PHRASES IN THE GITA - 11

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PHRASES IN THE GITA - 11

यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोSङ्गानीव सर्वशः   (अध्याय २ - श्लोक ५८)
யதா ஸம்ஹரதே சாயம் கூர்மோSங்கானீவ ஸர்வஷஹ  (அத்யாயம் 2 - ஸ்லோகம் 58)
Yadaa Samharate chaayam koormongaaneeva Sarvashah  (Chapter 2 - Shloka 58)

Meaning : Just like a tortoise withdrawing its five organs (four legs and a head.) into its shell....

It is a beautiful simile often used in our philosophy. A tortoise is a slow mover. In this world with fast and harsh hunters, a slow mover is at greatest risk of being hunted and gobbled up. But, God is not only an intelligent Creator but a Compassionate creator as well. (I am not qualified to certify, but only wonder at His ability and quality.) He has provided every creature a point of strength to survive. For the tortoise, it is its shell. In the face of a perceived threat, it merely withdraws the five organs into its shell and sticks to the earth. Shell not being edible for the hunter creature, chance of surviving the threat increases for the tortoise. This is a phenomenon in Nature.

Our ancestors have been sharpest observers of Nature, in their quest for knowing the purpose of Human life and have used many such similes to clarify our philosophy.

Man has five Gyaanedriya, senses for knowledge, knowledge of the world. The physical organs for these senses are : 1. Eye; 2. Ear; 3. Nose; 4. Tongue; 5; The skin. The abilities (senses) for these organs are (in that order) 1. Seeing (दृष्टि); 2. Hearing (श्रवण); 3. Smelling (जिघ्नन); 4. Tasting (अश्नन); and 5. Knowing the feeling through touch (स्पर्श). The objects (or feed) for these senses are 1. Sight (दर्शन); 2. Sound (शब्द); 3. Smell (गन्ध); 4. Taste (रुचि); and 5. Touch (स्पर्श). We know the world through these sense organs. For instance, we know about colours, shapes and sizes through the eyes. A blind can perhaps understand what a cloth is, using his other senses, but can never, never understand what a 'green or red cloth' is. The various sounds are known through the ears. etc. etc. It is said that our senses are sharp enough at microscopic level to differentiate and recognize thousands of objects. (Even a fool can grasp differences at grosser level. It requires a greater intelligence to differentiate at micro level.)

These senses are vital in knowing the world. Why, at all, should we know the world? OK. We must know the world as we live here, as we interact with the world all our life. That is a superficial purpose. There is a greater purpose, that of knowing Self, that of grasping the underlying Unity behind all these diversities, that of realizing God. These senses help us in knowing the world. That is why these have been called "Gyaanendriya" 'senses of knowledge'.

How do these senses function? These have to go out to know. The eyes have to look into outer world, collect information and pass these on to the brain to be processed and stored. The ears have to open to the outer world to hear and pass on to the brain whatever heard. The field of operation for these senses is the external world. These senses are the gateways for Self to go out into the world and open only on the outer side.

Then, why should these be withdrawn, like a tortoise? There is a trap in this system. If the senses are allowed to function without prejudice or preference, no problem then. There is an internal organ, called the Manas, which whips these senses to wander outside in search of preferences listed by it. (Mind is not the exact word to denote 'Manas', but is used in absence of a better word.) That is the trap. The manas does not take the world as it is. It attaches tags, tags of likes, dislikes, desires, contempt, favourable, unfavourable, etc. to the information on objects brought in by these senses. And then, the Manas commands these senses to preferentially go for the liked objects and avoid the disliked ones. It is an impossible task for the senses. The world is a mixed plate. It has everything, from the bitterest to the sweetest, from the ugliest to the most beautiful, from the pleasantest to the most unpleasant, from the smoothest to the harshest, from the kindest to the wildest, etc. The senses can not choose. That makes the manas restless. It enjoys the favourable ones sent by the senses and wants more of these. It detests the unfavourable ones and does not want a repetition of these. It whips the senses more vigorously to function and satisfy its own fancies. (The tongue, for instance, stops at sending the signals of the taste of a Ladoo placed on it. The tongue does not and should not decide number of Ladoos to be eaten. The manas likes Ladoos, wants more and whips the tongue for more.) The self gets trapped in this recklessness of manas.

Death is not dangerous. We have Punar-janma or rebirth. We can come again to continue from where we left. But, fall or stagnation is Dangerous. Man can not afford to be trapped in sensual experiences. He has to gain from sensual experiences and proceed further in the direction of knowing Self. This is where the suggestion to withdraw the senses from the outer world, is significant. Be more discretionary. Be more cautious. Do not allow the senses to wander or loaf around in the world of objects. Let these do the job prescribed to them. Just like the tortoise, withdraw the five senses from the outer world. (Starve the senses of their feed, in other words.) May the senses not be permitted to trap You.