Can you become an advanced devotee but not be a monk? Is it possible to control the senses and the mind without wearing orange robes? Do we need to renounce family and friends to serve God?
The answer is, of course not!
The Bhagavat Gita teaches us not to give up things but instead to work with whatever we have.
Bhagavat Gita 9.27- Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.
We may be good at teaching others. That is a great skill to have. Study the scriptures and share them. We may be an expert musician. That is another good skill that we can engage in Krishna’s service. Whatever skills we may have, if we simply engage them in Krishna’s service, this will gradually purify our hearts and senses.
And guess what?
That is how we control the mind! Doing things according to our natural propensity and then offering it to Krishna.
Bhagavat Gita 3.7- On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga [in Kṛṣṇa consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior.
In the verse above, Krishna acknowledges that most of us are not ready to renounce material desires and completely absorb ourselves in spiritual practices. The majority of the population needs to go through a gradual process of “surrender”- a gradual understanding of one’s self and the Absolute (Krishna).
Therefore, Krishna recommends that we build “the fence” around the roaming senses and continue to “feed them”, but under regulation, to slowly reduce until eventually, we stop the sense enjoyment completely.
Bhagavat Gita 3.3.- Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows the nature he has acquired from the three modes. What can repression accomplish?
Ananta Gopal Das
15.03.2024
Bhakti Wisdom 