BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:61

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:61

 

tani sarvani samyamya

yukta asita mat-parah

vase hi yasyendriyani

tasya prajna pratisthita

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

tani--those senses; sarvani--all; samyamya--keeping under control;

yuktah--engaged; asita--should be situated; mat-parah--in relationship

with Me; vase--in full subjugation; hi--certainly; yasya--one whose;

indriyani--senses; tasya--his; prajna--consciousness;

pratisthita--fixed.

 

TRANSLATION

 

One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and

fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady

intelligence.

 

PURPORT

 

That the highest conception of yoga perfection is Krsna consciousness

is clearly explained in this verse. And unless one is Krsna conscious

it is not at all possible to control the senses. As cited above, the

great sage Durvasa Muni picked a quarrel with Maharaja Ambarisa, and

Durvasa Muni unnecessarily became angry out of pride and therefore

could not check his senses. On the other hand, the king, although not

as powerful a yogi as the sage, but a devotee of the Lord, silently

tolerated all the sage's injustices and thereby emerged victorious.

The king was able to control his senses because of the following

qualifications, as mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (9.4.18-20):

 

sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayor

vacamsi vaikuntha-gunanuvarnane

karau harer mandira-marjanadisu

srutim cakaracyuta-sat-kathodaye

mukunda-lingalaya-darsane drsau

tad-bhrtya-gatra-sparse 'nga-sangamam

ghranam ca tat-pada-saroja-saurabhe

srimat-tulasya rasanam tad-arpite

padau hareh ksetra-padanusarpane

siro hrsikesa-padabhivandane

kamam ca dasye na tu kama-kamyaya

yathottamasloka-janasraya ratih

 

"King Ambarisa fixed his mind on the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, engaged his

words in describing the abode of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the

temple of the Lord, his ears in hearing the pastimes of the Lord, his

eyes in seeing the form of the Lord, his body in touching the body of

the devotee, his nostrils in smelling the flavor of the flowers

offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, his tongue in tasting the

tulasi leaves offered to Him, his legs in traveling to the holy place

where His temple is situated, his head in offering obeisances unto the

Lord, and his desires in fulfilling the desires of the Lord... and all

these qualifications made him fit to become a mat-para devotee of the

Lord."

 

The word mat-para is most significant in this connection. How one can

become mat-para is described in the life of Maharaja Ambarisa. Srila

Baladeva Vidyabhusana, a great scholar and acarya in the line of the

mat-para, remarks, mad-bhakti-prabhavena sarvendriya-vijaya-purvika

svatma-drstih sulabheti bhavah. "The senses can be completely

controlled only by the strength of devotional service to Krsna." Also,

the example of fire is sometimes given: "As a blazing fire burns

everything within a room, Lord Visnu, situated in the heart of the

yogi, burns up all kinds of impurities." The Yoga-sutra also

prescribes meditation on Visnu, and not meditation on the void. The

so-called yogis who meditate on something which is not on the Visnu

platform simply waste their time in a vain search after some

phantasmagoria. We have to be Krsna conscious--devoted to the

Personality of Godhead. This is the aim of the real yoga.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.