02.62-63: Whatever catches our attention catches us

The Bhagavad-gita (2.62-63) describes how giving our attention to any object stimulates overpowering internal irrational desires that impel us to self-defeating behavior. This universal psychological principle of “catching us by catching our attention” is exploited to the hilt by the advertising industry. Advertisements impel us to impoverishing shopping sprees and injurious indulgences by provocative depiction of sensual objects. However, this “attention-catching principle” that normally binds us can also free us if we intelligently re-direct it toward Krishna. If we strive to consciously give our attention to the aspect of Krishna that attracts our heart – be it his enchanting deities, his soothing holy names, his magnetizing kirtans, his marvelous pastimes, his compassionate devotees or his fulfilling service, we will soon pleasantly discover that Krishna has caught our attention and thereby caught us. And Krishna’s catching us is supremely auspicious, for he frees us from tiresome sensual desires and bestows upon us the supreme spiritual liberation.