Should we hate our body because it obstructs and distracts us in devotional service?

Transcript

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question as devotees should we hate our body because it distracts and obstructs us in devotional service answer no we shouldn’t hate the body but we shouldn’t be infatuated with the body either now we don’t have to as I have written in a Gita daily article don’t romanticize or demonize the world, utilize it the same applies to the body also now in the scriptures in some cases the body may be talked in very negative terms tanmamsarudhirastanayo medho majjhastasamhato vimutrpuyeramatam krminam kiyadantaram so for example in Ayala Gita that is the realization of Pururava after he, after Urvashi ditches him and then, sorry, after Urvashi ditches him and then he realizes that he was foolishly infatuated so he is saying that this body tanmamsarudhirastanayo it is just made up of skin and flesh and muscles and marrow medho majjhastasamhato and actually it is filled with stool and urine vimutrpuyeramatam and if I enjoy this body then which is filled with stool how am I different from a worm which also delights in stool, krminam kiyadantaram so this sort of talk is there occasionally in the Bhagavatam to de-infatuate us from the body so that means if we are fascinated that my own body or some other body can be a source of immense pleasure in fact the mind, we imagine of unlimited pleasure so then that sort of infatuation has to be cut down and for that de-infatuation it is important that we recognize the reality of the body in terms of beyond its look what it actually is so this sort of statements are made for creating detachment or de-infatuation they are not meant to create hatred attachment and aversion are two sides of the same coin so if somebody gives me pleasure then I become attached to it if somebody takes away my pleasure I hate it but in both cases I am centered on enjoyment consciousness so why do I hate the body? because it doesn’t give me pleasure because it obstructs me in my sense enjoyment so if that level one is then still one is in I consciousness only self consciousness and consciousness of my pleasure so now when we consider Krishna consciousness we focus on serving Krishna and at our sadhaka stage where we still are in bodily consciousness it is very difficult for us to serve Krishna without the body it’s possible no doubt we can remember Krishna but for most of us we need to do something practical and if the body falls sick it does disrupt our devotional service so we need the body and this is also a theme that we have to take care of the body where Vasudev is trying to save the life of Devaki at that time he says the body has to be protected and similarly in the 8th canto also Bali Maharaj is told that liberation is like the fruit of the tree but the body is the tree that gives that fruit sharinam dharma sadhanam so at one level when we are infatuated with the body it may say sharir vyadhi mandir that the body is a place of diseases but then it is also said sharir dharma sadhanam that the body is the means by which we do dharma sadhana the person is very sick the person will not be able to practice devotional service how will the person make spiritual advancement so there in the 8th canto it is said that unless a person unless the tree is alive its fruits can’t come similarly unless the body is preserved we cannot get the fruit of liberation so pure devotees or exalted devotees can practice devotional service at least in terms of remembrance of Krishna independent of their bodily condition but most of us in the sadhaka stage do need to take care of our body and this taking care of the body is not based on the idea that the body itself will be a source of enjoyment but rather the body is the means by which I can serve Krishna so whatever is useful in the service of Krishna we have to care for it and that is yukta vairagya so as devotees we see that the body is ultimately everything in material nature is created under supervision of Krishna the body is also created under supervision of Krishna so when we think of the body as an independent source of enjoyment then the body becomes an obstacle it becomes a distraction so at that time we can think of statements like so to become detached from the illusion that the body will make me happy but at the same time if we become too negligent of the body if we become hateful of the body what we hate we are actually negatively conscious of and we don’t want to be conscious of the body we want to be conscious of Krishna so as far as the body obstructing us in devotional service or distracting us in devotional service by its desires actually those drives and desires of the body they need to be regulated and that regulation is required even for material achievement what to speak of spiritual achievement an athlete wants to perform with the body but even the athlete cannot eat any kind of food and do anything athlete also has to regulate the body discipline the body in a very rigorous way so athletes who do this then they are able to use the body for their athletic purposes so similarly regulating the body’s desires and drives does not require us to hate the body that is regulation is a part of normal living if that living is meant to be purposeful and is to lead to some achievement material or spiritual so as devotees we don’t become we don’t romanticize the body thinking it will be a great source of happiness nor do we demonize the body thinking that it is a great source of suffering we utilize it to serve Krishna and thereby realize the higher happiness of Krishna consciousness