Imagine a computer used by a child primarily for playing
games. From the moment it is turned on, it repeatedly gives prompts for
playing. Such prompts continue even when the child grows up and wants to use
the computer for studying. The past usage of the computer explains why those
prompts come, but that prompting doesn’t justify the student’s playing now, for
he has the power to say no.
Our body is akin to a machine for us souls – a machine that
we have in our past used largely for worldly indulgences. When we fortunately
come in contact with Gita wisdom, we recognize that life has the higher purpose
of spiritual realization that brings everlasting happiness. Understanding this is
akin to growing up spiritually.
Understanding that life has the higher purpose of spiritual
realization is akin to growing up spiritually.
However, even when we strive to focus on life’s spiritual
purpose, our body keeps prompting us towards worldly indulgences. Our past
explains our inclinations, which are the prompts coming from the body. But we
have the power to say no to them. If we still indulge, then pointing to our
inclinations won’t excuse us of the consequences – at the very least we will
fail to realize our spiritual potential and will perpetuate our miserable
material existence.
Just as saying no to the game becomes easier for students if
they develop interest in studies, similarly saying no to the bodily prompts
becomes easier for us if we develop interest in devotional activities. And
bhakti-yoga accommodatingly enables us to serve Krishna according to our
psychophysical nature, which refers to the things that naturally interest us.
In bhakti, rather than rejecting all bodily prompts, we reject those that are
anti-devotional and dovetail those that are devotionally harmonizable. TheBhagavad-gita (18.56) assures us that even while working according to our
nature, we can still take shelter of Krishna and thereby attain life’s supreme
perfection.
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