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Chapter 7: Further Inquires by Vidura

Verse 13 of 42
SB 3.7.13

यदेन्द्रियोपरामो ऽथ द्रष्ट्रात्मनि परे हरौ विलीयन्ते तदा क्लेशाः संसुप्तस्येव कृत्स्नशः

yadendriyoparāmo 'tha draṣṭrātmani pare harau vilīyante tadā kleśāḥ saṁsuptasyeva kṛtsnaśaḥ

Synonyms

yadāwhen; indriyasenses; uparāmaḥsatiated; athathus; draṣṭa-ātmaniunto the seer, the Supersoul; parein the transcendence; harauunto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; vilīyantebecomes merged in; tadāat that time; kleśāḥmiseries; saṁsuptasyaone who has enjoyed sound sleep; ivalike; kṛtsnaśaḥin complete..

Translation

When the senses are satisfied in the seer-Supersoul, the Personality of Godhead, and merge in Him, all miseries are vanquished, as after a sound sleep.

Purport

The quivering of the living entity as described above is due to the senses. Since the entire material existence is meant for sense gratification, the senses are the medium of material activities, and they cause the quivering of the steady soul. Therefore, these senses are to be detached from all such material activities. According to the impersonalists the senses are stopped from work by merging the soul in the Supersoul Brahman. The devotees, however, do not stop the material senses from acting, but they engage their transcendental senses in the service of the Transcendence, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In either case, the activities of the senses in the material field are to be stopped by cultivation of knowledge, and, if possible, they can be engaged in the service of the Lord. The senses are transcendental in nature, but their activities become polluted when contaminated by matter. We have to treat the senses to cure them of the material disease, not stop them from acting, as suggested by the impersonalist. In Bhagavad-gītā (2.59) it is said that one ceases all material activities only when satisfied by contact with a better engagement. Consciousness is active by nature and cannot be stopped from working. Artificially stopping a mischievous child is not the real remedy. The child must be given some better engagement so that he will automatically stop causing mischief. In the same way, the mischievous activities of the senses can only be stopped by better engagement in relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the eyes are engaged in seeing the beautiful form of the Lord, the tongue engaged in tasting prasādam or remnants of foodstuff offered to the Lord, the ears engaged in hearing His glories, the hands engaged in cleaning the temple of the Lord, the legs engaged in visiting His temples—or when all the senses are engaged in transcendental variegatedness—then only can the transcendental senses become satiated and eternally free from material engagement. The Lord, as the Supersoul residing in everyone's heart and as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world far beyond the material creation, is the seer of all our activities. Our activities must be so transcendentally saturated that the Lord will be kind enough to look upon us favorably and engage us in His transcendental service; then only can the senses be satisfied completely and be no longer troubled by material attraction.

Verse 13 of 42
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