Part -3
Gods and demons, sages and men
Are all under the spell of sensuous delights,
No one can be free and safe
Who has not sought the shelter of Lord Sahajanand.
- Nishkulanand Swami
Our Lord Shree Hari in his Vachanamrit has praised those who have sharp intelligence and who can stabilize their intellect and inclinations in the contemplation of the Lord. The lure of the five senses is so powerful that even gods or powerful demons, great sages as well as ordinary men cannot escape from falling into their clutches, if they do not seek the divine protection of the Lord.
The inner self is related to the subtle body and the objects to be enjoyed by five senses belong to the gross body. These two bodies are separate. Then how does one fall prey to the senses?
Swami Nishkulanand explains it in this way in Hriday Prakash:
All that the Mind plans, the Intellect approves
And Intellect can take the Mind on various tours,
To lands known and unknown.
These two are born from the five gross elements
Impregnated with divine spark
They don’t think of results of indulgence
It is only the Sentience that worries
About them day and night
- Nishkulanand Swami
The five sense organs, ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose crave for their respective objects of indulgence, word as sound, touch, and forms of beauty, various tastes, and pleasant smells. This experience enters the inner self. Then the Mind directs the sense to confront the objects of its desire. Then the Intellect confirms the enjoyment. The man may be in India and he may talk of Japan
On the topic Ahamkar self-consciousness as the enjoyer, Shreeji Maharaj states in Vachanamrit Gadhada First Chapter - 70:
The moment he comes to know the world around, his parents tell him: This is your mother, this is your father, this man is your uncle; these are your brothers, this is your cow, this is your horse, this house is yours; this is the upper storey of the house for your stay; this farm belongs to you; these are your ornaments – these words are accepted by the man’s Intelligence. As women put a piece of mirror in embroidery and the embroidery holds the glass as binding force so does Intelligence bind the soul. The soul is like that piece of mirror!”
The four bad companions attack with the weapons of five senses of indulgence and come to conquer man to make him fall into temptation. But when the soul comes in contact with a saint in Satsang, in Holy Fellowship he realizes that those worldly delights are illusory and God alone is truth. This fight constantly goes on in all individuals. When four bad companions have the upper hand the individual falls prey to the pleasures of senses and is ruined. When the power of the saint in Holy fellowship succeeds, the individual is oriented towards the divine, spiritual life and achieves salvation.
Who wins this war? Only that one who seeks the shelter of the Lord.
“Where Krishna , the Master Yogi and where Arjun, the bowman stand
No doubt there are Victory, Morality and Prosperity, I think.”
One who surrenders himself like Arjun to the Lord is sure to succeed in this struggle. Only a perfect devotee can be assured success in this struggle.
“Whatever he plans, he dedicates to Shyam,
The Lord, that Image leads the project to success”.
- Nishkulanand Swami
This battle needs great skill as we have to fight with Mind with the help of Mind. The mind fights Mind and leads to the better self. Where do these four bad companions bad the man? Let the mind be a witness in the search for the Divine. For that one must call to mind the events of the Lord’s life, His icon and image, and contemplate on that. The Intellect should be persuaded to believe that God alone wills to beatitude the sentience should consciously hold before it in meditation the image of the Lord, and the Ego must think of how it is a spark of that great Brahman the Divine Element – Only then will the Inner Self be vanquished. This is a life-long struggle.
The roots of worldly desires have gone down deep
Efforts to uproot them with trick or force will hardly succeed.
- Nishkulanand Swami
The soul is polluted with ignorance from its experiences of the infinite lives in the cycles of births and rebirths. Main force would not succeed in removing this deep-rooted ignorance. Take an example: You want to see a very important person. There is no access. The board at the gate says: “Beware of the Dog” and there is that dangerous guard dog. If you force your entry the dog will attack. But if you call the V.I.P. and establish communication with him, he would ask the dog to keep quiet and you would succeed in seeing the V.I.P. The dog in this parable is the Maya, created by the Lord.
My own eternal aspect in human life becomes a jeeva, a soul,
And keeps under control the Mind and five senses rooted in nature.
- Geeta XV.7
The aspect of godhead leads the mind are the five senses towards godhead but the other gross aspect tempts them and leads them towards indulgence. We should cherish that aspect of God in us and remain cheerful and worship the Lord; and curb those senses which create hindrance in our inclination towards God. “The way of knowledge destroys these baser instincts, and results in Brahman – realization” Vachanamrit Gadhada Middle - 8.
Let the Lord be our centre of life removing darkness of ignorance. In such a pure heart does the Lord Swaminarayan reside!
“Curb your inward enemies
That will lead to Light Within”
