Now Krishna will say how activity is preferable to renunciation

Bg 3.7

yas tv indriyāṇi manasā
niyamyārabhate ’rjuna
karmendriyaiḥ karma-yogam
asaktaḥ sa viśiṣyate

Word for word:

yaḥ — one who; tu — but; indriyāṇi — the senses; manasā — by the mind; niyamya — regulating; ārabhate — begins; arjuna — O Arjuna; karma–indriyaiḥ — by the active sense organs; karma–yogam — devotion; asaktaḥ — without attachment; saḥ — he; viśiṣyate — is by far the better.

Translation:

On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga [in Kṛṣṇa consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior.

Yas tv indriyāṇi manasā, therefore controlling the senses with the mind, niyamyārabhate. Niyamyā is control, ārabhate is to begin. So what does one begin?

Karmendriyaiḥ karma-yogam, one engages the Karmendriya and practices Karma Yoga asaktaḥ. How does one practice Karma Yoga by detachment, sa viśiṣyate. Viśiṣyate means is better, superior.

So Krishna here recommends engagements in contrast with renunciation, so it is far better to engage oneself positively using the senses. The significant word here is karmendriyaiḥ (hands, legs, speech). We engage all of them; we won’t keep them passive.

Even for yogis, their Jnanendriyas will not be inactive; they will be seeing, smelling, of course, they cut it down, but the primary action that causes bondage is not just what we acquire through Jnana Indriya. Yes, if we perceive tempting objects, that itself will cause temptation, but what causes primary bondage is when we engage karmendriyas. When I see something that brings some contamination, but when I act on what I see, then I get caught. For example, I smell or see some delicious food item. So, okay, information is coming through the senses, but karmendriya, when I go there with my legs and stuff inside, as if I put a boulder inside my stomach, then there is a health problem. And if the food is not offered to Krishna, there is karmic bondage also. So, Krishna is referring to karmendriya here, since when we act with karmendriya, the bondage occurs. So, He says it is far better to regulate the senses and with detachment practice Karma Yoga.

Now, we may wonder how we can practice Karma Yoga if we do not have an adequate level of detachment. Some people feel that actually it is better to go away from sense objects so that at least I will not fall prey to Maya. Therefore, I will stay safe. Some people feel that if I am in contact with the world constantly and if I will be exposed to sense objects, I will fall prey to Maya. So, let me stay away from sense objects. To some extent, it is true that out of sight is out of mind. If we will not perceive sense objects, it will go out of mind. But some things are so deeply rooted in the mind that out of sight doesn’t make it out of mind, but actually, when something goes out of sight, it will become all the more prominent in the mind, and we start looking for where it is, where can I find it? So, detachment has to be there to some extent, and detachment comes from Gyan. Without Gyan, we cannot have the practice of devotional service properly. Gyan doesn’t refer to Gyan Yoga but it refers to philosophical understanding. When we have proper philosophical understanding, by that philosophical understanding, we can steadily practice devotional service, and when we practice devotional service, thus we make spiritual advancement.

So here Sri Krishna is talking about engaging the senses.

As devotees, certainly, we don’t want to expose ourselves to sense objects that take us away from Bhakti, but some regulated engagement keeps us steadily practicing spiritual life. For example, without eating, we cannot practice devotional service, so we can eat nicely, but it is eating prasadam that is how we become purified.

S.P. Purport: Don’t become a pseudo-transcendentalist for the sake of living and sense enjoyment.

S.P. Purport, which is a famous saying from Srila BSST: A sincere sweeper in the street is far better than the charlatan meditator who meditates only for the sake of making a living.

So, people in saffron, or those who are chanting and worshiping, they get respect and also get donations. So there are many people like that who adopt this. They adopt the garb of a renunciate so that they get all these things. Renunciation should not be taken just because someone doesn’t want to take up responsibility. Some people think that they have to go to the office and work, and after that, they will get some money. So instead of that, let me just renounce and wear a saffron robe, and then people will give me donations and respect. So renunciation should not be taken as an escape from the hard work of material life. If that is the purpose, then we are cheating ourselves and cheating others. The purpose of renunciation is to have a greater focus on Krishna. So such types of pretenders ruin spiritual culture. Such people often exploit others, which generally gets widely published, and then people get a general perception that everybody who is in a renounced order is like that. There should be a proper understanding for both those who are accepting a renounced order and those who are respecting a renounced order.

So those who have accepted a renounced order should follow the standard, and those giving respect can give respect to all. But we have to also look at the life of the person, and if he is not living properly, we should not associate with them. Srila Vishvanath Chakraverthi Thakur says that even if a devotee is not behaving properly, we should respect him only from a distance. We should not associate with such devotees. The same applies to renunciates also.

This especially happens in Dhams. Dhams are places of devotion and also deviation. So when we go in the association of devotees to Dhams, we advance in devotion. People go to Dhams to give donations, and some people take the garb of devotees to take donations from pilgrims. So we have to be cautious from our side.

Actually, different people come to the renounced order for different purposes.

Because Srila Prabhupada has provided systematic understanding, we understand what the purpose of the renounced order is. Also, Prabhupada had set up strong standards for the renounced order, so because of that, people who are not very serious about spiritual life will not come to the renounced order. They will think it is too strict, forget it, like waking up early in the morning, chanting 16 rounds, following the four regulative principles, doing the morning program; they think it is too much of a price to pay for some prestige and donations. It’s better to go outside only. So generally, Srila Prabhupad has created such safeguards. This kind of pseudo-renunciates will not be able to maintain KC life. But still, some people can creep through the safeguards, so we have to be careful. But beyond that, outside ISKCON, there are many people who do this. So as devotees, we need to be careful. But overall, our focus is not on renouncing but on connecting, so we connect everything to Krishna. People can use their talent in Krishna’s service.

So karmendriyaiḥ karma-yogam, like Tamal Krishna Maharaj told Srila Prabhupada during land dealing for Juhu temple that it became so complex and he is not able to concentrate on chanting, and it is disturbing his chanting. At that time, Srila Prabhupada smiled and said, “Yes, it is disturbing my chanting also.” That was the last thing Tamal Krishna Maharaj expected. Like Prabhupada is a pure devotee, Mahabhagvat; how can he feel disturbance in chanting? And then Srila Prabhupada said, “Your anxiety for serving Krishna will take you back to Krishna.” So as devotees, we make advancement by developing our relationship with Krishna, and developing our relationship means taking responsibilities. Krishna wants His message to spread, and we are taking up the responsibility to spread this message. So taking up responsibility means accepting anxiety. This way, we are expressing our affection and devotion to Krishna, and that itself will lead to spiritual advancement. And of course, we have to take up anxiety which is manageable for us. We can go back to senior devotees and tell them, “I can do this much,” and other things can be allocated to other devotees. We can go and tell this to senior devotees. But in general, we should know that we should not be running away from anxiety in the name of spirituality. Taking up anxiety for Krishna’s sake will make us advance in spirituality.

SP in purport: “A sincere sweeper in the street is far better than the charlatan meditator who meditates only for the sake of making a living.” SP has compared a sincere sweeper with a charlatan meditator to mention that externals don’t matter over here. From a Varnashram point of view, a sweeper may be called a Sudra, but if that sweeper is doing devotional activities responsibly, then the speaker will make spiritual advancement. So the externals are used to some extent in the aid of internals. But if internals are there, then whatever may be the externals, one will keep advancing spiritually.