ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते ।
आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ।। ५.२२ ।।

ye hi saṁsparśa-jā bhogā duḥkha-yonaya eva te |
ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ || 5.22 ||

Significance of sensory restraints

No spiritual seeking or pursuit will have its desired benefit unless it brings about a sufficient measure of sensory discipline, moderation and refinement. In fact, sensory discipline is something that Bhagavad Gita repeatedly emphasizes. It is the unique call of this great war-dialogue. Disciplining the senses is, judged from any angle, a comprehensive sadhana.

It is the senses that draw the mind away towards the objects around to remain enmeshed with them. Unless this servitude towards the world objects is checked and sublimated, spiritual seeking as a pursuit will not have any meaningful progress.

Krishna first spoke about titiksha (forbearance) in the 2nd chapter (verse 14). Describing our life as interactions between senses and objects (matra-sparsah), he told Arjuna to forbear the resultant effects of all interactions, namely sukha-duhkhas. Such forbearance, he then pointed out, is the indispensable quality of a seeker – one who yearns for liberation.

In the 3rd chapter, Krishna stressed that every sensory perception carries with it attraction and repulsion (raga and dvesha). And therefore, he warned the seeker not to come under their sway (tayoh na vasam- agacchet). Is not the idea in both cases the same?

In the following verse Krishna re-emphasizes the same truth, but in a different manner. It is both a warning and a confirmation:

The delights born of contacts with sense-objects are indeed the womb of misery. They are transitory, fleeting. O son of Kunti, the wise one does not rejoice in these.

Krishna makes a clear analysis about sensory indulgences. Right from birth a child is exposed to sensory experiences. Suckling gives him taste, and gradually he imbibes touch, sound, sight and the rest. Every sense contact brings either pleasure or displeasure. That is why the child does not like all tastes or sounds or touches. All these sensory experiences get imprinted in the buddhi, which in turn motivates sensory activities and pursuits. The foundation of life is thus quite obvious.

But is human life meant only to seek these delights and thrills? Or, should the sensory experiences be an opportunity and compulsion for us to learn discreetly, evolve inwardly, to think of something subtler and lasting?

Krishna is clear that to become Wise, one has to recognize that all sensory pleasures are verily the womb of misery. Sensory indulgences, however thrilling or exciting, bring corrosion to the senses themselves. This is the law of nature. Knowing this, the wise should not get enslaved by sensory enjoyments. The discrimination that the external delights are fleeting and are verily the source of misery, should act as a compulsion. No sensory delight can lead man to any lasting gain.