Victory over the senses

Dr Satish K Kapoor

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In Prashnottara Ratna Mallika, Adi Shankaracharya asks : Ke cha dasyavo - ‘Who are thieves?’ He then gives a terse reply: vishayah, meaning ‘sense objects that rob the mind of its higher faculties.’ Mastery over the senses is an attribute of the realised souls. Says Lord Krishna in the Bhagavadgita( II. 62-63): ‘Brooding on the objects of senses, man develops attachment to them; from attachment comes desire; from desire anger sprouts forth. From anger proceeds delusion; from delusion, confused memory; from confused memory the ruin of reason; due to the ruin of reason he perishes.’

Sensory system

In normal course, senses are engaged in things external. The five sensory faculties are visual, auditory, gustatory, tactile and olfactory. They are related respectively to eyes, ears, tongue, skin and nose. Of late, two more senses are being spoken of by scientists – body-awareness (previously called proprioception) and the immune system. Together, the sensory faculties help one to grasp the phenomena. If controlled and transcended, they can lead to self transformation.

Senses and viveka

In Katha Upanishad (I.iii.3-4) the Self of man is compared to the Lord seated in a chariot, the body to the chariot, the intellect to the charioteer, the mind to the rein, the senses to the horses, and the sense objects to the road along which the chariot is driven. The unbridled horse can drive the chariot on a perilous journey. But with viveka, discriminative cognition, the lower attractions cease and one gains self control.

Self discipline

Sage Krishna Dvaipayana, popularly known as Veda Vyasa, explained that senses follow the mind, like a swarm of bees that follow the queen-bee. By keeping the mind pure, one can guard them from going astray.

Without a direct intuitive vision of the Self, the individual remains embroiled in the mire of worldly sensations. Consciousness gets stuck in the lower nerve plexuses, and fails to ascend towards the quintessential consciousness. Sensory control can be maximised by regulating manomaya kosha, mind-sheath, or the lower mind and empowering vijnanamaya kosha – intellect-sheath, or the higher mind, in the subtle body. This is possible by prayer, pranayama, sense of detachment, association with the virtuous, consumption of sattvic diet, and meditation. The sound power of specific mantras can be employed for nurturing the higher mind, and taming the baser instincts.

Dying while living

Sense-pleasure is like eczema. The more it is scratched, the more it aggravates. Sublimation of the senses makes one jivana-mukta, ‘free while alive’. It is crossing the portals of life in the phenomenal world and ascending into higher spiritual realm of eternal bliss. Guru Nanak Dev puts it thus: ‘Seeing without eyes, hearing without ears, walking without feet, working without hands, speaking without tongue – thus dying while living O Nanak/ know this as the way unto the Lord/ to be attained through His cosmic law.’

To become indriya-jaya, ‘conqueror of senses’, one should be established in one’s true nature, remaining free from attachment and aversion, totally undisturbed by the ceaseless current of desires. Says the Bhagavadgita (II.61) : Vashe hi yasye’ndriyani tasya prajna pratishthita – ‘His wisdom is constant whose senses are under subjugation.’

(Dr Kapoor is a noted educationist, historian and spiritualist)