Suppose we are driving a car. In the path of our vision come so many objects: trees, houses, passers-by, billboards and landmarks. If we pay attention to everything we see, we will endanger ourselves. That’s why we pay attention primarily to things relevant to our purpose – someone intruding into our path or some sign telling us where to turn.

Not giving our attention to everything in our vision is basic common sense. But such common sense is not so common when it comes to navigating through our life-journey. During this journey, our eyes often go on a continuous scan of our range of vision in search of some pleasurable object. Such searching frequently traps us. As we are finite beings, we can never enjoy all the objects we see. To be infatuated with objects that we can’t enjoy is to be trapped in agitation and dissatisfaction. If we pursue pleasure indiscriminately, we get trapped in a web of serious consequences.

Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (02.58) asks us to withdraw our senses from the sense objects and gives the example of a tortoise withdrawing its limbs within its shell. A tortoise withdraws its limbs because it is instinctively aware of the presence of danger. To similarly withdraw our senses, we need to make ourselves intellectually aware of the danger of indulging in visual temptations. Gita wisdom provides such awareness.

More importantly, the Gita recommends the process of bhakti-yoga that helps us find higher happiness through absorption in Krishna. In this pursuit of higher happiness, bhakti-yoga integrates all our senses, including our eyes. We can keep our eyes engaged in serving Krishna, especially in relishing his supremely beautiful form. By such conscientious devotional engagement, we realize increasingly that we have found an object far more worthy of our attention than worldly temptations.

To know more about this verse, please click on the image

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