Regulated Life

A person always engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord considers sleep to be his greatest enemy, for it is a waste of time. In this regard his standard is Srila Rūpa Gosvami, who could not sleep more than two hours a day, and often not even that, or he desires to follow the example of Haridas Thakur, who would not even accept food or sleep until he had completed his daily routine of chanting more than three hundred thousand holy names of the Lord. So where one has superior taste there is no question of sense gratification. When one is regulated in all his work, sleep, speech, and all other bodily activities, there is no material contamination or misery. The perfectly regulated life is exemplified by King Ambarisa, who first of all engaged his mind on the lotus feet of Lord Krsna; then, one after another, he engaged his words in describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord, his hands in mopping the temple of the Lord, his ears in hearing of the activities of the Lord, his eyes in seeing the transcendental forms of the Lord, his body in touching the body of the devotee, his sense of smell in smelling the scents of the lotus flowers offered to the Lord, his tongue in tasting the tulasi leaf offered at the lotus feet of the Lord, his legs in going to places of pilgrimage where the temple of the Lord is situated, his head in offering obeisances unto the Lord, and his desires in executing the mission of the Lord. All these transcendental activities are quite befitting a pure devotee, and where they are present, there is no question of sense gratification.