Chapter 17. The Divisions of Faith TEXT 16 manah-prasadah saumyatvam maunam atma-vinigrahah bhava-samsuddhir ity etat tapo manasam ucyate SYNONYMS manah-prasadah--satisfaction of the mind; saumyatvam--without duplicity towards others; maunam--gravity; atma--self; vinigrahah--control; bhava--nature; samsuddhih--purification; iti--thus; etat--that is; tapah--austerity; manasam--of the mind; ucyate--is said to be. TRANSLATION And serenity, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purity of thought are the austerities of the mind. PURPORT To make the mind austere is to detach it from sense gratification. It should be so trained that it can be always thinking of doing good for others. The best training for the mind is gravity in thought. One should not deviate from Krsna consciousness and must always avoid sense gratification. To purify ones nature is to become Krsna conscious. Satisfaction of the mind can be obtained only by taking the mind away from thoughts of sense enjoyment. The more we think of sense enjoyment, the more the mind becomes dissatisfied. In the present age we unnecessarily engage the mind in so many different ways for sense gratification, and so there is no possibility of the minds becoming satisfied. The best course is to divert the mind to the Vedic literature, which is full of satisfying stories, as in the Puranas and the Mahabharata. One can take advantage of this knowledge and thus become purified. The mind should be devoid of duplicity, and one should think of the welfare of all. Silence means that one is always thinking of self-realization. The person in Krsna consciousness observes perfect silence in this sense. Control of the mind means detaching the mind from sense enjoyment. One should be straightforward in his dealings and thereby purify his existence. All these qualities together constitute austerity in mental activities.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 06:34:59 +0000
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