yadā saṁharate cāyaṁ

kūrmo 'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ

indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas

tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā

[Bg 2.58]

[One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as

the tortoise draws his limbs within the shell, is to be

understood as truly situated in knowledge.]

How we shall know that one is situated in the pure consciousness?

Simple imagination that "I am situated in pure consciousness"? No.

Everything must be proved by symptoms. Everything must be

proved by symptoms. Just like a patient is cured means there is

subsidence of the fever, for example; similarly, the..., we are just

trying to separate ourself from the material conception of life to

our exact position. I am spirit soul, and consciousness is the

symptom. And I have to be situated in pure consciousness,

dovetailing myself with the supreme consciousness. That is the

whole program. Now, how that program are to be executed, that

will be discussed in the Third Chapter. And some way or other, we

are discussing some of the points. But here the formulas...

Just now we are engaged in the Second Chapter. These are the

contents, contents, the how a, I mean, a self-realized person,

situated in pure consciousness, will be experienced by his practical

behavior. Yes. Vāsudeve bhagavati. The whole thing is... It is

called vairāgya. Vairāgya. Vairāgya means to detach, be detached. I

am a spirit, and some way or other, I am in contact with the matter.

That is my trouble. The whole trouble is due to my contact with

matter. Now I have to detach from this matter and to be situated in

my pure conscious, spiritual state. So this is called vairāgya.

This vairāgya, or detachment from material attraction, is very

easily done. As it is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,

vāsudeve bhagavati

bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ

janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ

jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam

[SB 1.2.7]

[By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of

Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless

knowledge and detachment from the world.]

"If somebody engages himself in the devotional service of

Vāsudeva, then very quickly this detachment develops. And

knowledge." Knowledge also. Without knowledge, there cannot be

detachment. Without knowledge, one cannot be detached. And

what is that knowledge? The knowledge is that "I am not this

matter; I am spirit soul." So... But this knowledge is... Although it is

very easy thing to say, that "I am not this body, but I am spirit soul,"

but actually to have perfect knowledge, that is a great job. It is not

very easy. For getting that supreme knowledge so many, I mean to

say, transcendentalists, they were trying life after life, just to get

detached. But the easiest process is that if one is engaged in the

devotional service.

That is the formula given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vāsudeve

bhagavati. Vāsudeve bhagavati, "in the Personality of Godhead,

Kṛṣṇa." Vāsudeva is Kṛṣṇa. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ

prayojitaḥ [SB 1.2.7]. Bhakti-yoga means devotional service. If it is

applied, if we apply our devotional service unto the Supreme Lord

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then the result will be that janayaty āśu vairāgyam,  very

soon you'll be detached from this material attraction. Very soon.

And jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam: and you'll gain also knowledge. You

do not know how you have received knowledge. That is the magic.
That is the magic. Because how you'll get knowledge? That is also

stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.

This, all these Vedic scriptures, they are interrelated. They are not

contradictory. If somebody says that "We find some contradiction

from Vedic literature, from this literature to that literature," no.

There is nothing at all any contradiction, even, even in the

preachings of the great ācāryas. I am speaking of India. There were

many great ācāryas, I mean to say, reformers, came. Lord Buddha

also appeared in India. Then, after Lord Buddha, Śaṅkarācārya

came. Then, after Śaṅkarācārya, Śrī Rāmānujācārya came. Then,

after Śrī Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, and then, lately, Śrī

Caitanya, Lord Caitanya. He came. But you will find a link, a link.

Although superficially we may see that Lord Buddha is speaking

something which is contradictory to Lord Śaṅkarācārya's teaching

or Rāmānujācārya is speaking something which is contradiction to

Śaṅkara—no. There is no contradiction. It is the question of

studying how they are paving way for ultimate spiritual

realization. That requires a very, I mean to say, substantial

knowledge, how they are paving the way, just step by step.
Just like Lord Buddha's teaching. Lord Buddha's teachings is... That

is also detachment from matter, nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa. But he does not

speak anything about the spirit soul. Because the position in which

he was speaking, that position, for the human, humanity, was not

suitable for understanding what is the constitution of spirit;

therefore he did not say anything about spirit; he simply preached

nonviolence. So far our body is concerned, he stressed on the point

that we should be nonviolent. We should not be killing animals

anymore. That was his preaching.

Similarly, Śaṅkara... A little more than Buddha. He said, "No, no.

Matter is not all. The spirit is real thing. Matter is false." Brahma

satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Now, he did not say about the activities of

spiritual life. He simply gave hint that there, that matter is false.

Matter is generated by spirit. Spirit is the real, principal thing. Just

like Buddha did not say anything about spirit; he simply wanted

that detachment of, from matter. But detachment from matter...

Then where is my stand? Where is my stand? If I leave this room, I

must have another room to stay. So that is the position of Buddha.

He did not say about the spirit. But Śaṅkara, Śaṅkara said, "No,

matter is our false position. Spirit is real position." But he did not

say anything what are the activities of the spiritual life.

Then Śrī Rāmānujācārya came. He described the actual position of

spiritual life. These are gradual development. Your, I mean to say,

Lord Jesus also, Lord Jesus Christ, he also gave hints of spiritual life,

kingdom of God. So when we speak of kingdom of God, a kingdom

vacant cannot be. Kingdom means there must be activities.

Otherwise, what is the meaning of kingdom? So, of course, he did

not give any detailed account of the kingdom of God, but he gave

hint.

So these are gradual development so far the human society is

concerned. As the position is. The whole process is, as Lord Śrī

Kṛṣṇa says in this Bhagavad-gītā,

yadā yadā hi dharmasya

glānir bhavati bhārata

abhyutthānam adharmasya

tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham

[Bg 4.7]

[Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious

practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of

irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.]

The whole material atmosphere is going on, but we... There is a

program. There is a plan. The plan is that as soon as the living

entity is promoted by gradual evolution, promoted to the platform

of human life, he has to understand his spiritual position. That is

the whole program. The nature is going on on this plan of the

Supreme Lord. The plan of the Supreme Lord. All the living entities

here in this, whatever we see... Sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti

mūrtayaḥ yāḥ [Bg 14.4].

[It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī,

are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I

am the seed-giving father.]

The Lord says, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, "Whatever forms of life, living

entities, you are seeing before you, all of them are born of Me. They

are My part and parcel. I am..." Ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā. "I am the

father. I am the father."

So Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or God, He is the father of every living being. He

does not like to see that His sons undergo unnecessary miseries. He

does not like to see. Why? If we are sons of God, and what is the

position of God? All powerful, all opulence, all wealth, all beauty,

all knowledge, everything in full. That is the conception of God.

Now, if we are sons of God, then we are very rich man's son. Then

why should he suffer? We should not have suffered. But some way

or other, by material contact, we are suffering. We are suffering.

Now, this suffering, we have become so much accustomed to

sufferings that we have taken it granted that these sufferings are

nonmaterial.

"Let us enjoy this material life. This sufferings..." They don't care

for suffering. You see? They want this material enjoyment, which is

the cause of his bondage. It is cause of bondage.

So they do not want... Just like there are some prisoners who do not

like to get out of the prison life. They think it is better to remain in

the prison, because "I have no responsibility. If I go outside the

prison, oh, I will have to search out some work. Oh, that is

botheration. Let me remain here." You see? Or even after the

termination of the prison life, when he comes out, he commits

again some criminal act so that he may be put again into the jail.

He has been accustomed. Similarly, he does not take seriously the

miseries of prison life. He is so accustomed that he does not take.

That is ignorance. That is ignorance.

Similarly, those who are in this material world under the shackles

of material modes of nature, they have completely forgotten that

we have got a spiritual life which is full of freedom, full of

knowledge, full of bliss, and we can become exactly almost like

God. These things they have forgotten. They think that "If, from the

C-class prisoner's life, I can become a A-class prisoner..." Just like in

the prison life there are some classes, A-class prisoner, B-class

prisoner, C-class prisoner, similarly, our endeavor is going on in

this material life to become A-class prisoners. The program is not

for getting out of the prison life, but we want to become A-class

prisoner. That is ignorance. That is ignorance.

So here the Lord says that,

yadā saṁharate cāyaṁ

kūrmo 'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ

indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas

tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā

[Bg 2.58]
[One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as

the tortoise draws his limbs within the shell, is to be

understood as truly situated in knowledge.]

And what are... What are the shackles of this prison life? The

shackles of prison life... Just like in ordinary prison, prisoner... Of

course, I do not know what is the case here of prison life, but I have

seen. Sometimes in New Delhi I was invited to give some good

lessons to the prisoners. So I have seen so many prisoners, they

were shackled with iron chains. Iron chains. So we are also chained

up here, and what is that chain? That is our sense enjoyment. Yes.

We are chained in this material world by sense enjoyment. That's

all.

So if we want to cut our prison life, then the first symptom will be

to minimize this sense enjoyment or to regulate the sense

enjoyment. Here the Lord says that yadā saṁharate cāyaṁ kūrmo

'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ. The example is given just like the tortoise. The

tortoise can close up, wind up his senses as he likes. That means he

becomes the master of the senses. He does not like to be the servant

of the senses. So this, I mean to say, verse, we have already

discussed.
So indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā [Bg 2.58]. One

who is practiced to control his senses... Senses are not to be

stopped. They are to be used at proper time, but not at the dictation

of the senses. When one comes to that standard of life, that he is

not dictated by the senses but he uses senses when it is properly

required... Senses are not to be stopped. That is not prescribed. That

is not prescribed. Somebody says that sense control means to use...,

to stop this action of the senses. No. Senses, action of the senses,

cannot be stopped. Simply it has to be purified. The action of the

senses has to be purified. That is the whole process.

Because as spiritual living entity, we have got our spiritual senses.

Those senses are now covered by this matter. We are not senseless.

Just like your coat. Your coat is cut according to your hand. Because

the coat, you will see, the coat has also got a hand. And why coat

has got a hand? Because the user of the coat, he has got a hand. The

coat is cut according to the hand of the user of the body. Similarly,

this material body has been described in the Bhagavad-gītā as

dress. So unless I have got body, wherefrom the dress comes? Dress

has no meaning unless I have got body.

So senses are there, and those senses are required to be used;

otherwise there is no meaning of senses. But that is spiritual. So

senses have to be engaged in the spiritual activities. That is

spiritual life. Spiritual life. The example, as I have already

explained to you many times, just like Arjuna. He wanted to control

his senses to refrain from fighting. When you fight, you require to

engage your senses. He said that "I will not fight." That means he is

controlling his senses from fighting. But after hearing Bhagavad-

gītā, he says, "Yes, I'll fight."

Just see. Before hearing Bhagavad-gītā, the position of Arjuna, that

"I," "I will not fight," and after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, the position

of "I," "Yes, I will fight." Two contradictory. Before

hearing Bhagavad-gītā, the position of "I" was negative, and people

may estimate this nonviolence attitude of Arjuna very nicely. But

after Bhagavad-gītā, after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, he says,

"Yes." Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava [Bg 18.73]:

[Arjuna said, My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is

now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy, and I am

now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act

according to Your instructions.]

"Yes, I shall fight." Now, do you mean to tell that he degraded? First

of all he was nonviolent; he was not willing to fight. Now he has

degraded after hearing Bhagavad-gītā? Is it the conclusion? No. He

has improved. He has improved. Why he has improved? Because

he has understood how to use the senses. That's all. In the

beginning he did not know how to use the senses. Therefore he

decided, "I shall not fight. I shall not fight." That is his material

calculation.

So our material calculation is all nonsense. Our material

calculation of our activities, they are all nonsense. They are all

causes of our bondage. And when the same senses, they are

engaged in the service of the Supreme, that is our freedom. Kāmaḥ

kṛṣṇa-karmārpane  [Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura].

[I will engage my lust by offering the fruits of my work to Lord

Kṛṣṇa, and I will engage my anger by directing it at those who

are envious of the lord's devotees. I will engage greed by

becoming greedy to hear the glories of the Lord in the

association of saintly devotees. By not attaining my

worshipable Lord Kṛṣṇa, I will engage the quality of

bewilderment; and I will engage madness by becoming mad to

glorify the transcendental qualities of the Lord. In this way I

will spiritualize these material qualities for the service of the

Lord.]
Here the same thing is indirectly explained: yadā saṁharate cāyaṁ

kūrmo 'ṅgānīva. One should know, "When I shall properly use the

senses." That is the sign of a person who is situated in pure

consciousness. He knows properly, "How to use my senses."

That is the difference by the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā, we'll

find, that in the beginning Arjuna did not know how to use his

senses, and after reading..., after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, he learned

it. He became a learned man, how to use his senses. And when he

did not know how to use his senses, he said, "I shall not fight." And

when he learned how to use senses, he said, "Yes, I'll fight."

Now, what is the difference between "yes" and "no"? That means

when our senses are engaged in the service of the supreme

consciousness, then we are in pure consciousness situation. And

when our senses are used to our whims, to our whims... Just like in

the previous śloka it has been explained, prajahāti yadā kāmān

sarvān pārtha mano-gatān [Bg  2.55].

[The Blessed Lord said: O Pārtha, when a man gives up all

varieties of sense desire which arise from mental concoction,

and when his mind finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he

is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness.]

We manufacture plans by our mental concoction. That should be

given up. Yadā prajahāti kāmān sarvān. All kinds of mental

concoction, mental speculation, should be given up. That is the

science. That is the beginning of our spiritual life, that "I shall not

use my mind for my activities. I shall wait for the direction from

the higher authority, supreme consciousness. Then I shall act."

Just like a soldier, he is simply awaiting the order of the

commander; then his activities are approved, "Oh, he is doing

nicely. Yes." By the approval of the commander, he is killing as

many persons, and by this killing art, he is being rewarded, "Oh,

you are a good soldier." But that killing, if he does for his personal

interest, even he kills one man, he is hanged—by the same state. By

the same state for which he is engaged in fighting, if he kills

enemies, he is rewarded. He is awarded gold medal, recognition.

And that very person, out of the war field, when he comes home, if

he kills one man, then he is hanged. If he says that "The same

killing I was doing in the war field, and same killing I have done.

There I was killing hundreds and thousands of men. I was awarded

gold medal. And here I have killed only one person. I am being

hanged? What is this?" No. You have killed according to your own

whims, and that is from the superior order. That is the difference.
Similarly, if we do, if we act according to our mental speculation or

mental whims, then we are bound up by the reaction. And if we

practice ourself to be acted under the direction of the Supreme,

then we are free. This is the art. This is the whole art of spiritual

life.

So we have to practice. We have to practice it in our everything.

Because for so long we are in this material body, we have got so

many material demands. We cannot stop the activities of the body.

That is not possible. By force, if I stop all the activities of my body,

that is not possible. That is not possible. The bodily activities will go

on, but the bodily activities will be so performed that I'll not be

bound up by the reaction. And that is called devotional service.

That is called,

vāsudeve bhagavati

bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ

janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ

jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam

[SB 1.2.7]
[By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of

Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless

knowledge and detachment from the world.]

Just, for example, that we are eating. Eating is necessary. So long

my body is there, eating is necessary. So in the Bhagavad-gītā it

says,

yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra

loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ

yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo

mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ

[Bg 3.9]

[Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed,

otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O

son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His

satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached

and free from bondage.]

that one who performs sacrifice... Sacrifice means to please the

Supreme Lord. That is the sacrifice, meaning of sacrifice.

Otherwise, sacrifice has no meaning. Sacrifice means... Suppose you

have got one thousand dollars in your pocket. Now you sacrifice it;

you spend it for some good cause. "Oh, this man has sacrificed one

hundred dollars." But that sort of sacrifice is also cause of your

bondage.

Now, suppose you have given to a poor man one hundred dollars to

help. Now, the..., according to law of karma, you have given one

hundred dollars to a poor man to help him. This means that the

poor man has to pay you four hundred dollars in your next life,

with interest and compound interest. And you have to take that

four hundred dollars. And suppose you are preparing yourself to

conquer over the next life, but by contributing this one hundred

dollars you are now bound up to take payment of four hundred

dollars; therefore you have to take your birth.

These are subtle laws. If we are to believe the Vedic literature, the

law of karma, these are stated there. We may take it or not take it;

that is a different thing. Just like if you deposit in the bank one

hundred dollars. So if you forget, twenty years after, you will have

to take two hundred dollars. The bank will pay you, either you like

to take it or not take it. Just like we have this law in this ordinary

life, similarly, anything, good action or bad action, we have to

suffer or enjoy the result. That is called reaction. But sacrifice for
the cause of the Supreme Lord, that has no reaction. This is also

bright side. There are so many wrong side also.

So Bhagavad-gītā says that yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-

kilbiṣaiḥ. Sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ. Sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ. Kilbiṣa means sinful

reaction; sinful reaction, "Tit for tat," good reaction or bad reaction.

But one who eats after offering to the Supreme Lord, he is not

under the regulation of reaction. Whatever we eat... Even we eat,

that, we have got to repay for that. Now, the Sanskrit word, the

flesh... Flesh, Sanskrit word, is called māṁsa.

Māṁsa. The māṁsa means..., mām means "me," and sa means "he."

So "I am eating some animal; so in my next life that animal will eat

me." That is called māṁsa.

So now, apart from animal... Don't think that those who are

vegetarian, they are free from all these reaction. No. They are also.

They are also. The law is that one has to repay which he is taking

the help from other living entities. That is the law of karma. So

either you eat vegetables or either you eat flesh, you have to repay

that. But yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-

kilbiṣaiḥ. The Bhagavad-gītā says that if you eat the remnants after

offering sacrifice to the Lord, then you, not only you are free from
all reaction, but you do not eat anything sinful. That is the direction

of Bhagavad-gītā.

So in every aspect of our life... This is also one of the insignificant

example of our activities of our life. If we act, dovetailing our

actions with the Supreme Lord, then we are free from reaction.

Otherwise we are bound up by the reaction. That is the law. So in

order to get myself free from all reaction of my activities... Because

so long I am... Because I am living entities, I have to act. Either I act

spiritually, either act materially, I have to act. My activities will not

stop. It is foolishness to say that "I will stop my activities." No. That

cannot be. Your activities will go on. If you don't act spiritually,

then you'll have to act materially. And if you are fully engaged in

spiritual activities, there is no chance of material activity.

Because after all, you are actor, one, if you are engaged in

something. Just like in our ordinary life, if we do something at a

particular moment, we cannot do other things, similarly, we have

to engage ourselves fully in the spiritual life. Then our material

activities will be stopped altogether, and then there will be no

reaction. In spite of our acting... Just like the soldier. In spite of his

killing hundreds and thousands of people, he is not to be hanged;

he is to be rewarded. This is the technique.

So Lord says,