जितेंद्रिय बनाता है निरोध और निग्रह का अभ्यास

The text discusses the challenge of balancing necessary worldly activities with avoiding karmic bondage, a central problem for spiritual seekers. It explains that while action is unavoidable for living, it leads to karmic attachment. Drawing from the Bhagavad Gita, it states that a person who is self-controlled, with conquered senses and a pure heart, who sees the self in all beings, is not tainted by actions. This concept is linked to a type of bondage called 'iyapithika bandha', where karma is bound and its fruit is experienced in two sequential moments, making it almost like non-bondage. The key is to act without desire or attachment, as a karma-yogi whose goal is the self or supreme self. The text elaborates on sense control, defining a 'jitendriya' as one who neither rejoices nor feels aversion upon experiencing sensory objects like sounds, touches, or tastes. It cites both the Manusmriti and the Uttaradhyayana Sutra, which advises a meditative ascetic to not direct the mind towards pleasant objects (raga) nor towards unpleasant ones (dvesha). The practice involves two steps: 'indriya-nirodha' (stopping sensory activity, e.g., closing eyes to avoid seeing) and 'indriya-nigraha' (controlling attachment even when senses are active). The text notes that while fasting or sensory withdrawal can stop external indulgence, inner attachment only ceases upon realizing the supreme. It emphasizes that true practice combines both restraint and the elimination of inner clinging, leading to a state where one is not bound by actions, similar to the Jain principle of seeing all beings as oneself, which is the highest practice of non-violence.

Summary reviewed by a volunteer editor.