60 – Let Krishna’s reassurance of his love rejuvenate us in our strenuous struggle to redirect the mind

Transcript

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Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.23.16 Tasmāt sarvātmanā tātā Therefore, in all respects, O dear Uddhava, tātā is a very affectionate form of address. Krishna is conveying to Uddhava through this address that I love you and this reassurance of love is important when the person whom we love is facing difficulties in say remaining faithful in the relationship with us. Say, when a child is facing temptations in college, say in school or college wherein the parents have brought the child up in a cultured environment and then the child is facing immoral temptations in college.
So, at that time, the parent’s reassurance that I love you, that we love you, that inspires the child to remain faithful to the principles that the parents have taught. The same happens in marriage. If one partner feels unloved by the other partner, then the temptation for seeking love elsewhere increases.
So, when there is a communication, a reassurance, a reminder of love, then the commitment to relationship is increased by that reminder of the love. So, Krishna also does this. In Arjuna, in the sixth chapter, says that it’s very difficult to practice, to control the mind.
First, he asked that question in 6.33 and then after that in 6.34 and then again in 6.37 to 6.39, he asked the question that because of unsteady mind, if the yogi fails to complete the path of yoga, then what happens? So, both ways, Krishna is… Arjuna is expressing apprehension of the power of the mind and Krishna urges Arjuna to keep fighting, saying that it is possible… the mind is difficult to control, but it’s possible to control. But after that, Krishna says in 6.14 that he starts his reply about deviated yogi’s destination by first reassuring Arjuna of his love. He is using the same word Tatha over there.
That, oh Partha, that neither in this nor the next life, the yogi will attain Durgati. One who is engaged in auspicious works, Kalyana, Durgatim Tatha Gacchati. Oh Krishna, Krishna is saying, Arjuna, oh Arjuna, you are my Tatha, I love you, I care for you and I will ensure that if you are going to practice the path of yoga, you will never get any Durgati, you will never get an inauspicious destination.
Similarly, now Krishna has told Uddhava that it is your responsibility, the mind is the cause of the problem and you have to deal with the mind. And he is emphasizing that explicitly in this verse, Therefore, in all ways, oh dear Uddhava, control the mind, how? By Diya, with the intelligence. And then, it’s not just curb the mind with intelligence, but after that, is the essence of yoga.
It’s a very important verse because Krishna is telling what is the essence of yoga? It involves the harmonious utilization of both intelligence and devotion. We need intelligence to control the mind, but just controlling the mind is not enough. We have to concentrate the mind on Krishna.
Using the intelligence, so intelligence is required to draw the mind away from immoral, sensual, materialistic, anti-devotional things and to push the mind, fix the mind on Krishna. And when we remember that Krishna loves us, this strenuous and demanding intellectual exercise in dragging the mind away from that which it is attached to and then pushing the mind towards Krishna, this is an intellectually strenuous and demanding exercise. But the remembrance that Krishna loves us and even when we are not remembering him, he remembers us.
And by remembering him, we can have an exciting and fulfilling relationship with him, a relationship that can go on for all of eternity. That can give us the strength to persevere in this demanding intellectual exercise of redirecting our mind from matter to Krishna. So even when we are trying to chant the holy names, when we feel exhausted by the grinding struggle against the mind, using our intelligence to remember Krishna’s love and