Guarding The Senses
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THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति रजः कर्मणि भारत ।
ज्ञानमावृत्य तु तमः प्रमादे सञ्जयत्युत
॥ १४=९॥
sattvaṁ sukhe sañjayati rajaḥ karmaṇi
bhārata jñānamāvṛtya tu tamaḥ
pramāde sañjayatyuta
The mode of goodness conditions one
to happiness. Passion conditions one to
fruits of action, and veiling the
knowledge, tamas binds one to
carelessness.
POWERFUL COGNITION
Continuously add thoughts of completion that give power, bliss and peace.
रजस्तमश्चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत ।
रजः सत्त्वं तमश्चैव तमः सत्त्वं रजस्तथा
॥ १४=१०॥
rajas tamaś cābhibhūya sattvaṁ bhavati
bhārata rajaḥ sattvaṁ tamaścaiva tamaḥ
sattvaṁ rajastathā
Sometimes the mode of passion
becomes prominent, defeating the mode
of goodness, O son of Bhārata. And
sometimes the mode of goodness defeats
passion, and at other times the mode of
ignorance defeats goodness and passion.
In this way there is always competition
for supremacy.
POWERFUL COGNITION
If we are complete about what we do, we will enjoy what we do. Whatever we do will be wonderful and successful
सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते ।
ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्याद्विवृद्धं सत्त्वमित्युत
॥ १४-११॥
sarvadvāreṣu dehesmin prakāśa upajāyate
jñānaṁ yadā tadā vidyād vivṛddhaṁ
sattvamityuta
When the light of Self-knowledge illumines all the senses (or gates) in the body, then it should be known that goodness is predominant.
POWERFUL COGNITION
We should keep our five senses carefully guarded by illuminated knowledge. We should be conscious about what input we take in and what inputs we must avoid, so that we can reside in satva forever.
लोभः प्रवृत्तिरारम्भः कर्मणामशमः स्पृहा ।
रजस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे भरतर्षभ
॥ १४=१२॥
obhaḥ pravṛttirārambhaḥ
karmaṇāmaśamaḥ spṛhā rajasyetāni
jāyante vivṛddhe bharatarṣabha O
Bharatarṣabha, chief of the Bhārata,
when there is an increase in the
mode of passion, the symptoms of
great attachment, uncontrollable
desire, hankering, and intense
endeavor develop
POWERFUL COGNITION
Ask: Do I wish to be a donkey driven by a carrot dangling in front of me all my life? When we decide, ‘No, this is not what I want,’ it is time to break away from rajas and move towards bliss, nityānanda.
INTRODUCTION
Kṛṣṇa further explains the three modes. 'O Bhārata, sometimes the mode of goodness, satva, becomes prominent, defeating the modes of passion and ignorance, and at other times, ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way, there is always competition for supremacy.
All of us are not completely caught in satva or rajas or tamas. We swing between satva, rajas and tamas. Sometimes we get up in the morning and feel fresh. We feel as if all our questions are answered; we are fresh, alive and we think we have become almost enlightened! Everything goes beautifully until evening. Suddenly we become restless. The very next day, we are in tamas. We don't want to do anything. These mood swings take place continuously
Obesity and mood swings
are closely related. When
we allow these mood
swings to happen, we
torture ourselves.
Sometimes we are restless,
sometimes we are peaceful
and sometimes we are in
tamas. When we are in
tamas we don't want to do
anything; we want to
escape from everything and
run away. We are caught in
these three modes of
nature: sometimes in
instinct, sometimes in
intellect and sometimes in
intelligence.
