BEWARE OF THE SENSES

What is the use of the body without the Senses gifted by God? The very purpose of creation will be defeated if it were so! Man will then be equal to a corpse incapable of activities physical or mental! Life cannot exist without the Senses which are responsible for all activities in life. This God given gift is not properly understood and utilized by man for his happiness.These Senses have to be used for a good purpose and not misused. We have the Jnanendriyas that offer knowledge of everything-- “ Sabda, Sparsa, Rupa, Rasa' and Gandha.” The Karmendriyas carry out what the Jnanendriyas recognize. Ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose help us in realizing whatever we wish. Who's the enjoyer? Though the sense organs are engaged in action, it is the mind that enjoys the result. The power of discrimination or ‘Buddhi’ sifts the good from the bad for the body! It is only when the mind is led by the intellect there is experience of genuine joy!

The Katha Upanishad gives the timely warning to all humanity about the senses. “ The senses, they say, are the horses, the objects of the senses their roads.When the Self is in union with the body, the senses and the mind the Wise call him the enjoyer.”Indriyani hayanyahur virshayastheshu gocharan atmendriya manoyuktam bhokthethyahur manishinaha.” The Upanishad continues and declares the real truth. “ Know that the Self is like the Lord of the chariot, and the body is his chariot. Know that the intellect is the charioteer and the mind the reins.” “ Atmanam rathinam viddhi sareeram rathamevatu Buddhimtu sarathim viddhi manah pragrahamevacha.” The chariot of the body is driven by the horses called the senses! The galloping senses have to be checked and controlled by the mind which acts like the reins. The intellect or buddhi plays a large part in deciding what is right or wrong, desirable or undesirable. If the senses are allowed a free sway, their gallop will end in serious fatal accident! Hence the importance of controlling our senses.

Sense control is an absolute necessity as it guards against a number of evils. “ Man should avoid errors and evils that the ear, the tongue, the eye, the mind and the hand are liable to commit. These are known as five vices--panchadoshas. The eye has a tendency to seek the vile and vulgar. The ear is ever eager for scandals and gossip. The tongue is extremely dangerous. It is indeed difficult to lead the tongue to the path of bhajans and japa- chanting the Lord's Name!” declares Bhagawan Sri Sri Satya Sai Baba. (SSS Vol X) According to Swami soft speech is the expression of genuine love. “Hate screeches, fear squeals, conceit trumpets but love soothes and applies balm”. Swami says that man has more poison than the snake! His poison is in his eyes, tongue, hands, mind, heart, and his thoughts! The study of the movement of the tongue is an eye opener to all of us. It moves very cleverly up and down, side to side when a person speaks or eats. But it does not let the thirty two teeth  hurt it!

The very purpose of man’s existence is to realize himself, to know that he is not the body but the eternal Soul enshrined in his body! The senses have been granted by God purposely to enable man to

reach that goal in life. There is no point in misusing or abusing the senses by directing them to evil and illegal ends. Every sense organ has its specific function. The eyes should see good, the ears hear good, the tongue speak good, hands do good, legs move to good and sacred places! Thoughts should be pure and Noble not crooked and impure! Sri Kulasekhara Azwar in his classic “Mukunda Mala” lays down what each organ of the body has to do to get salvation! He addresses the tongue and other organs and says, “ O Tongue! sing the glory of Kesava, the enemy of asura Mura; O Manas! worship Sridhara; O Ears! hear the stories of the Divine sports of Achyuta! O Eyes! look at Krishna's glorious form! O Feet! walk towards the temple of Hari; O Nose! smell the fragrant water of Tulasi from the feet of the Lord; O Head! bow down in devotion to Adokshaja!”

The modern trend is to enjoy life with a gay abandon! Epicureanism has overtaken the people who want to give maximum freedom to the senses, eat, drink and make merry all the time! They forget death is lying in wait for them. Days already spent can never return and future is very uncertain! By realizing the significance of arresting the freedom of the sensory organs and by placing a ceiling on desires man can make his life a paradise on earth! Otherwise he will have to regret his stay on earth!