In the Bhagavad-gita chapter 2 text 59, the first half of the verse goes, “Though the embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, the taste for sense objects remains.”
I can relate…
Two weeks ago I deleted all my social media… An impulsive move to encourage my personal wish list, to read more, to start a podcast, to quit procrastinating, etc., still I pick up my phone 20 times a day looking to engage in some mindless scrolling.
Though the senses are restricted, that taste still remains.
Sometimes I have dreams where I commit a crime like a murder…
Whenever I hear this verse I think of people in jail. Sometimes I have dreams where I commit a crime like a murder, and the police are on a manhunt after me. At some point in the dream, they catch me and I have a dreaded feeling of going to jail for a very long time. The loss of freedom and confinement is terrifying.
A prisoners’ senses are restricted but the taste to enjoy remains the same.
In other words, Krishna is saying, simply by deleting the apps off your phone, that action, will not remove the desire to use them… the act of being placed in jail doesn’t change your desires.. not even a little.
The second half of the verse says, “But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.”
By engaging in higher spiritual activities, the lower material taste to enjoy loses its appeal and can easily be given up. In the Chaitanya Caritamrita, a 500 year old Bengali text, there is a beautiful story that narrates this point.
Haridas and the Prostitute
As a young man, after leaving his home, Haridāsa Ṭhākura constructed a cottage in a solitary forest. There he planted the sacred tulasī tree and in front of it he would sit chant the holy name of the Krishna 300,000 times daily throughout the day and night. He was so spiritually influential that all the neighboring people respected him.
He called local prostitutes and began a plan to discredit his Holiness.
A landholder named Rāmacandra Khān was envious and unable to tolerate such communal respect towards Haridāsa Ṭhākura. He wished to dishonor him but found no fault in his character. Therefore he created a devious plan to discredit the young renunciate.
Rāmacandra Khān called the local prostitutes and said, “There is a young yogi named Haridāsa Ṭhākura living alone in the forest. I will pay any one of you to deviate him from his vows of austerity.” One very attractive young girl spoke up and said. “I shall attract the mind of Haridāsa Ṭhākura,” she promised, “within three days.”
That night, after dressing herself very attractively, the young prostitute went to the cottage of Haridāsa Ṭhākura and standing in his open doorway, exposed parts of her body to him, speaking very sweet words.
“My dear Ṭhākura, O great preacher, great devotee, you are so beautifully built, and your youth is just beginning. Is there a woman who could control her mind after seeing you? I am eager to be united with you. My mind is greedy for this. If I don’t obtain you, I shall not be able to keep my body and soul together.”
Haridāsa replied, “I shall accept you without fail, but you will have to wait while I complete my chanting. Until that time, please sit here and listen, and as soon as I am finished, I shall fulfill your desire.”
Hearing this, the prostitute remained sitting while Haridāsa Ṭhākura chanted on his beads until the light of morning appeared.
Today Haridāsa Ṭhākura has promised to enjoy with me.
When she saw the sun rising, the prostitute stood up and left. Coming before Rāmacandra Khān, she informed him of all that happened.
“Today Haridāsa Ṭhākura has promised to enjoy with me. Tomorrow certainly I shall have union with him.”
The next night, when the prostitute came back to the cottage, Haridāsa gave her many assurances.
“Last night you were disappointed. Please excuse my offense. I shall certainly accept you.
“Please sit down and hear the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra until I am finished, it won’t be long, then we shall unite and your desires will be fulfilled.”
After offering respects to the tulasī plant and to Haridāsa, she sat down to wait and listen.
When the night came to an end, the prostitute was restless. Seeing this, Haridāsa spoke to her as follows.
“I have vowed to chant ten million names in a month and now it is nearing its end.
“I thought that today I would be able to finish. I tried my best to chant, but I still did not finish. Tomorrow I will surely finish, and my vow will be fulfilled. Then it will be possible for me to enjoy with you in full freedom.”
The next day the prostitute came at the beginning of the evening. After offering respects to the tulasī plant and Haridāsa, she sat down patiently listening to his chanting.
Again the night ended without union, but because of the pure chanting of Haridāsa, the mind of the prostitute had changed.
The prostitute fell at the feet of Haridāsa and confessed that Rāmacandra Khān had appointed her to pollute him.
“Because I have taken the profession of a prostitute,” she said, “I have performed unlimited sinful acts. Dear saintly renunciant, be merciful to me. Deliver my fallen soul.”
Haridāsa replied, “I know everything about the plans of Rāmacandra Khān. He is nothing but an ignorant fool.
“On the very day Rāmacandra made his plans against me, I was going to leave this cottage, but because you came here, I stayed for three days to deliver you.”
The young girl said, “Kindly act as my spiritual master. Instruct me in my spiritual duty, by which I can get relief from this miserable existence.”
Haridāsa Ṭhākura replied, “Immediately go home and distribute all your wealth and jewelry to the humble temple priests. Then come back to this cottage and live here.
“Chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra continuously and render service to this tulasī tree by watering her and offering prayers. In this way, you will very soon get the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.”
The prostitute shaved her head clean
After instructing the girl, Haridāsa Ṭhākura stood up and left, and never returned.
She distributed her wealth, shaved her head clean, and moved into the cottage wearing only one cloth. She began chanting the maha-mantra 300,000 times a day throughout the day and night.
Thus the ex-prostitute became a celebrated devotee. Seeing the sublime character of the girl, the whole community was astonished and glorified the special spiritual influence of Haridāsa Ṭhākura.
I love this story, it’s an example of the true meaning of our verse from the Bhagavad-Gita 2.59
Though the embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.
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