ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते ।
आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥५-२२॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: the pleasures experienced through senses and sense objects were ephemeral… fleeting in nature! Every single sense object had limited life. There were never perennial in nature. In the circumstances, how can a true seeker of spirituality pursue path of senses, the results of which were never permanent!
Though indulgence in sexual objects was extremely pleasing but it always produced sufferings for the incumbent in the end! Those pursuing worldly riches of life found sensuality attractive, but for how long? Pursuing path of religion (path of rituals), human beings who pleasured in objects of five senses never reached God in their lifetime.
To reach God in a limited time span of 70 to 80 years of earthly life… a bulldog determination as exhibited by Swami Vivekananda was necessitated. If we can reach stage of Swami Vivekananda in present life… we were competent to see and meet God, have communion with God every second of life! Something that was temporal does not belong to path of spirituality!
Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to pursue path of viveka (power to discriminate between right and wrong). Prompted by buddhi (intellect) and viveka (power of discrimination)… an intelligent human being pursued path of spirituality, path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) to reach God in present life. The free will, a gift of God Almighty to mankind comes in handy on spiritual travel!
The Explanation:
Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to follow path of spirituality that took human beings towards our true inner self… our soul atman, the spirit within! Sensual pleasures, outcome of visitation to sense objects was fleeting… temporal! Those who identified their body with their true inner self, remaining ignorant all the time seemed happy indulging in senses and the sense objects!
This was far from truth… absolute truth! When we were a soul atman, the spirit within and not a manifest physical form… how could something that was temporal excite us, pleasure us! In our ignorance we delayed journey to God Almighty by pursuing pleasures of the body. None reached God via path of religion (rituals). Going to temples, churches and mosques carried no meaning!
If we truly wanted to see and meet God in this very life, our pursuing path of spirituality was mandated by God Almighty. Path of spirituality demands our establishing absolute control over five senses and mind. It was only by practice of absolute celibacy for a minimum period of 12 years in continuation human beings reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (absolute nothingness).
None can deny efficacy of sense objects in providing temporary, fleeting happiness. But nothing was permanent in the world of senses… mind! Followers of religion (rituals) pursued path of senses as it provided a soothing balm to their ego (Aham in Hinduism)! On path of pure spirituality… ego has to be dominated, dissolved in entirety!
For a true seeker of God, the external ego was meaningless! As our soul atman, the consciousness within was absolute master and controller of human body… how could we indulge in something that was not permanent! Sooner or later all sense objects brought untold sufferings. True happiness, bliss can only be found on path of pure spirituality that leads to God Almighty.
In a lifespan of 70 to 80 years of earthly life, how many years could a human being enjoy all the time! We all have our limitations. The body has its limitations but the field of spirituality was limitless. Until the moment human beings gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana in Hinduism)… one could never experience bliss that was permanent!
Having a communion with God Almighty every second of life was something that could never be expressed in words! By dissolving our ego, establishing absolute control over five senses and mind, one finally reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness)… when not a single thought entered our brain uninvoked. This is the stage of permanent bliss, ecstasy!
Thoughtlessness can only be achieved by overpowering senses! Moment we controlled five senses in totality… control over mind followed automatically. By using our intellect (buddhi in Hinduism), our viveka (power of discrimination)… following path of self enquiry (Neti… not this, not this) any human being world over can gain enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) in present life.
For a serious seeker of spirituality… bondages of ephemeral earthly life carried no meaning! When we hankered after sense objects vehemently… we lost track of spirituality! As a human being, the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle… it is our duty to leave path of sense objects and pursue path of pure spirituality that always led towards God Almighty.
Remaining ignorant, feigning ignorance all the time… one never reached near God. We could not postpone spiritual matters indefinitely. Most human beings I came across in life promised to pursue spiritual path after crossing 70 years of age. The ignorant failed to realize that man gods like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and prophet Mohammed… all started their pursuit of God early in life. Even Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana started in search of God early in life and so was the case with Swami Vivekananda, the famous disciple saint of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa!
Something that was destined to be achieved in a time span of 1.1 million manifestations in human form… achieving it in a limited time span of 70 to 80 years of earthly sojourn was nothing short of a miracle! Only an ardent seeker of spirituality… exhibiting bulldog determination of Swami Vivekananda could cross ocean of Samsara (worldly life) to reach God.
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 29, 2013
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