Divine qualities-dama

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Dandavat pranams to all!

 

Yadaa samharate chaayam kurmo’ngaaneeva sarvashah;Indriyaaneendriyaarthebhyas tasya prajnaa pratishthitaa.When, like the tortoise which withdraws its limbs on all sides, he withdraws his senses from the sense-objects, then his wisdom becomes steady. (BG 2.58)

 

 

 

Chapter 16- Verse 1...the divine qualities.

 

Sri Bhagavaan Uvaacha: Abhayam sattwasamshuddhih jnaanayogavyavasthitih; Daanam damashcha yajnashcha swaadhyaayastapa aarjavam. (BG 16.1)[Declaring the first attributes of the list of the divine qualities, ] The Blessed Lord said: Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in Yoga and knowledge, alms-giving, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity and straightforwardness,

 

In his commentary, Swami Chinmayanandaji grouped together daana, dama and yagna, each of which represents a practice of going beyond the immediacy of the pleasure and pains of the senses, minimizing the importance of the crude finite experiences associated with these organs and their fleeting progeny, in order to give proper place to more important matters, that which is eternal and finite . He said as follows:

 

"If charity (daana) develops in one the capacity to detach oneself from the wealth that one possesses and share it with others who are poorer, then we can say that control of the sense-organs (dama) is the application of the same spirit of sacrifice in one's personal life. To give a complete licence for indulgence to the sense-organs is to waste, unproductively, the total human vitality. To economise in the expenditure of energy through the sense organs in the fields of sense-objects is to discover an extra amount of untapped energy. This energy can be made use of as the motive power behind the mind and intellect that is set on a flight to the higher realms of meditation. To keep the mind turned up to the Self, a subtle energy is called forth, and it will be discovered within ourselves when we control our sense excesses. Without dama and daana the pilgrimage to Truth is merely a dream. "

 

 

Dama, or control of these external senses, requires conscious self-restraint in a world where we are surrounded by external sensual objects of all kinds. This self-control, grounded in an attitude of devotion, breaks the ties that bind one to this world of unreal objects. Devotion to the Lord is all one needs to cast aside the desires which feed the tendencies of the senses to self indulge. For then, the attention is directed elsewhere and the fleeting objects prancing by on the screen lose their appeal, becoming almost boring in their now empty allure. One still has to act in the world, but the mind and the heart are firmly rooted in the Self, playing out the role assigned without any attachment to it or its results.

 

 

Lord Krishna provides much guidance thoughout Chapter 2 of the Holy Geeta regarding the control of the senses and the peace which prevails when one conquers their hold upon happiness and suffering.

 

 

Raagadwesha viyuktaistu vishayaanindriyaishcharan;Aatmavashyair vidheyaatmaa prasaadamadhigacchati.But the self-controlled man, moving amongst objects with the senses under restraint, and free from attraction and repulsion, attains to peace (BG 2.64)

 

Things of the world: career or business success or failure, happy and unhappy marriages or no marriage, successful and delinquent children or no children, nice homes and shabby homes, nice cars or no car, the food we eat, the music we listen to, the scenes which unfold around us, all become recognized as the mithya they really are, a parade of phenomenon to be observed, even accepted and embraced, but without attachment or revulsion. The Lord tells us to endure them, to abandon the clutches of the material world, to remain strong and steadfast in our faith that He will lift us up where we belong when we focus instead upon Him, intent upon Him, the Supreme Reality.

 

Vishayaa vinivartante niraahaarasya dehinahRasavarjam raso’pyasya param drishtwaa nivartate.The objects of the senses turn away from the abstinent man, leaving the longing (behind); but his longing also turns away on seeing the Supreme. (BG 2.59)

 

Hare Krishna!!!