Vivekachudamani 12 Uncontrolled Senses Lead to Destruction - By Swami Tattwamayananda

The student poses seven questions in the 51st verse. The rest of the text answers these seven questions. The seven questions are: (1) What is this bondage? (2) How does it come about? (3)How does it exist and what sustains it? (4) How do we come out of it? (5) What is anatman? (6) What is the supreme Atman? (7) How do we differentiate between atman and anatman?Starting with the 74th verse, the teacher begins to answer the fifth question posed by the student: “What is anatman?” by discussing the gross body. There are three sariras: Sthula sarira (gross body), sukhshma sarira (subtle body, the personality behind the gross body) and karana sarira (lack of understanding of our true nature).In the 74th, 75th and 76th verses, the teacher discusses Sthula Sarira or physical body. It is composed of marrow, bone, fat, flesh, blood, skin and cuticle. It also includes legs, thighs, chest, arms, back and head. These together constitute the physical body. When we identify with this physical body, we are deluded.”While the gross body may seem detestable, it is a great asset, as it is what we use to achieve liberation.A machine is made of parts. If we take one part out, it becomes non-functional. Similarly, the physical body is a machine made of parts. It belongs to the perishable, empirical world. It has borrowed intelligence (from Atman). We delude ourselves into thinking that this machine is our true nature. We refer to this machine when we say “I”. This misunderstanding is rooted in ignorance of our true nature. It is the basis of bondage.When Socrates was sentenced to die by drinking poison, one of his disciples, Crito, approached him and asked him” “How do you want us to bury you?” Socrates replied: “For that, you should first know who is the real “I”.77th verse: Those who are deluded are called Mudha. They are attached to sense objects through an invisible rope that binds them to this world. They are spiritually enslaved by desire of the senses. It is a bondage that makes them move up and down in cyclic existence.”Attachment here refers to obsessive attachment to an extent that it makes us spiritually enslaved.78th verse: Shankaracharya uses examples from the animal kingdom to explain how one reaches destruction when guided by the senses - Deer (sense of hearing), Elephant (sense of touch). Moth (sense of seeing), Fish (sense of taste), Bee (sense of smell). Each of these creatures reaches death as they are guided by one of their senses. What to speak of humans who have five senses active all the time.79th verse: “The poison of a cobra is less poisonous than the poison of sense objects. The cobra has to bite you and the poison has to be consumed. Seeing the cobra does not kill you. But mere sight of a sense object can remain in the mental system for a long time and can be a door to destruction, depending on one’s mental constitution.”