Now Krishna will describe in next verse how one can practice spiritual life, how can one get higher taste, till now He said that we should seek the higher taste.
BG 2.61
SYNONYMS
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; pratishthita — 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.
Tani sarvani samyamya, tani sarvani, all the senses, samyamya, control
Yukta asita mat-parah, when one is situated in this situation, it is related to the question ‘kim asita’, so Krishna is saying ‘yukta asita’. When one engages the senses and situates oneself thus, how does one engage the senses? Mat-parah, fixing the mind on Me, this is the first place in the Bhagavad Gita when Krishna is referring to Himself. Mat-parah, this is the first drop of Bhakti in the Bhagavad Gita which Krishna has dropped till now. Till now, Krishna has not referred to Himself directly, and till now, Krishna has been the teacher of sense control. Yes, we all have to control our senses.
From here onward, Krishna is saying, ‘I am the object on which controlled senses should be fixed’ (tani sarvani samyamya, yukta asita mat-parah). When you do that, vase hi yasyendriyani, then you will be able to bring the senses under your conquest. Such a person who could do it, tasya prajna pratishthita, is known as a man of steady intelligence.
Control all the sense and the fix conscious on me.
In a sense, this verse is talking about three stages. ‘Tani sarvani samyamya’—’samyamya’ means restrain or control (we need to control when there is some opposition force). Krishna is talking about struggle, so in the stage of struggle, we need to have some level of control.
And this alone is not sufficient. After this, ‘yukta asita mat-parah’—after this, one fixes consciousness on Krishna. And when one fixes consciousness on Krishna, then ‘vase hi yasyendriyani’—after that, one conquers the senses.
So the first stage is control, then concentration, and then conquest.
1. So, Control -> control the senses.
For example, when practicing Krishna Consciousness (KC), we need to control the senses. We want to chant ‘Hare Krishna,’ we want to go to the temple, and even in the temple, if our eyes are running here and there, observing how others are dressed or what they are doing, then how can we experience anything spiritual in the temple? Even in the temple, we will be staying in bodily consciousness, looking at how others are dressed and what they are doing, etc. So, if we want to experience Krishna in the temple, some level of control is required. This is not easy, but it is not impossible. This level of self-control is achievable by everyone.
‘Tani sarvani samyamya’—so, first, there is control.”
- Then there is concentration. When one concentrates the mind on Krishna, and after one concentrates the mind on Krishna, then there is conquest.
Then, after that, one trains the horse to understand and behave properly. The horse is rewarded with food, nourishment, and care when it behaves well. Eventually, the horse becomes calm, and it is conquered or tamed.
Similarly, when our mind is restless, even when Krishna is present in front of us as the deity or through the holy name, we find it difficult to focus. We look here and there for nourishment and satisfaction. So, after control, there is concentration, and then there is conquest. This is when the senses become controlled.
Krishna is saying that one who follows this process is tasya prajna pratishthita, which means such a person is well situated, and their intelligence is well situated.
- Conquest: So, in this way, we conquer them. For example, in taming a horse, first, there is samyamya. When a horse is running here and there in the stable, the horse trainer tries to gain control over the horse using reins or other means. This is samyamya, where there is some amount of restraint.
Now, after describing this, Krishna will move forward to answer Arjuna’s question about ‘vrajeta kim?’ Of course, before He goes there, He explains what will happen when one fails to do this. Krishna has made a very smooth transition by using the word ‘yukta’ in Asita. ‘Yukta’ means connected or engaged. So, what is that engagement Krishna will talk about in verse 64?
In this verse, the primary point is that if we focus solely on control, control, and control, and fail to take the next steps of concentration and conquest, then control itself will fail. Because how long can we control? The mind will go wild, and eventually, it will overpower us.
Srila Prabhupada has quoted the example of Maharaja Ambarisa and Durvasa Muni. From the point of view of Varnashrama, the four varnas, with Kshatriyas being the second and Brahmanas being the first. And the four ashramas, with Sanyasi being higher than Grihasta.
So, from both the Varna and Ashram points of view, Durvasa Muni was considered higher. But Durvasa Muni did not have ‘mat-parah’; his mind was not fixed on Krishna. Particularly in this pastime, his focus was on his own renunciation, his identity as a great sage, and his desire to be honored. So, his concentration was not on Krishna. On the other hand, Ambarish Maharaj was ‘mat-parah.’ For this, Srila Prabhupada has quoted a series of verses from the Srimad Bhagavatam in the purport.
The king was able to control his senses because of the following qualifications, as mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (9.4.18–20):
“sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor
vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane
karau harer mandira-mārjanādiṣu
śrutiṁ cakārācyuta-sat-kathodaye”
First and foremost, it begins with “manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor,” which means fixing the mind on the Lotus Feet of Krishna. It is important to have the intention to fix the mind on Krishna, even if it may not be possible to do so directly. When we engage our senses with the intention of thinking about Krishna and fixing our mind on Him, it becomes easier to do so. Let’s see how we can engage our senses:
“vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane” refers to using speech to describe the glories of Vaikuntha, which can be understood as the abode of Lord Vishnu. Vaikuntha is also one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu mentioned in Vishnu Shashtra Nam and the 8th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So, by using our speech, we can describe the glories of Vaikuntha.
“karau harer mandira-mārjanādiṣu” means using our hands to clean the temple of the Lord. By physically engaging our hands in cleaning the temple, we serve the Lord.
“śrutiṁ cakārācyuta-sat-kathodaye” refers to using our ears to hear the auspicious and eternal glories of the Supreme Lord, who is all-attractive. In this world, we hear the stories and narratives of many people, such as politicians, cricketers, business people, scamsters, and criminals. However, the true and sublime narrative is that of the Supreme Lord. So, we should use our ears to hear about Him.
These instructions guide us on how to engage different senses in the service of Krishna and fix our mind on Him, as explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Mukunda-liṅgālaya-darśane dṛśau, so with eyes what did he do? So mukunda-liṅgālaya-darśane, linga refers to the form, so liṅgālaya, like Himalaya is the abode of Hima, similarly Pustakalaya, so mukunda-liṅgālaya means darshan of the deity of Krishna, and not just the deity of Krishna, but also the temple of Krishna. Even the temple reminds us of Krishna. That is why if we look in the past, temples have distinctive architecture. Temples have tall towers that remind us of Krishna. Lord Chaitanya would offer dandavat to Nila Chakra. And of course, we can go inside and also take Darshan of the Lord, which is also very auspicious. So we see the beautiful form of Mukunda and his temple.
Tad-bhṛtya-gātra-sparśe ’ṅga-saṅgamam, so what would he do with his body? Tad-bhṛtya? His devotees. Gātra-sparśe ’ṅga-saṅgamam, so when great devotees come, he will touch their lotus feet and take the dust on his head. He will use his body to touch the bodies of devotees with reverence.
Ghrāṇaṁ ca tat-pāda-saroja-saurabhe, śrīmat-tulasyā rasanāṁ tad-arpite, so ghrāṇaṁ means to accept. Ca tat-pāda-saroja-saurabhe, so what would he do with tat-pāda-saroja, the lotus flower that was offered to the Supreme Lord? He would smell it. Śrīmat-tulasyā rasanāṁ tad-arpite, and he will relish the Tulsi that is offered to the Supreme Lord. Then beyond that,
Pādau hareḥ kṣetra-padānusarpaṇe, so pādau, he will use his feet to go to Harer Kshetra, the temple, holy places, padānusarpaṇe, go around and circumambulate, and reverentially use his feet in that service.
Śiro hṛṣīkeśa-padābhivandane, he will use his head to offer respects to the Lord.
So after that, he will do dandavat pranam to the deities.
And after describing all these, kāmaṁ ca dāsye na tu kāma-kāmyayā, yathottama-śloka-janāśrayā ratiḥ, he made all his desires his servants, kāmaṁ ca dāsye, na tu kāma-kāmyayā, he did not become a desirer of desires, he did not become a servant of his desires. We will discuss Kama-Kami later on in 2.70 when the same phrase will come.
Yathottama-śloka-janāśrayā ratiḥ, so in this way Uathottama-śloka, that Supreme Lord, who is the shelter of all the people, in this way Ambrish Maharaj developed his rati, he has rati for the absolute truth, for the Uathottama-śloka, the Lord who is glorified by choice poetry.
If we look at this verse, what do we find in it?
He is engaging all his sensory faculties. We have five Karmendriyas and five Jayanendriyas, so examples are given to indicate that all of these are engaging.
Five Karmendrias:
- 2 Hands
- 2 legs
- And the speech
- Excretory organs, which are used to excrete impurities, cannot be used in the Lord’s service. So he used his karmendriyas in the service of the Lord.
It is significant to note that Ambrish Maharaj was not a Brahmana; he was a Kshatriya, and generally Kshatriyas are not supposed to preach. Kshatriyas create the facility for preaching, and Brahmanas do preaching. This is a general understanding, but we can see that Prithu Maharaj has done preaching. The point is that everyone should glorify the Lord in some way.
Similarly, he used his jayanendriyas like eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and skin.
It is not that Ambrish Maharaj was doing this all the time as a king; he also had his worldly duties.
So we also have to do worldly duties. This is an example of how we have to engage our senses in Krishna’s service lifelong. In 12.8 to 12.12, we will discuss how we can perform various levels of Bhakti.
When danger came for him, Ambrish Maharaj was not disturbed since he had practiced this lifelong. In the time of crisis, he was able to remember Krishna and take His shelter.
The verse is talking about control, concentration, and conquest. Srila Prabhupada is discussing concentration by engaging our senses.
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