Our consciousness is imbued by the activities in which we indulge throughout our life. The people with whom we associate, the book which we read, the type of food which we savor, the places which we frequent –all these plays a role in shaping our consciousness. If we believe in living a carefree life, hardly ever bothering about the consequences then future would be bleak for us. However if we are serious about our salvation then we ought to dovetail our activities in accordance with scriptural injunctions. While practicing devotional life we need to be extremely careful because if we allow our senses to deviate even minutely then the result may be too dangerous for us. Bhagavad – Gita (2.67) warns us “As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence”.
Srimad – Bhagavatam narrates the story of a great king, Bharata, who was marching very confidently and diligently on the path of self realization. Seers, sages and citizens extolled the devotion of King Bharata. He retired timely from his family life to spend more time in practicing Krishna Consciousness. But he committed a mistake, initially it seemed to be a trivial one, but this one gaffe usurped his devotional life. He got attached to a baby deer and instead of meditating on the Lord he started being too much conscious of the animal. As a result when he was about to leave his body he remembered the deer and not the Lord. Now Krishna declares in Bhagavad – Gita (8.6), “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.” So, in his next life King Bharata became a deer. So while treading the path of bhakti we need to be extra careful lest we get caught up in the sights and sounds of this material world. Our entire senses should be utilized only for remembering Krishna and for nothing else.
