Senses and Need for their Control - P Govindarajan

Spiritual life begins with exercise of control over the five senses of perception. In Srimad Bhagavadgita the Lord declares that the aspirant’s understanding becomes steady only when his senses are all completely restrained from the objects of senses and adds that the turbulent senses can wean away the mind of even the wise who strive for self-control. The leg of Gajendra, the elephant, was caught only by a single crocodile but the mind of aspirants can be pulled in different directions by the five crocodiles in the form of senses that wander among the various alluring objects of the world. The ephemeral and transient pleasures of mundane world wear out the vigour of the senses making the mind emaciated and weak for the higher pursuits of life. Those who want to realize the reality of Self, which is eternal, imperishable and beyond all changes, should keep the senses away from the transitory and finite pleasures of earthly life.

In the Katha Upanisad, the body is compared to a chariot, the senses to horses, the sense objects to the diverse pathways; the mind is conceived as rein, intellect as the charioteer and the Atma or Self as the master of the chariot. The master traveling in the chariot can reach his destination safely only when his driver knows the right path and drives the horses exercising proper control over them by means of the rein. So also the Self in the body can attain the supreme goal of life only if the discriminatory intellect possesses true knowledge to direct the mind and the senses on the proper path to progress. In the Gita the Lord says that the senses, mind and intellect are the seat of desires. Eyes can see either the beautiful or the ugly sights, the ears can hear melodious or the disharmonious sounds, nose can smell agreeable or foul odours, tongue can taste sweet or bitter eatables and skin can feel the touch of hard or soft things. These perceptions of the senses will continue to function as long as life lasts in the body and one cannot escape from their mischief. It is for the discriminatory intellect to choose what is good and beneficial to keep away from the evil and harmful.

Human beings have been vested with necessary intelligence and free will to choose what is beneficial for the well-being of the body and mind. Unbridled senses can force the mind to exercise the wrong choice that can end in misery and suffering in the long run. Repression or suppression of the senses by compulsion or force to deliberately keep them away from the sense objects, can cause more harm than good. In the Gita the Lord brands the aspirants who control the organs but dwell mentally on the objects of senses as hypocrites. Living beings follow their basic nature and even the wise behave in conformity with their own nature and restraint by compulsion or force, cannot be of any avail. If senses cannot be brought under control by self-efforts, what is the way out of this intractable impasse? The right path to be pursued by the aspirants after Truth, is revealed by the Lord in the Gita.

The Lord says: "It is said that the senses are great; greater than the senses is the mind; greater than the mind is the intellect; but what is greater than the discriminatory intellect is He. Thus, understanding Him as greater than the intellect, restraining the self (mind) by the Self (Spirit) slay the inner enemy in the form of desire, difficult to overcome." The Lord reiterates the same teaching with these words: "Let him raise the Self (mind) by the Self (Spirit) and not let the self (mind) become depressed; for verily is the Self (Spirit) the friend of the self (mind), and also the Self the self’s enemy." This enigmatic passage repeats the word Atma twice by saying Atmanam Atmana. In Sanskrit the word `Atma’ can refer to the body or mind or soul or Spirit or Paramatma. As self-efforts to control senses and mind by compulsive repression or forcible suppression can make the senses to revolt and cause greater harm, their sublimation can be a better proposition. The Katha Upanisad rightly warns: "Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, difficult to cross and hard to tread, so say the wise." Kena Upanisad declares that the soul draws its strength from the Inner Ruling Spirit. Gita says that among thousands of people, hardly one strives for perfection and of these barely one realizes the Ultimate in truth.

The Mundaka Upanishad wisely advises: "The Self is not gained by the weak-willed nor by the careless nor by those practicing austerity devoid of proper insignia. But wise men who strive with vigour, attention and propriety attain the likeness and similarity in the world of Brahman." Self-efforts should be tempered with the Grace of God and this is made amply clear in the Gita by the Lord in these words: "Having subjugated the senses, the aspirant should fix his mind on Me." The same advice is repeated by the Lord in the chapter on the Yoga of Self discipline where He says: "The Yogi should restrain his senses and mind, fix attention on and become absorbed in Me." In the very first verse of the seventh chapter, the Lord declares: "I shall expound to you how a Yogi taking refuge in Me and with mind firmly fixed on Me, will realize Me fully and with certainty."

Both the Katha and Mundaka Upanishads clearly and unambiguously declare: "This Self cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, nor by intellect nor even by much learning; by him It is attained whom It chooses and to whom Atman reveals Its own form." Discriminatory intellect should direct the senses to see the beautiful or auspicious, hear the auspicious, touch the pure and sacred, smell the perfumery scent and taste what has been offered to the Lord. This is the sublimation of senses by directing them to the higher and superior ends. Invocatory verse of the Mundaka Upanisad declares: "May our ears hear what is auspicious; may we, efficient to worship, see with our eyes what is auspicious; may we, who sing Your praise, live our allotted span of life in perfect health and strength." The eyelids protect the eyes and tongue is protected by teeth and lips to remind us of the fact that of the five senses these two are more important. Close the eyes to turn them within on the Inner Ruling Lord and speak less to hear more of the auspicious, the divine and the sublime.

Senses have to be used only for good and divine purposes. Bhakti is the use of the senses, mind and the intellect for the worship of the Supreme Lord. Sublimation of the senses to the Highest purpose, is far easier and superior to the deliberate restraint of senses by self-efforts through repression or force. The senses can revolt at anytime during life and can cause the downfall of the mind and intellect and so ceaseless vigilance and care is necessary. The Upanishads and the Gita reveal the path of sublimation of the senses by seeking refuge in the Lord and they do not advocate deliberate repression or forcible suppression by self-efforts. Unless the senses are brought under control, the mind cannot concentrate on higher pursuits of life.

© "Kalyana-Kalpataru" (August 2003) published by Jagdish Prasad Jalan for Gobind Bhawan Karyalaya, Gita Press, Gorakhpur. Reprinted with permission.

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