Read a Lecture by Srila Prabhupada on BG 2:59-69
TaaiNa SavaRi<a Sa&YaMYa Yau¢- AaSaqTa MaTPar" )
vXae ih YaSYaeiNd]Yaai<a TaSYa Pa[ja Pa[iTaiïTaa )) 61 ))
täni sarväëi saàyamya
yukta äséta mat-paraù
vaçe hi yasyendriyäëi
tasya prajïä pratiñöhitä
SYNONYMS
täni-those senses; sarväëi-all; saàyamya-keeping under control; yuktaù-engaged; äséta-should be situated; mat-paraù-in relationship with Me; vaçe-in full subjugation; hi-certainly; yasya-one whose; indriyäëi-senses; tasya-his; prajïä-consciousness; pratiñöhitä-fixed.
TRANSLATION
One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence.
PURPORT
That the highest conception of yoga perfection is Kåñëa consciousness is clearly explained in this verse. And unless one is Kåñëa conscious it is not at all possible to control the senses. As cited above, the great sage Durväsä Muni picked a quarrel with Mahäräja Ambaréña, and Durväsä Muni unnecessarily became angry out of pride and therefore could not check his senses. On the other hand, the king, although not as powerful a yogé as the sage, but a devotee of the Lord, silently tolerated all the sage's injustices and thereby emerged victorious. The king was able to control his senses because of the following qualifications, as mentioned in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam (9.4.18-20):
sa vai manaù kåñëa-pädäravindayor
vacäàsi vaikuëöha-guëänuvarëane
karau harer mandira-märjanädiñu
çrutià cakäräcyuta-sat-kathodaye
mukunda-liìgälaya-darçane dåçau
tad-bhåtya-gätra-sparçe 'ìga-saìgamam
ghräëaà ca tat-päda-saroja-saurabhe
çrémat-tulasyä rasanäà tad-arpite
pädau hareù kñetra-padänusarpaëe
çiro håñékeça-padäbhivandane
kämaà ca däsye na tu käma-kämyayä
yathottama-çloka-janäçrayä ratiù
"King Ambaréña fixed his mind on the lotus feet of Lord Kåñëa, engaged his words in describing the abode of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the temple of the Lord, his ears in hearing the pastimes of the Lord, his eyes in seeing the form of the Lord, his body in touching the body of the devotee, his nostrils in smelling the flavor of the flowers offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, his tongue in tasting the tulasé leaves offered to Him, his legs in traveling to the holy place where His temple is situated, his head in offering obeisances unto the Lord, and his desires in fulfilling the desires of the Lord... and all these qualifications made him fit to become a mat-para devotee of the Lord."
The word mat-para is most significant in this connection. How one can become mat-para is described in the life of Mahäräja Ambaréña. Çréla Baladeva Vidyäbhüñaëa, a great scholar and äcärya in the line of the mat-para, remarks, mad-bhakti-prabhävena sarvendriya-vijaya-pürvikä svätma-dåñöiù sulabheti bhävaù. "The senses can be completely controlled only by the strength of devotional service to Kåñëa." Also, the example of fire is sometimes given: "As a blazing fire burns everything within a room, Lord Viñëu, situated in the heart of the yogé, burns up all kinds of impurities." The Yoga-sütra also prescribes meditation on Viñëu, and not meditation on the void. The so-called yogés who meditate on something which is not on the Viñëu platform simply waste their time in a vain search after some phantasmagoria. We have to be Kåñëa conscious-devoted to the Personality of Godhead. This is the aim of the real yoga.
