“Materially, everyone wants to satisfy his senses, and he wants God to be the order supplier for such satisfaction. The Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent that they may covet. But when one takes the opposite way—namely, when one tries to satisfy the senses of Govinda without desiring to satisfy one’s own senses—then by the grace of Govinda all desires of the living entity are satisfied.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 1.32-35 Purport)

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1. Eat too much

“Why are you so tired today? Oh, because of dinner last night? Who told you to eat the entire pizza pie? Save some for later. I get it that the food tastes best when it is fresh out of the oven, but think in the long-term. You will eat again. It is not like this meal is your last on earth. Just see the negative consequences. You can barely do anything today. You are useless.”

2. Eat too late

“Why are you so upset today? You feel as if your blood pressure is through the roof? I told you not to eat so late. It is better to tolerate the hunger and deal with it in the morning. The body shuts down at night. The individual inside essentially withdraws and takes shelter of the subtle elements: mind, intelligence, and ego. By stuffing all that food in there so late you did not give your body a chance to relax.”

3. Eat too often

“Why are you so impatient? You knew this ride was going to take several hours. You keep looking at the clock because of your eating habits. Every time you eat, it is like kickstarting your digestive system. That is fine if you want to maintain a perpetual fire, but then you will not be able to tolerate difficult situations. This isn’t even that difficult. Just sit quietly for a few hours and enjoy the scenery from the window.”

4. Constant talking

“Do you know why you never accept good advice? Because you are always talking or a participant in an endless conversation. It is like you refuse to be alone with your thoughts. Your mind will remain constantly agitated. Granted, you are fortunate in that with the advancements of technology you never have to be alone. You can always find some distraction, but that is not good for you. If you want actual peace, prosperity, and happiness, you need to create calm for at least some period of time.”

5. Irregular habits in cleanliness

“How do you expect to get anywhere if you are so irregular with your habits? When was the last time you took a shower? You just follow whatever idea springs in your mind, without considering the long-term implications. If you do not clean yourself on a regular basis, both internally and externally, you will never be happy.”

…

Vedic literature presents this concept of ajitendriyah. It is a Sanskrit word that basically combines three components. The starting point is indriya. These are the senses. Depending on the granularity to which one prefers in the analysis, there can be up to twenty-four elements involved. These include the five working senses and the five senses for obtaining knowledge. In general, when we speak of the senses, we are referring to hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, and seeing.

Next, we add the term jita. This is victory or conquering. A person is jitendriyah if they have conquered their senses. This means that they are not so easily enticed by different objects to which the senses might be drawn. We can take a basic example of someone who strictly adheres to their diet. For whatever reason, they are avoiding carbohydrates for a period of time. If they should happen to sit down at a buffet table that has endless pizza and pasta, they can avoid the temptation. Despite the senses dictating otherwise, this person is in control.

If we add a negation in front, we get ajitendriyah. This is someone who has been conquered by the senses. Under the sober analysis, this is the worst condition to find. We have notable characters from history who suffered from this pitiable condition despite the visuals providing a different story. Hiranyakashipu and Ravana were literally kings of the world. They controlled practically everything. They could eat and sleep as much as they wanted. They did not need to ask a manager for using PTO days. There was no limit to the intake. Despite the comfortable position, they were both ajitendriyah.

अवश्यं विनशिष्यन्ति सर्वे रावण राक्षसाः
येषां त्वं कर्कशो राजा दुर्बुद्धिरजितेन्द्रियः

avaśyaṃ vinaśiṣyanti sarve rāvaṇa rākṣasāḥ
yeṣāṃ tvaṃ karkaśo rājā durbuddhirajitendriyaḥ

“O Ravana, inevitably all of the Rakshasas will be completely destroyed, for they have a person like you, who is stupid, lustful, and unable to control his senses, for their king.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 48.22)

Since this is a miserable position, Vedic culture focuses on restricting the engagement of the senses. The initial emphasis is on control. As we see from the above reviewed examples, from experiences common to us all we see the benefit to implementing a system of control. If we constantly agitate the senses, we will not be happy. On the other side, if we have some control, we can sit in an empty room, all by ourselves, and be in total peace.

The issue is how to implement the control. How do we place restrictions on ourselves, voluntarily, when there is no certificate of achievement on the other side? What if there is no monetary reward? What if we cannot boast to our friends of how much in control we are? What exactly will be in it for us? How can we rest comfortably not knowing if the ordeal was worthwhile?

In this regard, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada mentions a specific name of God. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as Govinda because He gives pleasure to the cows and to the senses. This pleasure is through His association. Since God is Absolute, He can give association through His image, through His words recorded for future consultation, and even through His name.

This means that if I remember Govinda, if I try to satisfy His senses instead of mine, I automatically inch closer to the jitendriyah platform. I am doing this for my ultimate benefit, while maintaining the interest of Govinda. I am not necessarily trying to win a contest. I am not looking for a gold medal in an Olympic sport measuring sense control.

This dedication to the satisfaction of Govinda’s senses is known as bhakti-yoga. The life of bhakti is not for eliminating the senses. Rather, we simply reduce the agitation. Otherwise, the use of the senses turns profitless; it is anartha. The highest artha, purushartha, is actually spiritual in nature, and it is automatically satisfied in the connection with Govinda.

In Closing:

Since too much to eat,
Exhausted in my seat.

Since steadily repeated,
By conditions defeated.

Agitation not the way,
The wise and knowledgeable say.

Satisfaction of Govinda try,
For climbing to platform high.

Categories: the five

Tags: bhakti, dailyprompt, govinda, poem, poems, poetry, yoga