Miscellaneous - Religion   

Control the senses

CHENNAI: Any discussion in the scriptures about the importance of adopting the spiritual path to realise the end of liberation from bondage, which is the cause of rebirths, does not fail to drive home the rarity of human birth. So man has a distinct advantage over all other living beings as only human beings can strive for salvation by following the scriptural injunctions and the path shown by elders. In the case of all other creatures they can only work out the Karma that brought about their birth, and further spiritual evolution is possible only when they get an opportunity to be born as a human being.

In his discourse, Sri Goda Venketeswara Sastri said man had a disadvantage unlike other creatures, which act according to their natural instincts. Sankara in his Vivekachudamani states that the deer (sound), elephant (touch), moth (vision), fish (taste) and the black bee (smell) meet their death because of only one of the five senses. He asks, “What then needs to be said of man in whom all the five senses are active?”

Those who wish to catch a deer entice it by the sweet notes of a flute, and an elephant by tempting it with the touch of a cow-elephant. A moth dies by getting lured to a flame without knowing it will scorch it, while a fish can be baited by a piece of flesh. In the case of the black bee it gets attracted by the perfume of a Champaka flower and meets its end in the process.

A human being, on the other hand, becomes a slave to all his five senses which pull him in different directions. One can then imagine his predicament and what an awesome task it is to control his senses. While these creatures only meet their end as a consequence of falling prey to sensory attraction, man also incurs sin by succumbing to his senses because sidetracked by them he fails to discharge his obligatory duties. The senses are said to be disadvantageous only to caution a spiritual seeker to be always alert to their enticements and to develop detachment towards the sensory objects in order to progress spiritually.

If a spiritual seeker constantly remembers that his present human birth is a blessing he will not squander it in sensory pursuits.

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