Vice is the inner self-destructive force
that promises quick pleasure but ends up binding us to misery and bondage.
The Bhagavad-gita (03.36 – 03.43) provides
an illuminating discussion on vice in its principal form: lust. The Gita
(03.40) pinpoints the strongholds of lust: the senses, the mind and the
intelligence. Acting from these enclaves, lust deceives us into believing that
irreligious sensual indulgences will yield pleasure.
Denying our innate need for pleasure can amount
to a form of repression that is both undesirable and unsustainable.
To avoid being thus misled by lust, the
Gita (03.41) recommends that we first discipline our senses. However, denying
our innate need for pleasure can amount to a form of repression that is both
undesirable and unsustainable. That’s why Gita wisdom urges us to not just
fight harder, but to rise higher – to not just battle determinedly for
rejecting lower sensual pleasure, but to also diligently purify ourselves and
raise our consciousness to the spiritual level for relishing higher devotional
pleasure.
To guide the ascent of our consciousness,
the next verse (03.42) outlines the levels through which our consciousness is
presently routed: the insentient matter that comprises the physical body; the
senses that are the primary centers of physical activity; the mind that is the
vortex of desires; the intelligence that is the regulator of our intentions;
and the soul that is the source of consciousness.
Situating our consciousness at the level of
the soul means rendering devotional service to Krishna, the supreme source of
all pleasure. By treasuring the fulfillment provided by our present practice of
bhakti and by contemplating that much more fulfillment awaits us if we
persevere on the path to purification, we can summon the determination to
reject lust resolutely and repeatedly. Aptly the Gita (03.43) concludes its war
strategy summary by urging us to live reflectively at the spiritual level and
thus conquer vice.
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