The Path of Yukta-vairāgya – Properly Engaging Our Senses
In the material condition, the living entity is often a victim of the senses, which are compared to wild horses dragging the chariot of the body. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the solution to this struggle is not the cessation of activity, but the purification of it. This is the essence of yukta-vairāgya—using everything, including our physical senses, in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the senses are engaged in their original, constitutional position of serving Kṛṣṇa, they become satisfied and purified. This article explores the definition of practical devotion, the methodology of sense purification, and the state of mastery achieved by those who properly engage their senses.
The Definition of Bhakti and Sense Propriety
Bhakti is far from a sentimental theory; it is a highly active science. Śrīla Prabhupāda defines it as engaging the senses for the satisfaction of the proprietor of the senses, Hṛṣīkeśa (Kṛṣṇa). At present, our senses are contaminated and engaged in the service of mundane society, friendship, and politics. Real happiness is found by redirecting these senses to satisfy Kṛṣṇa's senses. By working to please the Lord, the devotee is immediately elevated to the transcendental platform, where they can enjoy an unlimited, blissful life.
- Bhakti does not mean sentimental fanaticism. That is not bhakti. Bhakti means to engage all your senses for the satisfaction of the proprietor of the senses. That is called bhakti.
- Actually, devotional service means engaging the senses in the service of the Lord. At the present moment our senses are not purified; therefore our senses are engaged in the service of society, friendship, love, politics, sociology and so on.
- By working to please the Lord by engaging his senses in the Lord's loving service, the devotee is immediately situated on the transcendental platform, and he enjoys unlimited blissful life.
- If we purify our senses, on the other hand, we can come to the spiritual platform. Real happiness lies in engaging our senses to satisfy the senses of Krsna.
Methodology of Yukta-vairāgya
The senses are inherently active and require engagement. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that if we do not train them to act for Kṛṣṇa, they will inevitably fall back into material activities. The prescribed method is yukta-vairāgya, or feasible renunciation, which involves engaging the senses and the mind in the Lord's service. This process purifies the unpurified senses (kad-indriya), making them spotless (nirmalam). Unlike the dry renounced order, this process is suitable for everyone, as it transforms daily activities—such as eating, smelling, and working—into spiritual achievements.
- Engagement of the senses and the mind as described above (SB 9.4.18.20) is the perfect process for transcendental achievement, which is called yukta in the Bhagavad-gita.
- He (Maharaja Ambarisa) engaged his senses and mind in the service of the Lord. This process is called yukta-vairagya, or feasible renunciation, which is quite suitable for worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- The kad-indriya, or unpurified senses, can be purified if one engages the senses and the mind in Krsna consciousness. Sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam - CC Madhya 19.170.
- If you don't train your senses to act nicely, it will again fall down to the nonsense activities. So we have to give engagement to the senses to act for Krsna. Then there is no chance of falldown. That is Krsna consciousness.
Practical Sense Absorption: Ambarīṣa Mahārāja
Ambarīṣa Mahārāja set the perfect example of how to engage every sense limb-by-limb. He did not engage in material speculation but utilized his sense of smell for the fragrance of Tulasi leaves and his tongue for tasting prasāda. By providing his senses with "more attractive activities," he left no scope for material attraction. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that only a person who engages the senses in this way can truly control the wandering mind and remain fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord.
- He engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasi offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasada.
- It is the business of the mind to wander over varied subject matter for sense gratification. Therefore only a person who always engages the senses in the service of the Lord can control the mind and be fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord.
- When one engages his senses in devotional service, the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead is revealed on the platform of the soul.
Protection through Full Absorption
Mastery of the senses is an automatic byproduct of Kṛṣṇa conscious service. When the senses are fully engaged, they cannot be allured by material infection because they are already occupied with a higher taste. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that nondevotees suffer because their senses are engaged in troublesome material duties, leading to mental speculation and exhaustion. In contrast, the awakened devotee, by employing the senses in transcendental variegatedness, becomes spotless and awakens their dormant love for God.
- As you become servant of Krsna, then automatically you become master of your senses, because senses cannot allure you for satisfaction of the senses, because senses are engaged.
- Senses require engagements, and when the senses are engaged totally in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, they have no chance to become contaminated by material infections.
- When the senses are engaged in more attractive activities, there is no chance of their being attracted by any inferior engagements.
- When one is engaged in devotional service, there is no scope for his senses to be engaged otherwise. In such full Krsna consciousness, one can understand the Supreme Lord as He is.
Conclusion
Properly engaging our senses in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the secret to spiritual stability and joy. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions on yukta-vairāgya provide a practical roadmap for anyone, regardless of their social standing, to spiritualize their existence. By shifting the purpose of our sensory activities from personal gratification to the satisfaction of the Lord, we transform our material bondage into a state of transcendental mastery. When every sense is anchored in the service of Kṛṣṇa, the mind becomes peaceful, the intelligence becomes sharp, and the soul is free to experience its original, blissful relationship with the Divine.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Engaging Our Senses. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.