11/06/2020
One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise
draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness.
PURPORT
The test of a yog├й, devotee, or self-realized soul is that he is able to control
the senses according to his plan. Most people, however, are servants of the
senses and are thus directed by the dictation of the senses. That is the answer
to the question as to how the yog├й is situated. The senses are compared to
venomous serpents. They want to act very loosely and without restriction. The
yog├й, or the devotee, must be very strong to control the serpentsтАФlike a snake
charmer. He never allows them to act independently. There are many
injunctions in the revealed scriptures; some of them are do-notтАЩs, and some of
them are doтАЩs. Unless one is able to follow the doтАЩs and the do-notтАЩs, restricting
oneself from sense enjoyment, it is not possible to be firmly fixed in K├е├▒├лa
consciousness. The best example, set herein, is the tortoise. The tortoise can at
any moment wind up his senses and exhibit them again at any time for
particular purposes. Similarly, the senses of the K├е├▒├лa conscious persons are
used only for some particular purpose in the service of the Lord and are
withdrawn otherwise. Arjuna is being taught here to use his senses for the
service of the Lord, instead of for his own satisfaction. Keeping the senses
always in the service of the Lord is the example set by the analogy of the
tortoise, who keeps the senses within.