Bhagavad Gita Overview Chapter 5

We are going to discuss Chapter 5 from the Bhagavad Gita, and we will discuss this theme broadly about the search for pleasure. But does anyone remember the point at which yesterday’s Chapter 4 ended? Krishna tells Arjuna to take the sword of knowledge and fight. Remember: “Arise and fight.”

So now, what happens for Arjuna is that while Krishna is using the word fight clearly metaphorically, still, through much of the fourth chapter, Krishna has talked about sacrifice. Krishna has talked about going to a wise person and getting learning. Krishna has focused much more on knowledge, on the cultivation of knowledge, as contrasted directly with fighting. You see, in the entire fourth chapter, the reference to fighting comes only in the last verses where he says, “Therefore, arise and fight.”

So, what is happening here is that in Chapter 4, the focus is on wisdom, cultivating knowledge. Now, Krishna is telling what kind of wisdom will come to that, but the conclusion is: fight against doubt with the sword of wisdom. So then, Arjuna has a question: does Krishna really want me to fight this war, or not? Krishna has said that wisdom is what enables us to recognize why to sacrifice, how to sacrifice, and how sacrifice elevates us. That was the theme again and again. Now, I mentioned how the commentators tell us that the whole Kurukshetra war is like a battlefield—sorry, the Kurukshetra battlefield is like a massive sacrifice. Do you remember that?

So then, now that is not explicitly stated by Krishna, that is the commentary. So Arjuna is hearing his whole point of seeking knowledge and with knowledge, sacrifice. So, he starts thinking, does Krishna want me to sacrifice the kingdom and renounce the world? But Krishna has earlier told me to fight. So, basically, what happens is Arjuna has a question: What is actually Krishna telling me? Is he telling me to do sannyas? Sannyas means here renunciation in terms of sacrifice, or does he want me to do yoga? The word yoga has many different meanings in the Bhagavad Gita. So, yoga here means primarily karma yoga. That is what Krishna is talking about. This will involve action.

So, he asks Krishna: Do you want me to fight, or do you want me to sacrifice in the sense of renounce the world? What is it that you want me to do? Please tell me clearly. Now, in one sense, if you see, Arjuna has asked this question earlier. When is it? Yes, the third chapter. So, if you see, the same question is being repeated. Essentially, now you will see 3.1 was the question, 3.1 and 2 were the question, and 5.1 is the question. Now, if you go further back, 2.7 is also essentially the same question. I want to know what is dharma? What is the right thing to do? And among the right things to do, it’s whether to act or not to act, whether to fight or not to fight. And then, at the end of the Gita in 18.1, Arjuna will again ask the same question in a slightly different way, but essentially the same question.

Now, when the same question is repeated, there are two ways not to answer that question. One is to repeat the same answer because what will happen is the questioner might say, “You know, my hearing is not the problem. I heard your answer the last time. I didn’t get it. That’s why I’m asking the same question again.” So, repeat the exact same answer. That is unhelpful because that doesn’t address the need of the audience. The even worse thing to do is insult the intelligence of the questioner.

“You fool! I already answered the question. Were you not hearing? Where is your attention? You are wasting my time. How dumb can you be?”

So now, this is not only unhelpful, that is actually downright unfriendly. That is alienating. So now, the best way to actually address this is to answer from a different perspective. What is the different perspective here? That the same point can be conveyed from this angle, this angle, and this angle. So, what happens is like somebody is selling a house and they bring a prospective buyer. Nowadays, on websites, they show the houses. So, you might see the house from inside, you might see the house from outside, you might see the house from the top. You might see the house from each of these perspectives. It can be a different selling point for the house. “Oh, inside it looks so pleasing. Outside it’s so impressive. From the top, it’s in a great locality.”

So, basically, what happens is different perspectives may convince different buyers. So, the house from outside: Oh, it’s impressive. From inside, it’s comfortable, it’s cozy. From the top, it’s in a great locality. So, different people may have different priorities. So, basically, instead of repeating the same line, a good seller will actually present from different perspectives. So, that is what Krishna will do when he answers this question.

Now, the third and fifth chapters are somewhat similar, but Krishna is going to talk about Karma Yoga from a different perspective.

So essentially, Arjuna had two options: one is renouncing work and the other is engaging in work. Now, we discussed how the Gita divides all of these into further levels, which have not come to the verses specifically, but you remember Arjuna is equating engaged with attached and disengaged with detached. But Krishna says it’s not that simple. Now, at this point, Krishna will answer that these are two distinct ways, and both of them are good. This is the material level and this is the spiritual level. Krishna says Karma Yoga and Karma Sannyas.

Krishna says Karma Yoga and Karma Sannyas. Let me put it first and not in the complexity. He says both of them are good. Both of them can take us towards our long-term good. But then he says that Karma Yoga is easier. If you just try to renounce the world, then it is much more difficult. Let’s look at one of the verses. So the first point is, both of them have the common goal: both renouncing the world and engaging with the world.

Now, engaging with the world, not for the purpose of enjoyment but for the purpose of service, for the purpose of contribution—that both can have the same purpose. That’s why Krishna will say that those who think they are different are like children; they are not very intelligent. The wise people don’t differentiate.

Now, while both of them have the same purpose, the process itself is different, and Krishna says that in their process, one is easier. See, he will start this first: he says Sukham nirvandho hi maha baho. Sukham is easily one will come out of bondage, and that same theme he will illustrate again in the last verse. So, in the last verse, in this particular direct answer to this question, let’s look at this:

Sannyas tu maha baho. Sannyas is renouncing the world. Oh mighty armed Arjuna, you are very powerful; you are capable of taking sannyas also, but certainly, what happens is, sannyas—if you are not engaging, you’re engaging in yoga—then it is troublesome.

Sukham nirvandho hi maha baho. Sannyas tu maha baho. Then in contrast, yoga yukto—if somebody is engaged in yoga, munir brahma—such a muni can attain brahma. Brahma is the ultimate reality. Na cheered means without much time, Adhigacchati will attain that. Yoga yukto munir brahma.

So now, he’s saying that if you are engaged in yoga—then here he’s talking about yoga in terms of action with attachment, basically karma yoga—the principle can apply to bhakti yoga also. But he’s saying very easily you can attain liberation without much difficulty, without much delay.

So generally speaking, whenever we are pursuing a goal, we are concerned about two things. Whenever there’s a pursuit of a goal, we think about how much time and how much effort, isn’t it? That’s what we normally think about. If somebody says, “Hey, you know, you can get this degree, after that you can get a very good job.” “Okay, how much time is it going to take? Two years? One year? Three years? Four years? Ten years? Oh, that’s too much!” “And how much effort?” “Yeah, it’s very easy to study.” “It’s very difficult to study.” Study? It’s very difficult to study.

So time and effort are the two main considerations we have. So basically, time is associated with delay and effort is associated with difficulty. So how much delay, how much difficulty? So what Krishna is saying in this verse (5.6) is that sannyas involves difficulty, whereas karma yoga involves no delay, no chire (no delay), no much difficulty, and no delay.

On the other side, here is an important point to clarify: the word sannyas itself has many different meanings.

Now, we may say, “What can the different meanings of sannyas be?” What does sannyas literally mean? As we know, it only means renunciation—that’s true—but renunciation itself can be in different ways. So there can be the renunciation that is involved in gyan yoga or dhyana yoga, and there is a renunciation in bhakti yoga. Now, there’s a big difference.

So, I will talk more about this when we come to the bhakti yoga section in the Bhagavad Gita. But here it’s important to contrast. See, when we are talking about renunciation, Arjuna is talking about renunciation primarily in terms of action. The sannyasi is traditional in gyan yoga/dhyana yoga; they don’t do any activity. Sannyas is just generally considered to be inactive.

Now, in bhakti yoga, when sannyas is taken, when it is brahmacharya or sannyasa (renunciation) is taken, that renunciation—the devotional renunciation—is actually quite different from the renunciation that bhavaita is talking about, or the bhavaita is saying that is difficult. Because even in devotional renunciation for us, renunciation is not the important thing—the connection with Krishna is the important thing, and we renounce so that we can serve Krishna better.

So the key point over here is in giving up activity: no activity or activity. So now, in bhakti yoga renunciation, there is activity, isn’t it? In gyan yoga/dhyana yoga, there’s no activity. So renunciation can be of different types. When Krishna is discussing with Arjuna, Arjuna is talking about the renunciation by which he will give up the world and go to the forest and sit down in solitary meditation. That is the typical renunciation that is in his mind at this particular time.

So Krishna is saying this is difficult. Why is it difficult? Because the soul by nature is active, and because the soul by nature is active, inactivity is unnatural for the soul. Now, of course, sometimes it is possible that if a person is running around too much, sit down, be peaceful—that is good. But if we consider from a logical perspective, see, God has not given us abilities so that we give up those abilities, isn’t it? God has not given us the power to be active so that we give up the power to be active. God has not given us the power of speaking so that we give up the power of speaking. That would not make any sense. Why would God give us any abilities? The point is that activity, the power to do activity, is a gift, and it needs to be constructively used rather than destructively used.

So, the bondage, the bandhan (karma bandhan) that is caused, the cause of bondage, is not activity—it is actually destructive or misdirected activity. So activity done for one’s own pleasure, especially pleasure that is disconnected from spiritual reality, from Krishna—so it could be what activity, ability—all of these: why would we be given those things so that we give those things up? It just doesn’t make sense. Doesn’t make sense. So why would God give us these things, only for us to give them up?

So what we have to give up is not the things themselves, such as the ability, but the misdirection, the misuse of the things. And then still, Arjuna is not very clear on how it is that if somebody is acting, they will not be entangled. Action will entangle, and if somebody is inactive, then they are not going to get entangled. So Krishna is saying it’s not that simple, and that is what we will discuss today. And here, this whole section, which starts next, is called— in philosophy, there’s a word etiology. Etiology is basically the study of causation. Now, it’s like explaining with one word is another word—that explanation. But causation means the link between cause and effect, the cause-effect connection.

So what causes lead to what effect? Have any of you heard the word etiology before?

Okay, yeah, so in the pandemic, the word etiology started coming in the news because etiology is also used in medical science to talk about the etiology of a disease: How does the disease begin? How does the disease spread? So it can refer in the medical sense, but also in the philosophical sense: How does cause lead to effect? That’s the study of etiology.

So Krishna is going to talk about this now to help Arjuna understand how, if one is detached, one will not be bound. So there are many verses in this section, and they are a bit philosophical, but we’ll focus on one verse, and we’ll try to understand the underlying concept. So let’s look at the verse, and then we will discuss the concept.

So Krishna says here that when we act with all the action that you do with the mind, that means you give up, very renounce mentally, the action that you do—if you can do that, such a person can be happy, situated means to stay. And where does the person reside? This body is like a city of nine gates. Which are the gates? The two eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils, the mouth, and the two reproductive organs. So Krishna is talking here about giving the metaphor of the body like a city. In this city, what happens

They’re here, but they’re just not here. Some people have a natural language instinct. Now, some people may have a music instinct; they just pick up an instrument and start playing it so well. Some people, when they start playing an instrument, others come to hear, while others, when they play an instrument, people go as far away as possible. So, different people have different instincts. Some people, you just tell them, they’re staying in a home and some guests come, and they say, “Hey, you know, if you move this picture here, move the sofa here, change this, put this flower vase here, it looks so beautiful.” They stayed in that home for six months and didn’t think about it, but this person comes, and within 60 seconds, they come up with the idea. So, there are people who have the instinct for decorating. Now, the instinct means, again, it’s not that they have to consciously plan. Of course, conscious planning can help, but it naturally comes up. These vrittis are associated with our varna. Varna means an occupational division.

When Draupadi in the swayamvara was won over by an unknown Brahmin, at least from Drupada’s perspective, he wanted to know, “Who are they really?” So, he invited that person along with his family to his home, and his home was a palace. He seated them in a room and said, “We’ll serve you food.” They invited them for lunch, and he said, “I’ll just come in a few minutes.” In that room, it was a long room, and on the opposite side of the table, he had kept various items. On one side, he had kept some scriptures and paraphernalia for doing yajna; next to it, he had kept some weapons; then next to it, he had kept some ploughs and other things used for farming; and then he had kept some artisan stools. He and his son started watching from a concealed window. The Pandavas sat down, and they looked around at the table. All of them got up and walked straight toward the weapons. Arjuna picked up a bow and started feeling it with his arms and said, “Hey, this is a good bow, you know, it’s similar to that bow,” and Bhima picked up a mace and started swinging it around. Within just a few minutes, they were deep in conversation. Seeing that, Drupada and Dhrishudra started smiling. They were all Brahmanas, but they were also Kshatriyas.

So, basically, our varna or our varna is associated with our innate vritti. Vritti means instincts. So, what we can say is the way to know our varna is by knowing what we notice automatically. There may be a hundred things in a room, but where does our attention naturally go to? Automatically, unthinkingly, where does it go? Now, it can go toward sense objects—that’s one thing, that’s due to our attachments. But, even materialistic people, in one sense, know that nobody can enjoy sense gratification 24 hours a day. The body just does not have the capacity. Apart from that, everybody has their interests. What are those interests? Those are indicative of our vritti; those are our instincts, and we are meant to use these instincts appropriately.

Now, tradition recognizes four varnas. We’re talking about the varna division now, but it may not be the most helpful in today’s world because the occupations of today are not necessarily neatly divided into the varnas of the past. For example, today, somebody might be a teacher because the teacher is a Brahmana. Well, yes, but then, if you’re a faculty member, one of the main things you have to do is research. For that research, you have to get grants, and getting grants means you have to worry about money. A significant portion of your work will be about managing finances. This is quite a bit of a Vaishya activity. So, today’s professional roles are not easily categorized according to traditional varnas.

The point is, we may look at our instincts in different ways. Psychologists talk about different kinds of intelligence: linguistic intelligence, mathematical intelligence, spatial visual intelligence, logical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence. You may have heard about these different kinds of intelligence. The point is, what are the things that we are naturally attracted to? Those are our instincts.

So now, Krishna says in this particular section, he’s elaborating that, just like in the city, there are, if we can say, nine gates. Many citizens will come in, and many vehicles may go out. We don’t really get worked up about which vehicle comes in or goes out. There is so much happening, but we focus on what is relevant to us. So, in the body, lots of things are happening. Right now, for example, you are hearing my speech, but you may also be hearing the sound of the fan. If your stomach is hungry, you may be hearing the rumbling of your stomach. So, at any moment, many sensations are coming in through our senses. We focus on what matters to us. When we see the world, we rarely see the world as it is because it can be too overwhelming. There is so much information to take in; we see the world as it matters to us. That is functional. That is useful for us.

For example, if you come to this room, maybe the first time you’re visiting here, and you know there’s a class going on, you could look at various things: What is the color of the wall? How many lights are there in here? What is the decoration? There are so many things you could look at. But maybe, if your concern is, “I feel a little hot,” you might want to sit somewhere near the AC. Or, say, you’re very interested in the subject, so you want to sit where you can most attentively hear the class. Or, maybe you’re feeling tired, and you want to doze off a little bit. You might think, “Where can I sit so that no one will notice me if I doze off?” The idea is that we don’t see the world as it is because it’s too overwhelming. We see the world as it matters to us.

Now, what matters depends on our desires. Broadly, our desires can be for gratification or for purification. Those whose primary driving desire is gratification will focus on what can provide them gratification. Those whose primary driving desire is purification will focus on what will purify them.

So Krishna says that, again, going back to this particular diagram, now there is a soul over here, next to that is the mind. In the mind, there are impressions. So, we could say there are impulses and there are instincts. We need to say no to impulses and yes to instincts. Yes, for what? So that we can use them in service, for purification.

When the soul observes the mind—say if I am observing my phone—maybe there are 10 social media apps on my phone, and all of them are giving notifications. Now, some of them may not be relevant for me. Say I am doing some service, and I know I am expecting a message. Maybe I am expecting a message on WhatsApp or Facebook. Then, that particular social media app is relevant for me. So I focus on that and neglect others. But if I just want to kill time because I’m bored, I might look at other apps where I can find something entertaining, maybe some titillation. What happens is that depending on our desire, we will choose which things coming to us we say yes to and which ones we say no to.

So, Krishna is saying that when we act for purification, when we are acting not for gratification but for purification, then even when we act, we will not get entangled. We may act, but we will not get entangled because we are using the body for functional purposes, the mind for functional purposes, and not for sensual purposes.

Instincts can be used for functioning in the world, but impulses are for sensual purposes—to enjoy the senses.

For us as seekers on the spiritual path, Krishna, till now, has not talked about bhakti. He’ll start talking about it in the sixth chapter. Till now, he’s talking primarily about the process of karma yoga—the idea of acting with detachment.

Now, what happens is, in karma yoga, in any path of yoga—whether it is karma yoga or bhakti yoga—what happens is we say yes to instincts and no to impulses. But in jnana yoga or dhyana yoga, we have to say no to both instincts and impulses. Eventually, that is suffocating. If everything that comes from within us, we have to say no to, it becomes unbearable. In any relationship, if we are making a request to someone and that person says “no” repeatedly, we will eventually say no to the relationship.

Is it enough? We don’t want to be involved anymore. That’s why Krishna says, if we have to keep saying no to our mind all the time, it will be difficult. We do have to say no to our mind, but there’s a difference between sometimes saying no to the mind and saying no all the time. There is a difference between regulation and repression.

Regulation is more like sometimes saying no; repression is always saying no. Krishna has already said in the third chapter, what can repression accomplish? Regulation, however, is required. We regulate our impulses by saying no to them. We regulate our instincts by saying yes to them. Some impulses may be very strong, so we may not be able to say no completely to them. We regulate them, but there is still regulation. Regulation is not repression, and repression is very

So it is not just with respect to sexual pleasure; it applies to any kind of pleasure. Now, somebody who wants to gamble, in the past, would have had to go to a gambling den. But now, the gambling den is right in your own phone, isn’t it? And not just one; there are many gambling apps. So we are all in a very vulnerable position, and recognizing that is very important. If you don’t understand the danger that we are in, then we won’t protect ourselves. So, what has happened is: has our technology become too strong for our morality? This is the question. Because of this, we are very vulnerable.

So, what does it mean to be very vulnerable? Say, if there are tensions between, say, India and Pakistan, Pakistan can attack India anywhere. But if a person is living right on the border, they have to be more careful because they are more vulnerable. Like that, temptation has always been there throughout history, but now it is available much more easily. So that is a challenge. Even with drug addiction, drugs have always been there. For example, something like cocaine and heroin, to some extent, grow naturally—that’s the question about that. But many of the drugs that are widely taken now are drugs that are made chemically to have maximum addictive qualities. These drugs are so gripping that it becomes very, very difficult to resist.

This applies even to food. Many food items are artificially sweetened. While natural sweetness exists in nature, such as in mangoes or sugar cane, when chocolates and similar items are made, the sweetness is increased to the point where addiction is quite natural.

So, we are, in one sense, in a situation where we have to fight temptation. There is an external fight and an internal fight. The external fight is against the objects, and the internal fight is against the impressions, specifically the impulses.

Now, the ultimate solution is not to free the world from tempting objects. That’s impossible. The ultimate solution is to purify our senses from unhealthy impulses. But impulses can be very rapidly triggered if the objects are either too easily available or too temptingly presented. So, what has happened is that both access and appeal have increased. When both access and appeal are increased, it’s a deadly problem.

See, many people who look extremely attractive in photos or videos appear much more appealing than they do in real life. Before taking a photo, there is physical makeup, and after the photo, there is digital makeup. The appeal, therefore, is like a makeup squared—physical and digital combined.

So, when access and appeal are artificially or unnaturally increased, the external triggers to our impulses become much more frequent, and we become much more vulnerable.

To some extent, as we discussed earlier, we have to create a safe zone where we are not exposed to these triggers. But we cannot always stay in that safe zone. We have to come out of it. We all have to engage with the world; we have careers, studies, and various services. We need a safe zone for some time, but ultimately, it is the impulses inside us that need to be weakened and overcome.

Now, let’s go back to this entire discussion. How can we come to that level where we can become wise enough not to indulge in these pleasures? One important thing Krishna will say in the next verses is that we can tolerate the urges. Shaknoti means it is possible for you to tolerate. Krishna says that if we can control the urges from desires and anger, we can be engaged in yoga. Such a person will be happy. We will discuss how this happiness comes.

There is an important point here: just by being in the body, just by our biological condition, certain thoughts, desires, and urges may automatically arise. It is important to understand that while protecting ourselves from temptation, we shouldn’t beat ourselves down with guilt. Let me explain.

Whenever there is material activity—specifically, sense pleasure or sense engagement—there are three levels: the biological, the psychological, and the intentional. What do I mean by this? Naturally, if we see some delicious food, our tongue might salivate. That’s simply biology. In some special cases, for some great souls, this may not happen, but that’s just biology, and it’s not a bad thing. This biology is required because the saliva helps in the digestion process. Similarly, when a male sees a female or a female sees a male, there is a natural attraction. That is simply a biological aspect.

Psychologically, based on past conditioning, certain desires, thoughts, or ideas may naturally pop up. These can be involuntary, and what Krishna is saying in 5.23 is that these will happen just by being in the body. There’s a famous prayer by Yamanacharya where he says, “Whenever I think of sex desire, my lips curl in distaste.” He mentions that after he started relishing the remembrance of Krishna, any thought of enjoying with a woman made him spit at the thought. While we often focus on this as a sign of great detachment, it also suggests that even after relishing Krishna, such thoughts may still arise.

The point is that there is a biological aspect, and when a particular sensation comes in the body, a particular desire may arise in the mind. These are involuntary, but what is intentional is voluntary—that is in our control. Contemplation is intentional, and this is where we need to be careful.

Krishna doesn’t say that we should stop the thoughts from coming; he says that we should not dwell on them. A thought might pop up, but if we dwell on it, it gets power and starts carrying us away. Contemplation is intentional, and when we start pursuing the thought, that is also intentional.

When we talk about sense regulation, we’re talking about self-control and discipline, and we need to be aware of the difference between biological impulses and intentional actions.

So it is not just with respect to sexual pleasure; it applies to any kind of pleasure. In the past, somebody who wanted to gamble would have had to go to a gambling den. But now, the gambling den is right in your own phone, isn’t it? And not just one; there are many gambling apps. So we are all in a very vulnerable position, and recognizing that is very important. If you don’t understand the danger that we are in, then we won’t protect ourselves. So, what has happened is: has our technology become too strong for our morality? This is the question. Because of this, we are very vulnerable.

What does it mean to be very vulnerable? Say, if there are tensions between India and Pakistan, Pakistan can attack India anywhere. But if a person is living right on the border, they have to be more careful because they are more vulnerable. Temptation has always been present throughout history, but now it is available much more easily. That is the challenge. Even with drug addiction, drugs have always existed. For example, substances like cocaine and heroin, to some extent, grow naturally—that’s a question worth considering. However, many of the drugs that are widely consumed today are chemically engineered to have maximum addictive qualities. These drugs are so gripping that it becomes extremely difficult to resist them.

This also applies to food. Many food items are artificially sweetened. While natural sweetness exists in nature, such as in mangoes or sugar cane, the sweetness in chocolates and similar products is increased to a level where addiction becomes quite natural.

So, we are, in one sense, in a situation where we have to fight temptation. There is an external fight and an internal fight. The external fight is against the objects, and the internal fight is against the impressions, specifically the impulses.

The ultimate solution is not to free the world from tempting objects—that is impossible. The ultimate solution is to purify our senses from unhealthy impulses. But impulses can be very rapidly triggered if the objects are either too easily available or too temptingly presented. So, what has happened is that both access and appeal have increased. When both access and appeal are increased, it’s a deadly problem.

See, many people who look extremely attractive in photos or videos appear much more appealing than they do in real life. Before taking a photo, there is physical makeup, and after the photo, there is digital makeup. Therefore, the appeal is like makeup squared—physical and digital combined.

When access and appeal are artificially or unnaturally increased, the external triggers to our impulses become much more frequent, and we become much more vulnerable.

To some extent, as we discussed earlier, we have to create a safe zone where we are not exposed to these triggers. But we cannot always stay in that safe zone. We have to come out of it. We all have to engage with the world; we have careers, studies, and various responsibilities. We need a safe zone for some time, but ultimately, it is the impulses inside us that need to be weakened and overcome.

Now, let’s return to this entire discussion. How can we reach a level where we become wise enough not to indulge in these pleasures? One important thing Krishna will say in the next verses is that we can tolerate the urges. “Shaknoti” means it is possible for you to tolerate. Krishna says that if we can control the urges from desires and anger, we can engage in yoga. Such a person will be happy. We will discuss how this happiness comes.

There is an important point here: just by being in the body, just by our biological condition, certain thoughts, desires, and urges may automatically arise. It is important to understand that while protecting ourselves from temptation, we shouldn’t beat ourselves down with guilt. Let me explain.

Whenever there is material activity—specifically, sense pleasure or sense engagement—there are three levels: the biological, the psychological, and the intentional. What do I mean by this? Naturally, if we see some delicious food, our tongue might salivate. That’s simply biology. In some special cases, for some great souls, this may not happen, but that’s just biology, and it’s not a bad thing. This biology is required because the saliva helps in the digestion process. Similarly, when a male sees a female or a female sees a male, there is a natural attraction. That is simply a biological aspect.

Psychologically, based on past conditioning, certain desires, thoughts, or ideas may naturally arise. These can be involuntary, and what Krishna is saying in 5.23 is that these will happen just by being in the body. There’s a famous prayer by Yamanacharya where he says, “Whenever I think of sex desire, my lips curl in distaste.” He mentions that after he started relishing the remembrance of Krishna, any thought of enjoying with a woman made him spit at the thought. While we often focus on this as a sign of great detachment, it also suggests that even after relishing Krishna, such thoughts may still arise.

The point is that there is a biological aspect, and when a particular sensation arises in the body, a particular desire may arise in the mind. These are involuntary, but what is intentional is voluntary—that is in our control. Contemplation is intentional, and this is where we need to be careful.

Krishna doesn’t say that we should stop the thoughts from coming; he says that we should not dwell on them. A thought might pop up, but if we dwell on it, it gains power and starts carrying us away. Contemplation is intentional, and when we start pursuing the thought, that is also intentional.

When we talk about sense regulation, we’re talking about self-control and discipline, and we need to be aware of the difference between biological impulses and intentional actions.

The same negative impressions within the mind first give us surges of desire and then surges of guilt. If the guilt becomes too much, then it’s a problem. It’s like this: Suppose we are just going about our normal life, and a friend comes and says, “Hey, do you want to make money quickly?” “Okay, I’m interested. Let’s rob a bank together.” “Get lost! I’m not doing that!” “Come on, let’s do it. I’ve got a foolproof plan. We won’t be caught.” Somehow, we go along, and we go to rob the bank. Suddenly, an alarm rings, and our friend runs away. We get caught and arrested. Then, we’re taken to court, and in the court, the attorney who is going to prosecute us is the same friend! “You rascal! First, you got me to rob, and now you’re going to put me in jail for robbing?”

This is how the dangerous double role of negative impressions in the mind works. First, they make us say, “Do this terrible thing,” and then they accuse us, “What a fool you are to do such a terrible thing.” Now, should we feel bad after doing something terrible? Yes, of course, but that feeling of guilt should not make us so discouraged that we give up our Krishna bhakti. Instead, we should think, “Why did I do this? Because I turned away from Krishna. I let go of my grip on Krishna. So, let me hold on to Krishna again.” If we hold on to Krishna, then we will be able to overcome this.

That’s why it’s very important to understand that surges of desire are like a friend saying, “Let’s rob a bank,” and that same friend later calling us a criminal, saying, “I will punish you now.” So, the mind beats us up, first with desire and second with guilt. That’s why, while guilt is good, we need to ask ourselves: is the result of the guilt keeping us away from maya, or is it keeping us away from Krishna? If it’s keeping us away from Krishna, making us discouraged in bhakti, then we should reject that guilt. This guilt is coming from maya. Instead, we should focus on connecting with Krishna.

Let’s reflect on this and conclude. The mind entices and entraps us with many temptations. As we discussed earlier, access and appeal have increased. Oh Lord, I beg You for mercy to have the vision to see the reality beyond the delusion. There is systematic illusion—just illusion. They usually take a systematic form, but beyond it is the reality: not just the pleasure that leads us nowhere, except to the grave. This pleasure ends in death. The reality is Your unfailing love.

The goal of those who are sober, those who are wise, is to understand that Krishna’s love is the ultimate reality. Grant me, O Lord, the abiding conviction that Your words are the path to satisfaction.

When we come to the seventh chapter, Krishna says that when we regulate ourselves (sayukta), we become happy. This connection with Krishna gradually brings us happiness. Grant me, O Lord, the enriching connection that will help make Your will my life’s vision. The connection is not just in remembering the Lord; it is also in serving the Lord, remembering His instructions, and making them the guiding principle of our lives.

Grant me, O Lord, the uplifting compassion that will help me serve those without Your devotion. Please, O Lord, become my life’s center and empower my heart to focus.

This last point is inspired by Prahlad Maharaj’s verse, which reflects on what people are missing when they turn away from You. Often, we focus on what we’re missing, but a true devotee sees what others are missing. Prahlad Maharaj says, “Materialistic people are carrying the burden of maya and their suffering, while I am enjoying the joy of Krishna consciousness.” He sees the pleasure in Krishna consciousness as an ocean of nectar, while others are missing it.

The material world may seem enticing, but Krishna consciousness is far greater. Our conditioned mind tricks us into thinking we are missing out on the world’s pleasures, but what we are missing is very little. We may think that sense enjoyment is huge, but in reality, it’s tiny, while Krishna consciousness is like an ever-expanding ocean.

To illustrate this: from the perspective of the great souls, Krishna consciousness is the source of eternal happiness, and sense enjoyment is fleeting. But for those who are not yet advanced, sense enjoyment appears to be vast, while Krishna consciousness seems small. This is the illusion of the mind. As we continue hearing the teachings, we will be able to see beyond this illusion. Sense enjoyment may seem pleasurable, but it is tiny compared to the expansive ocean of joy found in Krishna consciousness.

When we realize this, we stop chasing after the fleeting pleasures of the world and focus on the eternal ecstatic joy in our relationship with Krishna. This joy is our birthright as souls connected to Krishna, a gift bestowed upon us by the great acharyas. Why should we continue to chase after the illusion of worldly pleasures?

There’s a prayer: “Lord, let me focus on what others are missing when they turn away from You, not on what I’m missing.” What we are missing is very little compared to what others are missing.

To summarize what we discussed today: The last verse of this chapter says that if we truly understand Krishna as the enjoyer, the procreator, and the well-wisher, then we will find peace. We will understand that Krishna is the source of oceanic happiness and will no longer crave the pleasures of this world. This is how we achieve peace.

We also discussed the differences between karma yoga and jnana yoga. Both paths elevate, but karma yoga is better because activity is natural for us, and God has given us the power to act, but not to give up activity. Inactivity is unnatural, and that’s why paths that depend on renunciation, like jnana yoga, are more difficult.

We explored how to work with detachment and how working with detachment leads to liberation. Krishna provides a new perspective on actions, looking at the causes that lead to effects.

In terms of sense regulation, we learned about three aspects: the biological, the psychological, and the intentional. The biological urges are involuntary, but tolerance means accepting their presence without being influenced by them. The intentional aspect is where we have control, avoiding contemplation or chasing after the desires.

We also discussed an acronym for dealing with urges: A-P-T—Abstinence, Persistence, and Transcendence. During the phase of strong urges, we focus on abstinence, and when the urges are weaker, we persist.

Finally, guilt acts as a protector. Too little guilt can lead to big trouble, while too much guilt can discourage us from Krishna bhakti. The goal is for guilt to act as a barrier between us and the sense objects, not between us and Krishna. By tolerating the urges, we become stronger, just like in an arm wrestling match. Over time, we will become strong enough to overcome them.

Thank you very much.

Any questions or comments?
Usually, you talk about instincts. My question is: are instincts and gunas the same thing, or are they different? We’ll talk about the gunas later. See, the instincts and impulses are present in our mind, but the gunas are not actually instincts; you could say they are influences that act on our mind. The gunas are forces present more in nature, that’s one difference. But let’s talk about the 14th chapter we’re going to discuss today evening. Are you going to be there in the evening today? So we’ll talk at that time about the modes.
Yes.
Yeah, so it is due to the impurity of the soul. You know, the soul is never impure; the soul is always a part of Krishna, always pure. It is due to the conditioning, the coverings on the soul. So basically, sometimes the conditioning may be too strong. See, whenever there is a relapse—you know the word “relapse”—it means we do the same thing again. A relapse can broadly have three causes. One is this external provocation was just too strong. Now, sometimes we may be unwittingly exposed to that. For example, when Ajamila went out, he didn’t go out looking for some sensual enjoyment, but when he went there, that sight overwhelmed him. For him, it was overwhelming, but it may not be overwhelming for everyone. It depends. Sometimes, external provocations are too strong. Now, maybe at that time the desire was so strong that even when he came back, the image was replaying in his mind, and he felt he had to be with that particular woman. So he went and was with her. Now, all that you could say is that the urge was very strong, but when he comes back home and then decides to drive out his parents, to drive out his own chaste wife, that cannot be blamed on the conditioning. You know, that’s very much an intentional thing he has done. So we’ll talk about this probably—not in six chapters, let’s see when we talk about it.
See, basically, whenever there’s a wrongdoing, the wrongdoing can be circumstantial or intentional. To some extent, let’s say, we decide, “I’m not going to eat sweets,” that’s the example. But then, there’s a feast, and there are sweets. Everybody offers them, and I think, “Just take a little. Let me take it.” That’s not a big thing; it’s just circumstantial. But if somebody, you know, when everybody’s sleeping, knows where the maha prasad is, knows where the key to the maha prasad locker is, secretly wakes up at night and takes it, that’s not circumstantial. No, that’s intentional.
So there’s a clear difference between a situation that overwhelms us and something that we intentionally do. Now, sometimes, when we relapse, it might be because the external provocation is too strong. If that is happening, we need to create boundaries so that next time, at least we don’t expose ourselves to that provocation again. This is more of a circumstantial wrongdoing.
Now, sometimes, it may be that the internal conditioning is too strong. If this is happening, then we need patience. The conditioning will change, but it will not happen immediately, so we need to be patient with ourselves. Patience doesn’t mean that I just keep doing it, but we shouldn’t beat ourselves up too much. In a pathological state, we keep trying to purify ourselves, but we need abstinence and persistence—abhyas and vairagya, as they say. One understanding of the word vairagya is that vairagya is not just saying no to temptation, although that’s true. But vairagya also means saying no to the temptation of our ego, which says, “I can be purified overnight.” You know, our ego wants that. “Oh, I was impure yesterday, and today I become a pure devotee.” It doesn’t work like that. So vairagya can also mean vairagya from the expectation of quick success. Things take time.
Sometimes, even if we become free from lust or greed or whatever, if we become free too fast, it’s quite likely that we’ll become proud, and pride brings its own problems. So sometimes, when we don’t become purified so quickly, we start realizing that it’s not happening because of my determination alone. It’s actually happening by Krishna’s mercy, and then we become more dependent on Krishna. When we get purity before humility, that’s a straight path to pride. So patience is key.
Internally, at that time, we first get humility—“I need Krishna”—and then gradually we get purity. That will happen.
Now, the third possibility is where there is carelessness, recklessness, and not caring about what happens. It could be that we expose ourselves to temptation. We go into areas where, suppose somebody is alcoholic and they’re trying to recover from alcoholism. They say, “I know I’m sober for one week, I’ll go out to hang out with my friends at a bar. I won’t drink.” Well, you may decide that, but someone else may decide something else for you because that conditioning is still there inside you. Sometimes we put ourselves in provocative situations because we’re exposing ourselves. Sometimes we just don’t care about the rules. There’s a time when we just want to enjoy and don’t care. There’s a demoniac tendency within us, which comes up. Demoniac means that enjoyment itself is not a bad thing; they also seek enjoyment, but they seek it within the boundaries of dharma. But the person says, “I want this, I want this right now, and I don’t care who says what.” So that’s karma with the desire that raises against boundaries.
If this is happening, then we need to take it very seriously. We need to be very careful. It may sometimes be helpful to have an accountability partner, someone we can tell about the struggles we’re going through. Sometimes it’s not easy—it’s embarrassing. We’d rather keep a good image in everyone’s eyes. But having somebody to whom we are accountable is very helpful. They can warn us if we’re taking things too lightly and help us stay on track.
Broadly speaking, we have to see why a relapse occurred, and based on that, take the appropriate measure.
The subtle body is in the mind. We have to take things seriously now. Is guilt a part of it? Somehow, I’m not sure whether guilt can be cultivated as such. Guilt depends on samskaras. Some people speak lies, and the only thing they feel bad about is if they’re caught while lying. They don’t feel bad about lying at all. Can samskaras be changed? Yes, but it’s not easy. So I don’t know whether guilt can be cultivated. If we feel guilt, should we run away from it and think of something else, or should we dwell on it?
When guilt is like a fire that burns within us, if we take our consciousness away immediately and don’t think about it, it’s easy. We do something wrong, don’t think about it at all, and get busy with other things. But sometimes contemplating the gravity of what we have done—why it is wrong—is helpful.
Any last questions?
Yes, from…
Yeah, it’s generally first by hearing, studying, that helps us learn. Then, we ourselves have to analyze where we need to use this. It’s like, “Okay, if I understand that sense enjoyment leads to trouble, then I don’t want to indulge in sense enjoyment.” I have to analyze where to apply this. Where are the situations where this particular insight is important?
For many people, the most important time they remember that sense enjoyment leads to misery is when they have to give a lecture to others. At that time, they feel very awkward, but after that, they forget.
Now, after that, I was actually remembering at that time. So analyzing well—generally, I use this: we want to go from vision to comprehension.
I use an acronym, H.A.R.D., for this. We have to become hard—not in the sense of hard-hearted, but we have to become tough. So first is hearing, then analyzing: “Okay, where do I need to apply this? How is this relevant to my life?”
After that, remembering: remembering when to use it. And then the last part is debriefing. Debriefing means reviewing. “When this particular thing happened, did I actually remember it? How much did I remember? If I forgot, what was I thinking?”
It’s more of a review. Review whether we won or lost; it doesn’t matter. In both cases, we review. If I resisted temptation, what was it? Did I not notice it at all or notice it but then decide I wouldn’t get into it? How was I able to pull myself away from it? Instead of just thinking, “I won,” I have to analyze how I won. Because it’s not that just because I won today means there won’t be any more battles in the future. So we debrief: What worked for me? And similarly, if it didn’t work for me, why did it not work?
If we look at it from that perspective, the knowledge can become part of us. Otherwise, it will just be something in the head and not transform our life.

I’m not sure if there are precise Sanskrit words which talk about the differentiation like that, so generally speaking, um, conscience is the basic faculty that we have; it’s called viveka buddhi. Conscience is basically our awareness—it’s like innate awareness of right and wrong. So conscience is different from intelligence, although it’s called viveka buddhi; it’s slightly different from intelligence. Generally, intelligence acts at the level of reason, conscience acts at the level of emotion. That means sometimes, with our reason, with our logic, with our rational analysis, we can understand this is bad, I should not do this. But conscience means that we just automatically feel bad, “Hey, I should not do this.” So conscience acts more at the level of emotion. Now, conscience gives us a sense of right or wrong. Now, of course, our conscience can also be right or wrong. That means it’s not that always our conscience is right. I was talking with one devotee in New Zealand, he said they were from a family of fishermen for many generations, and he said, when I started practicing bhakti and I gave up eating fish, I felt guilty that I was betraying my family and my family’s tradition. So now that guilt is not a spiritual guilt; it’s more like a cultural guilt. Like from our culture, we get a sense of right and wrong, so our basic sense of right and wrong, our basic sense of right and wrong, may itself be wrong sometimes. Are we getting this point? But that sense is there within us. So we want to make that capacity to feel right or wrong align with greater and greater purification. But conscience is the capacity to feel right or wrong; intelligence is the capacity to reason what is right or wrong. They are two different things. Now, when we do something wrong, at that time it is our conscience that makes us feel bad. That feeling bad is generally called as guilt.

Guilt, now guilt is a general word used in English. In Sanskrit, there are two words: prayaschitta and krichchhrita. So prayaschitta is more of internal; it is repentance; prayaschitta is more physical, it’s atonement. It is more— that means, say for example, if somebody has done something wrong, they may say, “I’m going to fast. I’ll not take one meal, I’ll fast for one day.” So this is more external, it’s physical; it’s an expression of what we do. Now, prayaschitta is—now guilt can be broadly said to be synonymous with repentance, but quite often the word guilt is used. Now, it depends on the user’s words; words don’t always have fixed meanings. Words’ meanings also depend on context. But generally, the way I have seen the word guilt used in English, it’s more of feeling bad about having done bad. Now repentance is more that I don’t just feel bad, but then I start trying to do something about it. When I repent, repentance eventually is meant to lead to reform. So guilt is in one sense—now guilt, you could say, it can lead to repentance. But guilt may just stay, we’ll just feel guilty without actually feeling repented. “Oh, I’m like, I did a terrible thing. I’m such a terrible person. Life is terrible. Everything is terrible. Let everything stay terrible.” It’s like that. But repentance is more on the constructive journey. But that’s just a technical thing. But broadly speaking, the important thing is that when we feel bad after having done something bad, that bad feeling is not bad. In fact, not having that bad feeling is really bad, isn’t it? So some people do something bad, say if you step on somebody’s foot and you notice it, “Oh, I’m sorry,” you see. But imagine if somebody steps on somebody’s foot and they notice and they deliberately raise their foot and then bang it again. Yeah, what kind of cruel person is that? Isn’t it? So that is a terrible thing.

Okay, yes, this is the last question.

So, by the way, before I answer that question, you know, this is all very easy to speak, and I’m not speaking this as if I’m an acharya, only I’m purified. We all have our struggles, and this is just, uh, what I’m sharing is like weapons that can help in fighting the war. But just because I know all the weapons doesn’t mean I’ve won the war. You think we are all fellow warriors, and we are all fighting this, and these are weapons, and it’s a fight that, as Krishna says, goes lifelong. What happens with time is we become seasoned warriors. As you become more seasoned warriors, then that means two things happen. One is that we can anticipate the attacks better, and then we can also bear the wounds better. It’s not that a warrior will not become wounded, but we can learn to bear the wounds better. We can anticipate the attacks better. That’s how it’s a lifelong battle. So, alright, please, probably we learned that surges and urges have surges, and this we have to tolerate for some time. But it happens that sometimes it goes beyond our toleration level. Is it like possible to increase that tolerance, our willpower? Is it possible to cultivate that so we can more effectively tolerate and resist?

Yes, that’s why I talk about relapses when they happen, you know, so why is the tolerance, why the surge is going up? Sometimes it may be because we exposed ourselves to some temptation, maybe some provocation came out externally, we saw that, and then the image is just replaying in our mind. So generally, when the surge happens, the surge can happen broadly due to some perception. Perception is external. We see something. The surge can happen due to recollection. That means we have indulged in the past, and that memory pops up. So basically, there are two sources. Now, the external perception, we can try to avoid as much as possible. Now, internal recollection can be avoided. Well, yes, in one sense, external perception, what do we do? We redirect our attention. We may go somewhere. We don’t focus on it. The same way, some pop-up might come inside. So for the inside also, we avoid and we redirect. But sometimes it might just be like something that is right in the face, and we just can’t avoid it. That can happen, the external, avoid, some of that can happen, the internal also. So then it just takes time and practice. Then it’s possible, like say if in arm wrestling, I’m trying my very best, but the other person is pushing my arm down, then what can I do? Basically, I need to strengthen my arm. That means maybe eat proper food, do some exercise. So that is basically what we are doing in between the surges. So it’s not just a matter of willpower because willpower is something which we have, but we all have it in a particular quantity. See, willpower, like muscle power, can it be increased? Of course, it can be increased. But will it be increased overnight? No, it will take time. So I think that’s what—so we have to look at the activity that strengthens us and do them more regularly. So in Krishna consciousness, we can find out which activity really uplifts us, which activity helps us become more immersed in Krishna, and try to do that more.


Thank you very much.