Vachika Kriya Accrues Dharma When Mind & Body Cannot
1. We were trying to conclude the vachika kriya, the speechly act, in the last session. We commence today with an addenda to that.
Those on the spiritual, adhyatmika, path in our times, [become] discouraged [fulfilling] dharma, virtue, merit, because… the world is wicked… in the kali yuga (age of darkness). The business activity of life keeps one busy in the… activities of life, where one cannot collect virtue. One wants to be successful in the activities of life, rather than looking for virtue, dharma and punya. If it comes, then well and good.
2. There is great solace in vachika kriya. The vachika kriya has an enormous bounty whereby we can collect dharma, we can collect merit and virtue… in the field of yoga….
3. The instruments of karma are kaya (body), vacha (speech), and manasa (mind).[1] Sometimes, for old people, the body cannot be a fit instrument to collect dharma, collect virtue. Those who are senior citizens — very, very old people — find the body not a fit instrument. The body creates more hassles, more problems. When the body is not even active, [is there] a way to collect any virtue through body?
The mind is, of course, treacherous. It is very difficult to collect virtue through the mind because the mind works under the many gravities of passion, and vasanas (tendencies). So, when the two instruments [of body and mind] become quite unfit for collecting virtue, collecting punya (virtue), collecting dharma, the vacha (speech) comes in very handy.[2]
The vachika karma [yields] a great bounty. You can collect a lot of dharma, a lot of punya, a lot of merit, by taking recourse to vachika kriya by reading the scriptures, and the gospels of saints — literature of the saints, philosophical texts, the adhyatmika texts that include the scriptures — the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam, and the Shrimad Ramayana. There is enormous literature available for vachika karma.
4. So also, Vedic chanting — chanting of the various eulogies to various deities and personal deities, or the very God described in the literature of the saints, etc. There are compositions with the help of musical melody added to that. So there is lot that can be chanted. The vachika karma has a lot of scope there to collect a lot of virtue.
5. The thought process of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, and various scriptures…, is also vachika kriya. Reading those texts is different than reading somebody’s letter. When you get a letter from someone, how do you read the letter? How do you read the newspaper?
You can’t equate reading a letter, or a newspaper, with reading scripture — the Bhagavad Gita, or a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishadic texts — or the literature of the saints — such as the Gospel of Ramakrishna, the Gospel of Ramana Maharishi, the gospels of various saints from Jnaneshwar, Sant Tukaram, Sant Eknath, or the Tulsidas Ramayana. We have a very rich literature of scripture in every regional language. They come as scriptures that describe the spiritual processes.
Vachika Kriya in Yoga Sutras +05.35
1. Patanjali mentions… vachika karma. Somebody questioned where Patanjali mentions japa. Patanjali mentions japa in the first chapter:
Tasya vachakah pranavah… taj-japah tad-artha-bhavanam
He is represented by (vachaka) his (tasya) pranava (the sacred syllable AUM). Repeat that (tad: AUM) japa (constantly), with feeling (bhavanam), realizing its full significance (artha). [PYS I.27-28]
2. Then he mentions japa again in kriya yoga, when he mentions svadhyaya:
tapah svadhyaya ishvara-pranidhanani kriya-yogah
Observances of austerity (tapas), self study (svadhyaya) and the surrender (pranidhana) of all the fruits of one’s labor to God (Ishvara) are the acts (kriya) of yoga. [PYS II.1]
What is svadhyaya? Vyasa describes it in very lucid words:
moksha-shastranam adhyayanam
studying (adhyayanam) the moksa-shastras (scriptures that lead to liberation). [VB II.1]
[which is the completion of the entire statement:]
svadhyayah pranava-adi-pavitranam japo moksha-shastra-adhyayanam va
Svadhyaya means japa (recitation) of the purifying (pavitra) [mantras], such as (adi) the pranava AUM, and (va) studying (adhyayanam) the moksa-shastras (scriptures that lead to liberation). [VB II.1]
Vachika Karma in Moksha Shastra (Liberation Texts) +06.20
1. Mantra japa (mantra repetition) is a vachika kriya. Nama japa (repetition of God’s name) is a vachika kriya. Nama sankirtanam (chanting the names of the Almighty) is a vachika kriya. And of course moksha shastra adhyayanam (study of liberation texts….
2. Study the texts, such as the Jnaneshwari, [Zoroastrian] Gatha, Eknathi Bhagavat, Tulsi Ramayana, Shrimad Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita, [plus] so many commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads…. Texts on Vedanta, and texts on dharma….
Reading those texts differs from reading somebody’s letter or a newspaper.… Reading a newspaper…, or a letter of someone… [doesn’t require] vachika kriya.
But if you are reading the Patanjali Yoga Sutras…, books on philosophy…, the Bhagavad Gita and its commentaries, the Upanishads, the Vedanta shastra (texts), or the Samkhya shastra, it is not like reading a letter or… newspaper. They are a vachika kriya. And we collect a lot of virtue, dharma, by that.
3. Knowing that the kali yuga (spiritual dark age) is a yuga (age) with a lot of evils, Vyasa, at the end of [the prior] dvapara yuga (twofold age of virtue and sin), or at the dawn of the kali yuga, declared that, standing in the River Ganges and raising both the arms up…, in the kali yuga the best instrument, the best process… is “harer naam kevalam (only the name of the Lord).”
That will be a solace…, a redeemer. Nama sankirtanam (name of the Almighty) will help collect a lot of dharma. And he gives the Shodakshakshari (sixteen letter) mantra of Rama, and the mantra of Krishna, which is so well known:
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare.
This is the mantra given for kali yuga by Vyasa. The mere chanting of it… by vaikhari (audible speech)…, madhyama (silent speech)…, and japa (mantra repetition)… [collects dharma].
4. Nama smaranam (remembrance of God’s name) is a vachika kriya. Nama smaranam is not a mental kriya. Otherwise, smarana (recollection) is a mental act. Vachika kriya greatly endows those seekers on the path of adhyatma and spirituality. It helps collect a lot of dharma….
5. One of the mystic saints has said that if you just take the name of Rama, you are uttering the whole wisdom. It is jnana (knowledge). Rama nama (name repetition) is jnana. Rama nama is great tarak (liberating) mantra. It is a great redeemer.
Rama is actually the personification of dharma according to the Valmiki Ramayana. The Shrimad Ramayana says that he is the dharma vigraha (form of dharma)…. Rama is the very form of dharma. Taking his name, worshipping him, or devotion toward Rama will help us collect lot of dharma.
6. Finally, I will tell you that Yudhishthira (eldest of the protagonist Pandava clan of the Bhagavad Gita) questioned Bhishma (reluctant general of the opposing Kaurava clan):
ko dharmah sarva dharmanan bhavatah param O matah
which, according to you, is the highest form of dharma?
Shri Bhishma uvacha—
Shri Bhishma replied:jagat-prabhum deva-devam anantam puruhottamam stuvan nama-sahasrena purushah satata-utthitah
He will be free from all sorrows who always (satata-utthitah) praises (stuvan) by the sahasra-nama (thousand names) that All-pervading Being (devam anantam: Krishna) who is the master (prabhu) of the worlds (jagat), Who is supreme over all (puruhottamam) devas, and who is the purusha. [Shri Vishnu Sahasranam 9-10]
Sahasra nama vishnu [means] the one thousand names of Vishnu.
The [names] are the greatest dharma. Concentrated dharma. Dharma is concentrated in… each of the sahasra nama (thousand names)… of Vishnu. So vachika karma will help us a collect lot of virtue, a lot of punya (virtue), a lot of dharma, which is not possible through the instrumentation of the body and… the mind. That’s what I wanted to finally say about vachika karma.
Vachika Karma in Yoga Sutras +10.15
1. Patanjali mentions the vachika karma three times: in the japa sutra [PYS I.27-28], in the kriya yoga sutra [VB II.1], and in the niyama sutra [PYS II.32]:
Saucha santosha tapas svadhyaya ishvara pranidhanani niyamah |
Cleanliness – contentment – self discipline – self study – self surrender to God – [are the] observances. [PYS II.32]
2. And svadhyaya is —
moksha-shastra-adhyayanam…
studying (adhyayanam) the moksa-shastras (scriptures that lead to liberation).
svadhyayah pranavadi-pavitranam japo moksha-shastra-adhyayanam va |
Svadhyaya means japa (recitation) of the purifying (pavitra) [mantras], such as (adi) the pranava AUM [VB II.1]
3. This is vachika karma. We are neglecting that which is a resourceful means of dharma. We are trying to overlook it, neglect it…, [while] just perfecting the body, and perfecting the mind. Vachika karma is so important. With that I gave you a very introductory kind of opening to vachika karma.
Sensely Acts (Aindriya Kriya) Differ from Sensory Acts +12.15
1. Now I will induct you, introduce you, to another perhaps seemingly intriguing kind of precept.
You all bother about what to do with your body, what to do with your mind, and what to do with your breath in our yoga. What the body, mind, and breath should do. We give paramount importance to addressing the body…, mind…, and breath. We think that body, mind, and breath are the whole of yoga.
But if we open out the factors of mind, if we open out the factors even of the body, we will find that the senses come in there. We hardly… consider what to do with the senses while we are in yoga.
What is the role of the senses? What has to be done for the senses? What has to be done by the senses? What has to be done with the senses? What should one do for the senses, by the senses, on the senses, in the senses, and with the senses? We need to pay attention to that to understand classical yoga.
2. Therefore, now I am going to commence teaching… the aindriya kriya (action relating to the senses) — the sensely acts. It is not sensory act. Don’t confuse them.
We all know what a sensory act is, but the reference here is to sensely act. In a sensely act we will understand the act role, purpose, function, participation, involvement, and addressal of the five senses called the jnanendriya. There is one complete anga, limb, of yoga dedicated to the senses called pratyahara.
3. Since we want to reach the gateway of pranayama, it is paramount in the classical approach to consider the sensely acts. What the senses should be doing, what should be done for senses, what should be done by senses, through senses, on senses, in senses; senses as benefactors, senses as beneficiaries, senses as participants, and involvement of senses….
4. The senses have a hot line to the mind. The senses have a direct corridor to the mind. A very, very, very powerful corridor. A very potent corridor to reach the mind…, and mind stuff (chitta)… to work on the mind state.
Through the senses we [feel] delight and sorrow. So in the laukika (worldly), in the worldly plane, we are using the senses as bhogendriyas (non-yogic organs of experience). We can derive pleasure through the senses, and… sorrow through the senses. That directly hits the mind. It has a direct corridor, a hotline, to the mind. There is no via media for the senses to reach the mind. They have… a straight opening into the mind….
I can disturb your state of mind by giving you a sensory stimulation. I can give you delight by presenting a gratifying object, and the mind will be happy…, delighted. I can present an object to your senses, which is irritating…, troublesome…, problematic, and the mind will be immediately hurt. The mind will be immediately sorrowed. So the senses understand that they have a corridor to the mind, a very straight, direct, corridor to the mind.
The mind can be delighted…, or sorrowed by sensory input. What you see…, hear…, taste…, and touch will immediately reach the mind. It will give you delight of either a significant degree or a nominal degree, [or]… sorrow, from a nominal degree to a significant degree.
So the senses need to be considered because they are directly connected with the mind. And they are a very potent instrument to impact the mind. The sorrowful mind can be given delight by sensory stimulation and input, and vice versa.
5. Therefore it is very important to consider the senses when we are trying to consider the chitta vrtti (movements of consciousness), and mano vrtti (movements of mind). If yoga has to work on our minds, then yoga has to work on our chitta.
Understand the importance of the senses. On the mundane plane we call the senses cognitive organs. No doubt they [provide] cognition, but they are not really jnanendriyas (literally, organs of knowledge), They don’t necessarily give jnana (knowledge).
6. We use the senses more for bhoga (experiences of pleasure and pain). Our eyes… search for pleasure and make our motor organs reach for pleasure to acquire pleasure…, and consume pleasure. So we are using our motor system…, conative system, and cognitive system, to receive pleasure and keep sorrow at bay.
We want to avoid sorrow. That’s why the senses will try to work where there are sorrows. They prevent… sorrow by keeping the sorrowful objects and instruments away from the grasp of the senses. We try to run away from those objects, and those instruments, which give us sorrow, pain, and torment. We want to get away, and our cognitive and conative organs both work for that purpose.
Then we want to derive gratification. We want to derive pleasure. So, again, we engage our conative and cognitive organs to derive pleasure. We [only] mobilize them… to… identify…, procure…, seek…, or have intercourse with pleasure. So we have made them bhogendriyas (organs of experience of pleasure and pain). We have made both the motor organs and the cognitive organs [into] bhogendriyas.
Internal Jnanendriya vs. External Bhogendriya +20.10
1. We have employed [the sense and motor organs as bhogendriyas], appointed them, to go after pleasure, and keep us away from sorrow, pain, torment, and agony. That’s why we are using our senses… and motor organs as well. But although they are called jnanendriyas (organs of knowledge), we hardly use them for wisdom.[3]
If you take an account, it depends upon your culture. If you are a pleasure seeking person — you just want to have pleasure in life — you will use the senses to identify pleasure, hunt for pleasure, help procure pleasure, and seek pleasure. So we make them sukhapraptrendriyas (organs of attaining pleasure). We want to attain sukha (pleasure) and avoid dukha (pain).
We use the senses to ensure that we don’t enter the zone of sorrow…, torment…, and pain. We use the senses that way to keep us away from it….
2. But in yoga the senses get a status called the associated senses status, like an associated body. I spoke of an associated body, associated mind, associated senses, and associated breath.[4] So also the senses are an associated condition. When they work in the internal realm, they become wisdom organs.
3. Draw the eyes inward. When you draw the eyes inward, there is no vision. You don’t have to have a visual object. When the eyes are turned inward, they are not going towards visual objects.
When the ears are turned inward, they are not going for auditory objects.
4. When any of these five organs are [turn] inward, they don’t go for their objects, which are shabda (sound), sparsha (touch), rupa (form), rasa (taste), and gandha (smell)…. In the external realm these senses work as shabdendriya (organs of sound), sparshendriya (organs of touch), rupendriya (organs of sight), rasendriya (organs of taste), and gandhendriya (organs of smell). They work for these five sensations.
But… if the olfactory organ goes inward, it is not going in search of any aroma, odor, smell etc. When the eyes go inward, the eyes are not going for any bewitching, or beautiful vision. When the ears are not going for a sonorous sound, they no longer remain as senses described by psychology as cognitive organs. When the organs of shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa, and gandha… go inward, they go beyond objects. When they go inward they become wisdom indriyas (organs). They become jnanendriyas.
The eyes… turn out wisdom, receive wisdom, and dispense wisdom. When the ears go inward, the ears receive wisdom, dispense wisdom, turn out wisdom, and identify wisdom. When the olfactory organs go inward, they, again, go for wisdom similarly.
The inward tactile organ, the organ of touch sensation, doesn’t go for any touch sensation. It works for touch sensation in the external realm. It wants to feel the texture of a flower…, cloth, and a… a soothing touch, soft touch, hard touch etc., etc.
But, internally it no longer remains the tactile organ. Eyes no longer remain a visual organ. Ears no longer remain an auditory organ. Nostrils no longer, nose no longer, remains an olfactory organ…. They all become wisdom organs. That is why the wisdom of the lore call them jnanendriya.
Jnana — Five Knowledge Types +26.20
1. What is jnana (knowledge)? We don’t have words like that in English. We say [either] knowledge [or] ignorance. When somebody has knowledge, we say he is knowledgeable. When somebody doesn’t have knowledge we say he is ignorant.
Whereas in Sanskrit jnana comes everywhere — jnana (knowledge), ajnana (ignorance), prajnana (exalted knowledge), mithyajnana (illusory knowledge).
Ajnana is ignorance. The term jnana is retained there, following a [negative] prefix a-.
2. Mithyajnana means illusory knowledge. Even when there is an illusion, it is knowledge. Although it is invalidated later, when you [recognize that it is an] illusion, it is knowledge.
When you “see” a snake while it is a rope, when there is an imposition of a snake on the rope, you have snake knowledge while seeing the rope. It is subsequently invalidated when you say that what you saw was not a snake, but a rope. You had sarpa-jnana (snake knowledge)…, but illusory snake knowledge. That is also knowledge, that is called mithyajnana.
3. It’s all jnana… [in] ajnana and prajnana. Prajnana means exalted knowledge. So jnana has been retained in ajnana (ignorance), prajnana (exalted knowledge), and mithyajnana (illusory knowledge)… because it is all knowledge.
Even if you don’t know something sufficiently, you know that it is there. Even if you know that something is there, you do not know what it is. If you do not know what it is, you say it is [due to] your ignorance. But you know something is there. When you know something is there, it is your jnana. It is deemed to be ignorance because it is not sufficient jnana.
There are interesting terminologies in philosophy — jnana, vijnana (worldly knowledge), ajnana, prajnana, mithyajnana, yatharthajnana (knowledge of a grasped object), and prakarashitajnana (derived knowledge).
4. Our metaphysical entity called purusha cannot be bereft of jnana. That is its inherent intrinsic nature — sat-chit (truth-knowledge) is the description of that metaphysical entity within us. Chit means knowledge. Sat means truth. So it is true, it is knowledge, and, then ananda, bliss.[5] When we have this purusha within us, when there is atma, Self, you can’t say there is no knowledge. Therefore, these are interesting terms. So that is jnana.
5. What is vijnana? Vijnana is the knowledge of the phenomenon world around us. This is a mountain, this is a river, this is a plant, this is a road, this is a pot, this is a cloth, this is a man, this is a woman, this is a dog, this is a cat…. All this worldly knowledge is called vijnana. That’s also jnana.
6. What is ajnana? Belief that vijnana is true knowledge is ajnana. To believe that all this is essentially true — tiger, lion, cat, man, woman, flower, plant, tree, mountain — is ajnana…. They are only manifestations of primordial matter taking all these various forms and shapes. Taking… this phenomenal world to be real is, philosophically, ajnana.
In the worldly business of life, that is not ignorance. It is actually called jnanam. Because if you know this phenomenal world, you will be successful in the business activity of life.
However, that is ultimately ajnana. To believe that all the phenomenal world as it appears — a stool, table, chair, flower, mountain, river, vessel, cloth — are essentially true entities is ajnana. However, it is vijnana, because vijnana will help you carry out the business activities of life.
If you were to consider all those ajnana, then you would not be able to carry out the business of life. You must believe that the stool is a stool, and a chair is a chair, table is a table, and a rose is a rose, a man is a man and a woman is a woman, a mountain is a mountain, a river is a river, water is water, and fire is fire. Only then can you can carry out your business of life.
If you were to say that all of this were untrue, then you would not be able to carry out the business of life’s activities. Vijnana is required for… activity, but know its limited validity, the limited validity in the business of life. It has a validity, [but] not ultimate validity.
7. There is ajnana everywhere and that’s why these are jnanendriyas. They will give you jnana. They will give you the essential wisdom, they will also give you ajnana… and vijnana.
Senses Influence Mind in Asana & Pranayama +32.30
1. When you are doing yoga, there is hardly any reference as to what to do with the senses and what should be done on the senses. You know what to do on the biceps, and triceps; what to do on the liver, and stomach; what to do on the lungs…, spine…, back…, and limbs. You know what to do on these in your asana and pranayama — what to do here and there, for this part of the body and that part of the body. You know even what to do for the mind.
2. You know what to do on the breath perhaps, but the senses come under the bracket of mind because the mind has a… psycho-sensory faculty. How much will our mind work if all the senses are benumbed? What is the fate of the mind if all the senses are benumbed? Or, if all the five senses are impaired… — you are absolutely impaired — will it not impact the mind? If your senses are functional, will it not impact the mind positively?
3. In asana and pranayama it is important to consider what to do with these associated senses, and how to use the associated senses. Therefore that aspect comes in one of the… great kriyas of asana, which is called the “Sensely Act (Aindriya Kriya).” That is one of the Ashtadasha (Eighteen) Mahakriyas.[6]
Eye, Ear, Nose Awareness in Tadasana to Culture the Mind +34.15
1. Today I will conclude the session with a little… practical taste… [of] these sensely acts. Stand in Tadasana and have your vision in line with the eyes. Look straight… ahead and assume your Tadasana. Go by all those postural aspects from the soles of your feet to crown of the head. Attend to your limbs, legs and arms…. As a posture, accomplish your Tadasana… [by addressing] the body. See that you go for all those alignments, which is your obsession — while you are in an asana, you want to be perfectly aligned, particularly in Tadasana — not swaying forward…, backward…, or laterally, centering yourself in equilibrium, in Samasthiti.
2. Go for Tadasana of the body…, of your breath…, and of your mind. I have already oriented you to this body-set addressal, breath-set addressal, and mind-set addressal. So go for Tadasana in that scheme which has been inducted to you — body-set addressal, breath-set addressal, mind-set addressal.
3. Now let us see how much the mind can work on our consciousness, our state of mind, and our profile of mind. Look straight… ahead in your Tadasana… at eye level. While you are looking inward at eye level… [using] the eyes in indriya kriya (sensely acts), there are certain spot locations [around] the eyes.
While you are looking ahead, have your awareness at the outer eyelid, the outer eye awareness, at the outer eye corners. Identify the [outer] eye corner… [to become] aware of your [outer] eye corner…. Women know that [outer eye corner] better because they… extend the eyeline with an eye liner…. So extend that [outer] eye corner and see what happens to the state of mind. That’s called outer eye awareness.
With outer eye awareness, you can significantly attend to your profile of the mind, state of the mind, condition of the mind. Find how the outer eye awareness contributes to the equilibrium of the mind.
4. Now, for a while, have bottom eye awareness. See what happens to your mind state. Bottom eye awareness. See how the senses can change your state of your mind.
5. There is something called inner eye awareness, at the nasal end of the eyes. Center the awareness at the inner corner of the eyes to see what happens to your Tadasana.
6. Become upper eye aware at the eyebrow, and see what happens to your mind. These are the locations for the sensely acts of the eyes, the associated eyes.
7. The vision is same in front of you, but it works as a conditioner of your mind. It doesn’t change your focal point. As a matter of fact, the eyes should be drawn inwards. You should not be seeing what is in front of you. The eyes should be drawn in.
Now, while the eyes are drawn in, they become wisdom organs. See how you identify the wise state, the sagacious state in you. See how eyes can work at these five points — the outer eye, inner eye, bottom eye, top eye and center eye — in your Trikonasana and Tadasana, and various standing poses.
8. Now you are hearing me…, just through your ears. I suggest to try to hear me from your hind ears [so that] you will be more meditative…, more sublime. Hear what I am saying from the hind ears. When you are hearing a gospel, hear from back ears. When you want to hear gossip, you should hear from the fore ears. That’s why if you can’t hear, you do this (turn your ears ahead). You have fore ears, hind ears, bottom ears, top ears, and center ears, again five locations in the ears.
9. The nostrils also. Find out how they will change your state of mind. Nostrils have locations — membrane carpet, septum carpet, floor carpet, and roof of the nose.
If you are not able to identify these, point your index finger of the left hand. Turn your index finger inwards and insert into the nose, the part you touch is the carpet of [the septum wall].
Turn the index finger out and insert it, the part you touch is carpet of the membrane [mucous membrane at the inner wall of the outer nostril].
Facing you insert the finger, that is the carpet of the floor, and tip of the finger, wherever it touches, is the roof of the nose.
This awareness will change your state of mind. Take the breath in the outer membrane…, to the inner septum…, to the carpet…, to the floor…, and to the roof, to condition the mind.
Likes and Dislikes of the External Senses +41.10
1. Now I will give you a little project work with which I am going to conclude the session today. Observe that when you hear gospel, how do you hear? When you hear gossip, how do you hear…?
You can’t close your ears, but you can close your eyes. If you don’t want to see me, you can close your eyes. If you don’t want to see what’s in front of you, you can close your eyes. You can’t do that for the ears. You can’t close your ears. Even if you plug your ears, you will hear some external sound.
When you hear gossip, that you want to hear, how do you hear? When you hear gossip that you don’t want to hear, how do you hear?
When you hear gospel, that you want to hear, how do you hear? When you are hearing gospel that you don’t want to hear, how do you hear?
We have different acts. When we are hearing what we don’t want to hear, the sound is going to fall on our ears. We might want to hear gossip, or not want to hear gossip. We want to hear gospel; we don’t want to hear gospel. When you are hearing music, how do you hear?
2. So, also, the nostrils and the nose. When there is an obnoxious smell, what do you do with your nose? You may plug your nose for a while. How do you smell an aroma in kitchen? It is different than taking in the fragrance of a rose. Both are delightful. The fragrance of a rose is delightful, and the aroma in the kitchen is also delightful, but the olfactory organ will work differently. So carry out this field work.
3. How do you touch something which is pleasant to you…? How do you touch something which is not very pleasant to you? [If] you have to touch, how do you touch? So these are various ways we use the senses. It goes unidentified and unobserved. As students of yoga try to observe.
4. When you are looking at a vision you don’t want to see, but are forced to see, how do you see? [When] you want to see, but you are not allowed to see, how do you try to see?
Eyes work differently. Ears work differently. So try to carry out field work on how you use the senses in the external realm. How do you use the senses in a desirable condition, an undesirable condition, relishable condition, not relishable condition, protagonizing condition, and antagonizing condition?
This observation is important for all students of yoga. Then you will know how the senses…, can be used differently.
5. And then, in the internal realm. What I just now gave you was a taste in Tadasana, about the eyes, then in hearing me, about the ears.
Find out how your senses can be a mind conditioner. They carve the mind, sculpt the mind, culture the mind, season the mind, and condition the mind. Know how the senses should be used.
6. Let’s try to open out the sensely acts much more in our next session. What’s the role of indriyas (sense organs), purpose, function, and act of indriyas?
What should be done for them? What should be done on them? What should be done in them? How should they do? What should they do? How are they benefactors? How are they beneficiaries? How are they recipients? How are they dispensers?
Let’s try to work on this more practically in the next session where I will suggest you get into some asanas [to] understand the sensely act.
[1] The instruments of karma are kaya (body), vacha (speech), and manasa (mind): See Jnaneswari 17.14: The performance of one (type of austerities) yields sin, and the other leads to emancipation. Should you be desirous of knowing how these three classes of austerities came into being, know first what is austerity. I preach it to you first and I shall then explain how gunas have classified it into three different kinds. What is called austerity is, hear ye, three-fold (i) of body, (ii) mind and (iii) speech. [Ramchandra Keshav Bhagwat (tr), [2]. collecting punya (virtue), collecting dharma, the vacha (speech) comes in very handy: See PYS I.33;: Through cultivation (bhavanatah) of maitri (friendliness), karuna (compassion), mudita (joy), and upeksha (indifference) respectively towards sukha (pleasure), duhkha (pain), punya (virtue) and apunya (vice), the citta (consciousness) becomes prasadana (serene, benevolent and diffused like a calm lake).
[3] But although they are called jnanendriyas (organs of knowledge), we hardly use them for wisdom: In yoga the jnanendriyas pursue knowledge of the Self (adhyatma), the only true jnana. The bhogendriyas pursue all the rest, which is ajnana (ignorance). See “Jnana in the Bhagavad Gita +22.25” and “Senses Act as Bhogendriyas (Organs of Mundane Experience +24.50” in Lesson 21: Pratyahara 6-6-20.
[4] in yoga the senses get a status called the associated senses status, like an associated body. I spoke of an associated body, associated mind, associated senses, and associated breath: See “Posture Awareness — Connect Mind & Breath to Body +7.15,” “Spinal Observatory & Laboratory in Asana +15:30,” Lesson 8: Virtue of Ahimsa in Asana 5-2-20 .
[5] purusha cannot be bereft of jnana. That is its inherent intrinsic nature — sat-chit (truth-knowledge)…, and, then ananda, bliss: Sat-chit-ananda is a term used in the Upanishads to describe Brahman.
[6] how to use the associated senses… [is] one of the… great kriyas of asana, which is called the “Sensely Act.” That is one of the Ashtadasha (Eighteen) Mahakriyas : Turning the eyes inward bestows equilibrium, placidity, and dispassion. Turning the ears inward bestows meditativity, reflectivity, and inwardness. [Prashant Iyengar, Yogasana: The 18 Mahakriyas of Yogasana, Pune: RIMYI 2013. P. P. 53-64]
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