If we are lying on a couch in our room and we suddenly see a snake in the corner, what would be our immediate reaction? Will we continue lying there peacefully anymore? Definitely not. Within no time we will run out of the room and will frantically cry for help. Unless and until we drive the snake out from there and make sure that it never enters again we would not rest. In fact we can go to the extent of killing the snake for our safety and security. Any sane man will do the same.
But the scriptures are not much enthusiastic about our sanity. Why? Because it says that in spite of repeated reminders we prefer the company of the venomous snakes. These snakes are our senseswhich continue to dominate our life and dictate terms to us. They make us crazy and wild and most importantly do not allow us to flourish in Krishna consciousness. True we cannot kill our senses and no one asks us to even do it. We are just asked to detoxify our senses by removing all the poisonous substances from it. What are these lethal elements? It’s pretty simple to identify. Things which are favourable in practicing our devotional life should be preserved and which are not should be purged. We have to ensure that each and every sense gets sanctified because as one snake in the room can make us miserable similarly any one of the uncontrolled senses will make us insane.In Gita 2.67 Krishna says, “As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence.”
Once our senses become pure then instead of becoming an impediment they will start enthusiastically cooperating with us in our devotional life. In fact each of the senses can be astutely utilized in serving the Lord. Chaste and controlled senses will help us flourish in our devotional life.
