Universe: Avoiding adverse association
If we repeatedly succumb to savouring a lower pleasure, we risk falling into the grip of a pernicious habit
We must cautiously avoid adverse association, just as we avoid keeping garbage inside our home. Istock
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Good association that takes our mind to the Truth is called satsang. Etymologically, ‘sat’ means ‘truth’, while ‘sang’ means ‘to associate’. Satsang includes holy congregations where devotional topics are discussed. Conversely, kusang is bad association that pulls our mind into worldly contemplation.
Narad refers to it as dusang. Just as weeds choke a plant, bad association chokes the sapling of bhakti in our heart. Thus, evading kusang is extremely important.
Kusang tempts us towards worthless pursuits. It presents us with easy opportunities for gratification. These come in myriad forms, including social media, video games, and movies. To protect one’s devotion, it is best to minimise exposure to low-value delights. Unfortunately, our material mind finds kusang very relishable.
Suppose one is bitten by a snake. What is the way to know if the venom has spread through the body? Here is a simple test for it. Offer bitter neem leaves to the person and ask how they taste. If the person finds them sweet, you can conclude that the poison has entered the blood.
Similarly, our mind and senses are made from maya. They are naturally drawn to worldly indulgences and entertainment. Hence, kusang tempts us to drop our guard. The intellect says, ‘What is the harm in looking? It will give me a quick short break for a few moments.’ Then the intellect yields further and thinks, ‘What is the harm in indulging a little more?’ And before we know it, kusang sways the mind beyond our control. We must therefore cautiously avoid adverse association, just as we avoid keeping garbage inside our home.
If we repeatedly succumb to savouring a lower pleasure, we risk falling into the grip of a pernicious habit. Then, to reverse the harmful tendency becomes a challenge.
The Mahabharata states: A small sapling can be chopped off easily, but cutting a fully grown tree takes a lot of effort.
Thus, in matters of kusang, precaution is the better part of valour. Narad advises us to ‘stay away from adverse association by all means’. In the next sutra, he ups the ante on the dangers of kusang.
Narad points out that kusang unleashes a chain of events. The Bhagavad Gita details the downward spiral of kusang:
While contemplating on the objects of the senses, one develops attachment to them. Attachment leads to desire, and from desire arises anger. Anger leads to clouding of judgment, which results in bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined. (verses 2.62-63)
The buddhi is the most important faculty we possess in our mind-body mechanism. The convictions we harbour in our intellect become the ‘beliefs’ we live by. These are the lenses through which we see the world. If the buddhi is ruined through kusang, then our beliefs get warped.
Every so often, parents approach me, ‘Swamiji, my teenage son has gone astray. He has fallen into an awful chemical addiction. What should I do?’
I respond to them, ‘Check his friends circle. If his close acquaintances are derelict, his beliefs have been adversely impacted. In association with drug addicts, he has become convinced that skirting responsibility and experiencing the euphoric high from drugs is the definition of a good life. His defective belief is destroying him.’
So powerful is the impact of association upon our convictions! Hence, Ram explained to Vibheeshan: ‘It is preferable to live in hell than to do sang of terrible people.’
— Excerpted from ‘Narad Bhakti Sutras’ with permission from Rupa
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