sense control

His senses, being always engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa, have no chance of becoming otherwise engaged.

This system of yoga for controlling the breathing process is called pranayama, and in the beginning it is practiced in the hatha-yoga system through different sitting postures. All of these processes are recommended for controlling the senses and for advancement in spiritual realization. This practice involves controlling the air within the body to enable simultaneous passage in opposite directions. The apana air goes downward, and the prana air goes up. The pranayama yogi practices breathing the opposite way until the currents are neutralized into pūraka, equilibrium. Similarly, when the exhaled breathing is offered to inhaled breathing, it is called recaka. When both air currents are completely stopped, it is called kumbhaka-yoga. By practice of kumbhaka-yoga, the yogis increase the duration of life by many, many years. A Krsna conscious person, however, being always situated in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, automatically becomes the controller of the senses. His senses, being always engaged in the service of Krsna, have no chance of becoming otherwise engaged. So at the end of life, he is naturally transferred to the transcendental plane of Lord Krsna; consequently he makes no attempt to increase his longevity. He is at once raised to the platform of liberation. [Bg. 14.26] A Krsna conscious person begins from the transcendental stage, and he is constantly in that consciousness. Therefore, there is no falling down, and ultimately he enters into the abode of the Lord without delay. The practice of reduced eating is automatically done when one eats only Krsna prasadam, or food which is offered first to the Lord. Reducing the eating process is very helpful in the matter of sense control. And without sense control there is no possibility of getting out of the material entanglement. (More...)

If one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is a yogī and is happy in this world.

lf one wants to make steady progress on the path of self-realization, he must try to control the forces of the material senses. There are the forces of talk, forces of anger, forces of mind, forces of the stomach, forces of the genitals, and forces of the tongue. One who is able to control the forces of all these different senses, and the mind, is called gosvami, or svami. Such gosvamis live strictly controlled lives, and forego altogether the forces of the senses. Material desires, when unsatiated, generate anger, and thus the mind, eyes and chest become agitated. Therefore, one must practice to control them before one gives up this material body. One who can do this is understood to be self-realized and is thus happy in the state of self-realization. It is the duty of the transcendentalist to try strenuously to control desire and anger. (More...)

It is not possible to control the senses by denying them absolutely. Activity is the symptom of the living entity. Lord Krishna says that one cannot remain inactive for even a moment. Therefore the senses must be engaged. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna enumerates ways whereby the mind and senses can be engaged in self realization and thus controlled. There is the very difficult path of meditation, Samkhya yoga, according to which one must select a seat in complete solitude, sit erect and cross-legged, refrain completely from all sex life, stare at the tip of his nose, regulate his breathing, shut out all external objects and go into a trance meditating on the Super Soul within. This was recommended for the previous age and is practically impossible now. It is certainly impractical for Westerners whose legs ache after about fifteen minutes of lotus posture, what to speak of days. Another method for controlling the senses is Karma yoga, which is the process of engaging the senses in action and work in a spirit of detachment and renunciation. And a third method is Jnana yoga, by which the senses are engaged in the study of scripture. All of these culminate in Bhakti yoga, which is the highest, easiest and most profitable method for this or any age. In Bhakti yoga, the senses are controlled by total devotion to the Supreme. One classic example of total devotion was Maharaj Amburish who adopted all the processes of devotional service and attained perfect success. It was he who engaged his mind on the Lotus Feet of the Lord, his voice in describing the spiritual worlds, his hands in cleansing the temple of the Lord, his ears in submissively hearing the words of Lord Sri Krishna, his eyes in visualizing the Deities of the Lord, his body in touching the bodies of the devotees, his nostrils in smelling the flowers offered to the Lord, his tongue in tasting the food offered to the Lord, his legs in visiting the temple of the Lord, and all the energy of his life in executing the services of the Lord without in the least desiring his own sense gratification. All of these enabled him to be completely successful in controlling the senses. It should be noted that he did not control his senses by trying to negate them, by trying to meditate on the void or even by practicing austerities. For, after all, he was speaking and working, associating with others, eating, traveling about, smelling flowers. He led a life of full engagement. Yet his senses were perfectly controlled because they were absorbed in the service of Krishna. So it is not that we have to deny our senses. In fact, this is not possible. But we must engage our senses positively, following in the footsteps of Maharaj Amburish. One who can control his senses in such a way is called a swami, for the senses are actually acting under his order. "Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is a yogi and is happy in this world." (Gita, 5.23) (More...)

If the mind is directly engaged in the service of the Lord constantly, then there is no chance of the senses becoming engaged in other ways.

The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence. (More...)

The senses are different outlets for the activities of lust. Lust is reserved within the body, but it is given vent through the senses. Therefore, the senses are superior to the body as a whole. These outlets are not in use when there is superior consciousness, or Krsna consciousness. In Krsna consciousness the soul makes direct connection with the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore the bodily functions, as described here, ultimately end in the Supreme Soul. Bodily action means the functions of the senses, and stopping the senses means stopping all bodily actions. But since the mind is active, then, even though the body may be silent and at rest, the mind will act-as it does during dreaming. But, above the mind there is the determination of the intelligence, and above the intelligence is the soul proper. If, therefore, the soul is directly engaged with the Supreme, naturally all other subordinates, namely, the intelligence, mind and the senses, will be automatically engaged. In the Katha Upanisad there is a passage in which it is said that the objects of sense gratification are superior to the senses, and mind is superior to the sense objects. If, therefore, the mind is directly engaged in the service of the Lord constantly, then there is no chance of the senses becoming engaged in other ways. This mental attitude has already been explained. [2.59] If the mind is engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord, there is no chance of its being engaged in the lower propensities. In the Katha Upanisad the soul has been described as , the great. Therefore the soul is above all-namely, the sense objects, the senses, the mind and the intelligence. Therefore, directly understanding the constitutional position of the soul is the solution of the whole problem. (More...)

With intelligence one has to seek out the constitutional position of the soul and then engage the mind always in Krsna consciousness. That solves the whole problem. A neophyte spiritualist is generally advised to keep aloof from the objects of senses. One has to strengthen the mind by use of intelligence. If by intelligence one engages one's mind in Krsna consciousness, by complete surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then, automatically, the mind becomes stronger, and even though the senses are very strong, like serpents, they will be no more effective than serpents with broken fangs. But even though the soul is the master of intelligence and mind, and the senses also, still, unless it is strengthened by association with Krsna in Krsna consciousness, there is every chance of falling down due to the agitated mind. (More...)

One who is not, therefore, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however powerful he may be in controlling the senses by artificial repression, is sure ultimately to fail, for the slightest thought of sense pleasure will agitate him to gratify his des

One who is not Krsna conscious is subjected to material desires while contemplating the objects of senses. The senses require real engagements, and if they are not engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, they will certainly seek engagement in the service of materialism. In the material world everyone, including Lord Siva and Lord Brahma-to say nothing of other demigods in the heavenly planets-is subjected to the influence of sense objects, and the only method to get out of this puzzle of material existence is to become Krsna conscious. Lord Siva was deep in meditation, but when Parvati agitated him for sense pleasure, he agreed to the proposal, and as a result Kartikeya was born. When Haridasa Thakur was a young devotee of the Lord, he was similarly allured by the incarnation of Maya Devi, but Haridasa easily passed the test because of his unalloyed devotion to Lord Krsna. As illustrated in the above-mentioned verse of Sri Yamunacarya, a sincere devotee of the Lord shuns all material sense enjoyment due to his higher taste for spiritual enjoyment in the association of the Lord. That is the secret of success. One who is not, therefore, in Krsna consciousness, however powerful he may be in controlling the senses by artificial repression, is sure ultimately to fail, for the slightest thought of sense pleasure will agitate him to gratify his desires. (More...)

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool. (Bg. 2.62-63) (More...)

The senses can be completely controlled only by the strength of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.

The word mat-paraḥ is most significant in this connection. How one can become a mat-paraḥ is described in the life of Maharaja Ambarisa. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhūsana, a great scholar and acarya in the line of the mat-paraḥ, remarks: "mad-bhakti-prabhavena sarvendriya-vijaya-pūrvika svatma drstiḥ sulabheti bhavaḥ." "The senses can be completely controlled only by the strength of devotional service to Krsna." Also the example of fire is sometimes given: "As the small flames within burn everything within the room, similarly Lord Visnu, situated in the heart of the yogi, burns up all kinds of impurities." The Yoga-sūtra also prescribes meditation on Visnu, and not meditation on the void. The so-called yogis who meditate on something which is not the Visnu form simply waste their time in a vain search after some phantasmagoria. We have to be Krsna conscious-devoted to the Personality of Godhead. This is the aim of the real yoga. (More...)

The test of a yogī, devotee, or self-realized soul is that he is able to control the senses according to his plan.

The test of a yogi, devotee, or self-realized soul is that he is able to control the senses according to his plan. Most people, however, are servants of the senses and are thus directed by the dictation of the senses. That is the answer to the question as to how the yogi is situated. The senses are compared to venomous serpents. They want to act very loosely and without restriction. The yogi, or the devotee, must be very strong to control the serpents-like a snake charmer. He never allows them to act independantly. There are many injunctions in the revealed scriptures; some of them are do-not's, and some of them are do's. Unless one is able to follow the do's and the do-not's, restricting oneself from sense enjoyment, it is not possible to be firmly fixed in Krsna consciousness. The best example, set herein, is the tortoise. The tortoise can at any moment wind up his senses and exhibit them again at any time for particular purposes. Similarly, the senses of the Krsna conscious persons are used only for some particular purpose in the service of the Lord and are withdrawn otherwise. Keeping the senses always in the service of the Lord is the example set by the analogy of the tortoise, who keeps the senses within. (More...)

Verse 51 states, "The wise, engaged in devotional service, take refuge in the Lord and free themselves from the cycle of birth and death by renouncing the fruits of action in the material world. In this way they can attain that state beyond all miseries." Whereas the atheists are always anxious, those in devotional service take refuge at the lotus feet of the Lord. If one knows that the Lord is the factual doer of every action and is the proprietor of every result, where is there room for either pride or despondency? The Lord is the supreme enjoyer, enjoying the fruits of all actions; therefore it is said that He takes as much pleasure in the sting of an arrow that pierces His transcendental foot as He does in the love bites of His lovers in the bowers of Vrndavana. Krsna, as the supreme enjoyer, takes transcendental pleasure in all the actions of His devotees, as long as they are dedicated to Him in love. That is the only qualification. He has nothing to fear, nothing to gain and nothing to lose, but He is always reciprocating with the devotee who is working on His account. That is the first half of yoga-to be engaged for the Lord. And the second half automatically follows, namely that one withdraws his senses from the multitudinous sense objects. "One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws his limbs within its shell, is to be understood as truly situated in knowledge.'' (58) Without sense control, no yoga system can be complete. We can see today that there are so many so-called yoga societies where they are sitting this way or that, or pushing their noses, exercising and reducing, but where is the spiritual progress. Where is the love of Godhead? When Lord Jesus was once journeying down the road, he saw a fig tree in the distance and went in search of some figs, for he was hungry. But when he came close he saw that there were no figs, only leaves, and so he cursed the fig tree, and it withered up and died. So we must produce fruit. It is not enough simply to have a form of godliness. There must be some fruit, and that fruit is love of Godhead. Unless we develop that dormant love of Godhead, which is within all of us, we will be cursed. Why? Because we have been given this valuable form of life, this human body. If we are simply wasting it on the objects of the senses, then we are krpanas, misers. We are lower than dogs, for at least the dogs are following their nature. But since we have this dormant tendency to love God, and we are not following it out, we are not as advanced as the dogs. (More...)

Unless one is Kṛṣṇa conscious, it is not at all possible to control the senses.

That the highest conception of yoga perfection is Krsna consciousness is clearly explained in this verse. And, unless one is Krsna conscious, it is not at all possible to control the senses. As cited above, the great sage Durvasa Muni picked a quarrel with Maharaja Ambarisa, and Durvasa 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 yogi 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 Srimad-Bhagavatam: (More...)

"King Ambarisa fixed his mind on the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, 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 tulasi 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-paraḥ devotee of the Lord." (Bhag. 9.4.18-20) (More...)

The whole thing is backwards, the senses control the mind, the mind controls the intelligence and the intelligence being misused is dragging the spirit soul and his material body all over the universe all for seeking so much pleasure. But we must reverse that, Krsna consciousness begins from the platform of buddhi-intelligence. Krsna says in the sixty first verse of the second chapter, "One who restrains his senses and fixes his consciousness upon Me is known as a man of steady intelligence." (More...)

Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/?qg=290