Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das

How do we differentiate between the mind and the heart?
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If a devotee can’t find an astrologically compatible match, can they pursue astrologically incompatible matches where other things match?
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Bhikshu Gita 3 – The mind makes the unreal seem real and the real seem unreal (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.23.44)
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Talk at ISKCON, Bahrain
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Bhikshu Gita 2 – The mind makes it difficult for people to change – be understanding (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.23.43)
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Talk at ISKCON, Bahrain
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Demystifying Gita 18.66 – Does surrender mean giving up dharma?
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Congregation program at Bahrain
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Navigating the social and emotional turbulence of adolescence
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Address to teenagers forum at ISKCON, Bahrain
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Is a devotee teacher cheating students by teaching them scientific theories about creation?
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Does God want us to torture ourselves by fasting on holy days?
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How can we survive spiritually when suddenly we lose devotee association?
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How do we know that the knowledge coming through disciplic succession is authentic?
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How do we convince people that scriptures are true, not fictional?
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Why did Rama not stand by Sita when she was defamed?
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Was Ravana an ideal brother who stood by his sister at all costs?
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Bhkshu Gita 1 – Minimize misery by identifying the misery caused by the mind
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Bhkshu Gita 1 – Minimize misery by identifying the misery caused by the mind (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.23.42)
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Some devotees take a vow to chant lots of rounds and keep chanting all day – is that ok?
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What is the significance getting darshan of Radharani’s lotus feet on Radhashtami day?
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Will you please talk something about Devi Bhagavatam?
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What are the duties of a modern woman who wants to practice bhakti?
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If Vyasadeva wrote the Bhagavatam, how is he present in the Bhagavatam?
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Who all heard the Gita – why were Sanjaya and Dhritarashtra able to hear?
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Why does Bhagavatam contains sections that don’t glorify the Lord?
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Why are we more judgemental towards equals instead of seniors?
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Are all commentaries on Bhagavad-gita of equal value?
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For what purpose did Krishna speak the Bhagavad-gita?
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In the Bhagavad-gita, what is the significance of the word Bhagavan?
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On self-mastery: Fight the archer, not the arrow
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jaḍās tapobhiḥ śamayanti dehaṁ           budhā manaś cāpi vikāra-hetum

śvā muktam astraṁ daśatīti kopāt         kṣeptāram uddiśya hinasti siṁhaḥ

jaḍāḥ — fools; tapobhiḥ — through austerities; śamayanti — try to pacify; deham — the body and senses; budhāḥ — the intelligent; manaḥ — the mind; ca — and; api — also; vikāra-hetum — the original cause; śvā — dog; muktam — thrown; astram — arrow; daśati — bites; iti — thus; kopāt — out of anger; kṣeptāram — hunter; uddiśya — tracing out; hinasti — kills; siṁhaḥ — lion;

“Fools try to pacify the senses by subjecting the body to austerity, but the wise focus on dealing with the mind, which is the source of desire and distress. Dogs angrily bite the arrow that has been hurled at them, but lions search out the arrow’s source, the hunter, and finish him off.” (Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra, Vicāraḥ, Verse 238)

This Subhashita illustrates the futility of seeking self-mastery solely through sense mastery. It uses artistic license to represent someone foolish through a dog and someone intelligent through a lion. A foolish animal may bite the arrow that has pierced it, imagining that it is thus getting back at whatever is hurting it. But a wiser animal searches for and deals with the source of the arrow, the hunter.

Our lower desires are like arrows that pierce our consciousness. By inducing within us a tormenting sense of deprivation, they goad us towards indulgence. Frequently, we give in to those desires, not so much to get pleasure as to get relief from torment.

If we become wiser, we recognize that indulgence doesn’t mitigate the torment but aggravates it. Indulgence reinforces the desire, which then goads us with greater intensity. By our indulgence, we unwittingly sharpen the arrow that is then used to torment us further.

When we understand the folly of indulgence, we strive for resistance, for saying no to desire. However, if we are not discerning, we presume the senses to be the source of desire and try to starve them through rigid self-abnegation. Some world-rejecting paths take this presumption to extreme degrees. Seekers on those paths sometimes become masochists – they whiplash their bodies, hoping to thereby kill the desires of the flesh. Such self-torment may weaken desire temporarily, but can’t eliminate it permanently. Why? Because the body is not the source of desire; it is merely the channel for desire. Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.1.13-14) compares such self-abnegation to the burning of weeds – as the roots remain underground and unharmed, the weeds re-appear in due course of time. Similarly, the desire that seems to have disappeared during self-abnegation re-appears, sooner or later. As masochistic self-abnegation entails self-inflicted misery, it can be compared to a dog’s biting the arrow that has pierced it.

Wiser people seek to know the source of the arrow of desire. Significantly, this Subhashita indicates that the shooter of the arrow is the mind, not the sense object we desire. Consider alcoholics, for example. The desire for alcohol doesn’t come from the alcohol bottle; after […]

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How do we differentiate between which desire to accept and which to reject?
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