Q. 195. CAN THE ROAMING SENSES AFFECT A PERSON`S INTELLIGENCE ? HOW CAN ONE HAVE STEADY INTELLIGENCE ?
A. BY SRILA PRABHUPADA.
indriyāṇāḿ hi caratāḿ
yan mano 'nuvidhīyate
tad asya harati prajñāḿ
vāyur nāvam ivāmbhasi
SYNONYMS
indriyāṇām — of the senses; hi — certainly; caratām — while roaming; yat — with which; manaḥ — the mind; anuvidhīyate — becomes constantly engaged; tat— that; asya — his; harati — takes away; prajñām — intelligence; vāyuḥ — wind; nāvam — a boat; iva — like; ambhasi — on the water.
TRANSLATION
As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man's intelligence.
(Bhagavad-Gita As It Is).
PURPORT
Unless all of the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord, even one of them engaged in sense gratification can deviate the devotee from the path of transcendental advancement. As mentioned in the life of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, all of the senses must be engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for that is the correct technique for controlling the mind.
tāni sarvāṇi saḿyamya
yukta āsīta mat-paraḥ
vaśe hi yasyendriyāṇi
tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
SYNONYMS
tāni — those senses; sarvāṇi — all; saḿyamya — keeping under control; yuktaḥ — engaged; āsīta — should be situated; mat-paraḥ — in relationship with Me;vaśe — in full subjugation; hi — certainly; yasya — one whose; indriyāṇi — senses; tasya — his; prajñā — consciousness; pratiṣṭhitā — 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.
(Bhagavad-Gita As It Is).
PURPORT
That the highest conception of yoga perfection is Kṛṣṇa consciousness is clearly explained in this verse. And unless one is Kṛṣṇa conscious it is not at all possible to control the senses. As cited above, the great sage Durvāsā Muni picked a quarrel with Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, and Durvāsā Muni unnecessarily became angry out of pride and therefore could not check his senses.
On the other hand, the king, although not as powerful a yogī as the sage, but a devotee of the Lord, silently tolerated all the sage's injustices and thereby emerged victorious. 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-pādāravindayor
vacāḿsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane
karau harer mandira-mārjanādiṣu
śrutiḿ cakārācyuta-sat-kathodaye
mukunda-lińgālaya-darśane dṛśau
tad-bhṛtya-gātra-sparśe 'ńga-sańgamam
ghrāṇaḿ ca tat-pāda-saroja-saurabhe
śrīmat-tulasyā rasanāḿ tad-arpite
pādau hareḥ kṣetra-padānusarpaṇe
śiro hṛṣīkeśa-padābhivandane
kāmaḿ ca dāsye na tu kāma-kāmyayā
yathottama-śloka-janāśrayā ratiḥ
"King Ambarīṣa fixed his mind on the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, engaged his words in describing the abode of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the temple of the Lord, his ears in hearing the pastimes of the Lord, his eyes in seeing the form of the Lord, his body in touching the body of the devotee, his nostrils in smelling the flavor of the flowers offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, his tongue in tasting the tulasī leaves offered to Him, his legs in traveling to the holy place where His temple is situated, his head in offering obeisances unto the Lord, and his desires in fulfilling the desires of the Lord... and all these qualifications made him fit to become a mat-para devotee of the Lord."
The word mat-para is most significant in this connection. How one can become mat-para is described in the life of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, a great scholar and ācārya in the line of the mat-para, remarks, mad-bhakti-prabhāvena sarvendriya-vijaya-pūrvikā svātma-dṛṣṭiḥ sulabhetibhāvaḥ. "The senses can be completely controlled only by the strength of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa."
Also, the example of fire is sometimes given: "As a blazing fire burns everything within a room, Lord Viṣṇu, situated in the heart of the yogī, burns up all kinds of impurities." The Yoga-sūtra also prescribes meditation on Viṣṇu, and not meditation on the void.
The so-called yogīs who meditate on something which is not on the Viṣṇu platform simply waste their time in a vain search after some phantasmagoria. We have to be Kṛṣṇa conscious — devoted to the Personality of Godhead. This is the aim of the real yoga.
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