Bhagavad Gita - Daily - II 2:60 II

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|| Shree Hari ||

Ram Ram

 

|| 2-60 ||

 

yatato hy api kaunteya, purushasya vipascitah

indriyaani pramaatheeni, haranti prasabham manah

 

" As the turbulent senses, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), (due to relish still

remaining), forcibly sway the mind of even a wise man, who practices

self-control. "

 

Comment:

 

The wise aspirant should not trust his senses. The reason is that as long as

there is rasa-budhi (desire for relish) at ego level, the possibility exists for

the aspirant to take a fall.

 

From " Gita Prabodhani " in Hindi, page 58 by Swami Ramsukhdasji

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Chapter 2, Verse 60 is as follows;

 

YatataH = of the striving

Hi = indeed

Api = even

Kaunteya = O Arjuna!

PuruShasya = of man

VipashchitaH = of wise

IndriyaaNi = senses

Pramaatheeni = turbulent

Haranti = carry away

Prasabham = forcibly

ManaH = the mind

 

English translation:-

 

Even though a wise person, while striving for perfection in his Yoga Saadhanaa

and Upaasanaa, tries to maintain the discerning abilities of his intellect ever

alert, his impetuous and turbulent senses forcibly try to carry his yet to be

well-focused mind, away towards worldly pleasures.

 

Comment:

 

Conquest of the ever treacherous and turbulent five sensory organs as well as

the capricious mind is indeed the litmus test of a wise person, who strives for

perfection in his Yoga Saadhanaa and Upaasanaa. The spiritual refinement of a

Yogi is measured by the yardstick of self-control in adverse circumstances.

 

" People who live in localities infested with venomous creatures should always be

alert and mindful of the potential dangers. Even so, people intent on spiritual

growth should guard themselves against indulgent senses tainted with lust and

greed. " …..Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa

 

In this verse the adjective `Pramaatheeni' i.e. turbulent has been attributed to

the sensory organs. Similarly in verse 34 of chapter 6 of Shreemad Bhagawad

Geeta the adjective `Pramaathi' i.e. turbulent has been associated with the

vacillating mind.

 

Unless and until the intellect of a Yogi is firmly established in the singular

focus of the `Parama-Aatman', he develops an ego that he has already become a

`JitendriyaH' i.e. he has conquered his senses and the mind. But at the crucial

moment, the impulsive senses and the fickle mind, hijack the intellect towards

worldly pleasures. This is precisely what happened to Sage Vishvaamitra when

Menakaa the sensuous heavenly temptress, as per instructions of God Indra,

successfully enticed him and managed to interrupt his Yoga Saadhanaa and

Upaasanaa. If such a great ascetic could fall to sheer disgrace, how careful an

ordinary Sadhak ought to be to refrain from sensual temptations!

 

Therefore, Lord Krishna cautions Arjuna about the pushes and pulls of the

sensory organs and sense objects respectively. Being a student of Electrical and

Electronics engineering, it reminds me of the famous push-pull electronics

circuits.

 

In the initial stages of Yoga Saadhanaa and Upaasanaa, every Yogi is torn apart

by these push-pull effects. His intellect tries to turn his attention away from

the worldly pleasures while the sensory organs and sense objects under the

influence of impulsive and mercurial mind, try to bring him back to square one

position of worldly comforts and pleasures.

 

The sense organs constantly yearn for enchanting sense objects. The eyes court

beautiful sights and congenial companions. The ears are in search of pleasing

words of praise. The nose desires sweet fragrant smells. The tongue craves for

tasty food. The skin is always expecting soft and sensuous touches. As these

unstoppable and divergent centrifugal forces, sway the impulsive mind of even a

learned person, the net result is that innumerable impediments are created in

his spiritual progress. In addition to that, if the fickle mind completely takes

over the discerning intellect of a Yogi, then there is complete and guaranteed

destruction of his personality.

 

In the book titled `VivekachuDaamaNee', Aadya Shankaraachaarya has given

excellent illustrations of five creatures, which are driven to self destruction

due to their respective weakness of a singular sensory organ. A moth has

weakness of eyes. It rushes swiftly into a blazing fire and dies on the spot. In

the Verse 29 in Chapter 11 of Shreemad Bhagawad Geeta, Arjuna has used this

simile to illustrate that many warriors of great reputation were found by him to

be rushing into the gigantic blazing mouth of Lord Vishnu with great speed to

meet their own destruction.

 

In the book titled `VivekachuDaamaNee', there are further illustrations of a

fish which has weakness of tongue. It keeps gobbling everything that comes its

way including the hook and as the fisherman pulls it out of water, the fish

dies. A deer has weakness of ears. The hunters beat drums loudly and the deer

starts running helter skelter all over the place and eventually gets trapped. An

elephant has weakness of skin. During mating season, while madly running after a

female elephant's sensuous touch, it gets trapped in a pit dug by the hunter. A

bee has weakness of nose. In search of honey in the deep crevices of a flower,

it gets trapped into it when the petals of the flower fold back in the late

evening.

 

Thus, a weakness of a singular organ is sufficient to destroy those five

creatures as illustrated above. The tragedy of a human being is that he / she

has weakness of all five sensory organs. Therefore the potential damage is not

only fivefold but the cumulative exponential growth of those cravings culminate

into a fatal devastating effect.

 

Lord Krishna portrays the helplessness of even a wise person and cautions Arjuna

to guard himself against the continuous onslaughts of the incorrigibly abusive

tendencies of human sensory organs and ever recalcitrant human mind.

 

Thanks & Best Regards,

Shrikant Joshi.

-----------------------

 

|| Shree Hari ||

Ram Ram

 

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From Gita Talk Moderators

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-----------------------------

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|| Shree Hari ||

Ram Ram

 

Link: — What is the harm if this relish (for sense enjoyments) does not cease?

This has been explained in the following verse.

 

yatato hyapi kaunteya purusasya vipaschitah

 

indriyaani pramaatheeni haranti prasabham manah || 60 ||

 

The turbulent senses, O son of Kunti, forcibly sway the mind of even a wise man,

who practises self-control.

 

Comment: —

 

'Yatato hyapi kaunteya purusasya vipascitah indriyani pramathlni haranti

prasabham manah'* — The term, 'wise man' has been used, for a man who is engaged

in spiritual disciplines and practises self-control. He performs his duty

without attachment and desire for its fruit. He (Self, swayam) discriminates

between the real and the unreal, duty and non-duty, essence (core) and

non-essence (not core). He is aware and alert and knows ahead of time the

results of the various actions. His sentiments (bhavas) are geared towards the

welfare of all creatures and he acts accordingly. For such a wise one the

phrase 'Yatato hyapi kaunteya purusasya vipascitah " has been used. The turbulent

senses of even such a wise man pulls, attracts and draws his mind in fascination

towards pleasures. The reason is that so long as the mind is not permanently

established in God, the past influences of enjoyed pleasures, attract and draw

the senses and mind towards pleasures. Even some sages (wise ones with

discrimination, that were deeply engaged in spiritual disciplines), their senses

were not entirely under their control. Therefore a striver (spiritual aspirant)

should never trust that his senses are under his control and at no times must he

proud that he has gained victory over his senses. A striver (sadhak) must

always be on guard.*

 

* Here Lord Krsna has called the senses turbulent and in the

thirty-fourth verse of the sixth chapter Arjuna has called the mind

turbulent. It means that both the senses and the mind are turbulent.

Similarly here it is explained that senses carry away the mind, while in the

sixty-seventh verse of this chapter it is explained that the mind carries away

discrimination. It means that both senses and mind are impetuous. So a striver

should control both of them.

 

From " The Bhagavadgita - Sadhak Sanjivani " in English, page 214-215 by Swami

Ramsukhdasji