Shloka 4

Oh mind let not desire lead me to evil action |
Oh mind let not always lead to thoughts of sin ||
Oh mind let not my ethos be abandoned |
Oh mind instead remain in vital introspection ||4||

Have we ever analyzed the thoughts that rise up in our minds? An analysis should scare with the kinds of thoughts we often think. So many thoughts that occur in our minds are unwelcome. Whatever may we try in order to prevent such thoughts from arising, the more the mind throws a tantrum like a spoiled child. If you are display amusement at the mischief of a child, you will encourage more mischief. If you try to suppress the mschief, the child will find ways to create even more. There is a saying that goes, `The mind thinks thoughts that even an enemy would not'. The reality is that most everyone will see the truth in this. Sometimes, such thought arise even about those closest to us that might not arise in the minds of our most bitter enemy. Thus the prayer in the \emph{Yajurveda} that implores, "May the intentions in my mind be pure". The torrent of evil thoughts that arise can be so tremendous that nothing but the grace of God can bring escape. Thus we pray to the Lord, ``Lord may auspicious thoughts always animate this heart of mine".

We have a tradition, a belief that deities secretly wander the skies, granting wishes by saying, `so be it, so be it'. It would be rather unfortunate if an evil thought arose in the mind only to coincide exactly with one of these deities' blessings granting fulfillment! We must therefore resist bringing up evil thoughts, and at the least avoid saying them aloud. We must therefore constantly strive to train the mind into a positive bent. The non-occurrence of evil in a mind is the very model of a pious life.

It is a common occurrence that one person becomes saddened at the sorrow of another. It is not very common for one person's joy to become the cause of another's joy. A person who sees someone else experiencing a good turn while he himself does not brings evil to his mind. His ego gets hurt. He then casts aspersions towards the fortunate one. He is not satisfied until he has shared ten faults of the person with ten other people. When a family event such as.a wedding has been successfully pulled off, there is a crude pleasure in listening to criticisms and commentary coming from those closely affiliated with it. If he were capable, man would never have looked back before visiting evil on another. He is often unable to commit grave acts because many circumstances will have placed limits on him. Surely evil arises in the mind, but it gets expressed as witty criticism. Criticism is the offspring of envy. We must therefore constantly condition the mind so that evil desires and sinfulness cannot germinate in it.

Training the mind into order is something we must do by ourselves and with our own effort. No one else can help us there. The process first involves deliberation, followed by decision and finally action. Evil desire turns into the intent to do harm. Since our thoughts are relatively unrestrained compared to the sheer number of limitations on our ability to act, the dangers of evil intent are not recognized in its early stages. As regret for harboring evil desire disappears, desire turns into an intent to commit sin, and as this intent gets stronger, the bonds on action also become loose. Man turns towards iniquity. Tempering the mind is not so much in our hands, but controlling the body is a lot more feasible. And therefore Samartha counsels the mind not to relinquish befitting conduct and customs. It is as if he is saying, ``Reigning in the rising thoughts of evil desire in the mind is not something you are capable of, I am aware. But if you truly feel that you would like your mind to become purified with the progressively diminishing of such thoughts, then you must ensure that at least your behavior should not stray from propriety and ethics''.

Kabir has a saying that is worth noting in this regard. He says, "If the mind goes, let it, don't let the body consent. How can the arrow release, when the bow stays unbent?"

The desire to cause harm to someone, while a truly evil thought, the arrow of harm can only actually be released if one pulls back on the bowstring, or when one pulls the trigger on a gun. At least refrain from doing that. Even if the mind cannot abide, let the body conduct itself with decency. That can also be beneficial in degrees. Worship-service-prayer, devotionals, donating food, pilgrimage, such things should be done as soon as their thought arises in the mind. Even if they don't occur, even if one feels lazy, one should do such things. They should be done in whatever manner, as much as possible, and to try to do them to best one one's ability. Moreover, one should not shirk from doing them using the ruse that one cannot do them well. It is best if the mind can get absorbed in good things, but even if not, one should not withdraw the body from good things. Just because devotional songs and sermons aren't interesting doesn't follow that one should instead just watch movies all the time. Even if the mind dwells upon the cinema, one should attend sermons and talks, and urge oneself to visit the temple once in a while since that is sound. The saints have therefore said, "Faith present or not, to visit Pandharirao you ought". Visit Pandharpur even if the mind lacks faith. The place has an effect. The thing has value in and of itself, and so effort is rewarded with opportunity.

When acting appropriately and ethically, one must take into account one's own constitution, tendencies and circumstances. One must not take the commandments of one's role model literally. Thus Samartha asks us to look for the essence, and determine for ourself what is important, what is irrelevant, and what is indispensable and must be committed to. Man's nature is strange. If one does not discern what is essential and what is inconsequential, even good things can become distorted. Becoming a renunciate monk is very strict. That way of life does not tolerate any indulgence of the senses. Controlling sensual pleasures of all kinds is the rule there. But even Vivekānanda has made some allowances, such as the use of chewing tobacco. If every small indulgence is proscribed then it creates the possibility for a person to rebel against and discard all such injunctions. The idea here is that an allowance of a less dangerous indulgence is helpful to practicing the renunciation of a more dangerous one. Let me share an example of someone I know. The son of a very scrupulous learned Brahmin was raised in a very strict discipline since childhood. He grew up among several don't eat that', don't do that' prohibitions. Not only onions and garlic, but carrots and eggplant was forbidden to him. Later he went to the city to study at the university and began to behave so unrestrained a manner that not just onions and garlic, he also began indulging in drink and meat. When the entire society is accustomed to living in austerity within the bounds of regulations, then one's own self-imposed restraint does not feel so notable. In such a case increasing the severity of one's repressions feels honorable. But when living in a society that abides by no restraint, the self-imposition of very severe prohibitions is likely to slide backwards. Between onions and meat, we must accept that onions are the lesser evil. In our tradition, some strict rules were established in order to protect scripture. What to eat, what not to eat, what to touch, what not to touch, all these were part of that. In the last thousand-twelve hundred years or so it doesn't appear that Brahmins have upheld the power of the scriptures for the good of society. It is worth pondering therefore if following the injunctions to the letter is relevant any more. Permitting small evils in order to guard against greater ones can turn out desirable. While it is true that "one should not live lawlessly," it is also important to remember that "one should not restrict oneself too much". No matter how virtuous something is, it still needs to be digestible. It should not prove unwholesome. It is better to go from lesser good to greater good, than to go from greater good to lesser.

Once a family man who ran a business decided to memorize the 12 chapters of the Vishnusahasranāma (Thousand names of Vishnu). One chapter needs 8-10 minutes. He thought he could easily commit about a couple hours, but the mathematics didn't work out for him. Because he found that ti was difficult for him to read through the 12 chapters, he just gave up on memorizing them. If instead he would have committed to memorizing only one chapter, perhaps he would have accomplished following his own rule. What is our physical and metal capacity? The essence is that we should take into account our own capability before we set down rules for ourselves.