CHAPTER 2, TEXT 62-63: While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.
In these two verses, Krishna offers a roadmap to how one becomes a victim of this material world:
contemplating objects of the senses >>
attachment >>
lust >>
anger >>
delusion >>
bewilderment of memory >>
intelligence is lost >>
falls down into material pool
As an exercise, take a sense object that you're contemplating in your life right now and insert this object into this path of "falling down" and see what the consequences are. (I just did the exercise contemplating cheesecake, uh oh.) Or maybe take a sense object that has lead to a lot of pain in your life and trace it back all the way to when you started contemplating it (I did the exercise again with an old, painful relationship).
Seriously, give it a whirl.
Did you feel like at any point you were out of control? You were a victim of pain and suffering and your own desires?
In his purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupad uses the phrase "victims of material consciousness" (124) for those who have fallen into the "material pool."
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a victim is: "one that is acted on and usually adversely affected by a force or agent." In this definition, "one that is acted on" is the key phrase, for it implies that the person in question has no choice.
Now, the reality of this world is that the material world is acting upon us and our loved ones at all times with misery after misery, and we have no choice, such as being cheated out of money or love, physically hurt, emotionally damaged, or even killed.
On a personal level, though, the word victim, implies lack of personal power. Language reflects consciousness, so if I'm using the word victim, this implies that I believe that I lack the power to choose what I truly want. Things happen to me.
Here is a chart of the mention of the word victim over the past 200 years (Merriam-Webster, accessed through Google):
If language reflects consciousness and the word victim indicates an increased belief that bad things are happening to me, one could gather that in society there is an increase in the persistent belief that "I have no power."
Each one of these descriptions in verses 62-63 seem like something out of our power. Bewilderment of memory? Delusion? Anger?
These all seem like lost causes. Why is Krishna even giving us this sequence if there's no hope?
The verses, though, start with dhyayato visayan, or contemplating the objects of the senses. This is where choice comes in. I can choose what I want to contemplate. What's interesting here is that Krishna describes that the act of contemplating the sense objects is what leads to a downfall, not even so much that one actually enjoys the object. Contemplation is far more powerful.
In this sense, what we contemplate are the seeds which we plant that ultimately determine what we create in our lives. The opposite of a victim mindset is a creator mindset, which according to "The Mindsets of Victims and Creators Essay" by Bartleby Research, "A Creator is someone who consistently makes choices that result in the outcome that they want" (bartleby.com).
The word "creator" indicates someone with purpose and choice and power, either someone that we know or someone Divine.
Below we can see the usage of the word creator over the past 200 years (Merriam-Webster, accessed through Google).
Here again is the image for the usage of the word victim:
I am not a social scientist. I do know, though, that on some level, language reflects consciousness. And if I am looking at these two graphs through the lens of these verses from the Gita, I would conclude that in society we can see the trend of an increase of the "victim" mindset and a decrease in the "creator" mindset.
We're falling into the "material pool" at higher and higher rates.
But wait! There is a solution. Prabhupad emphasizes that a person in Krishna consciousness does not become a victim of material consciousness. Prabhupad does not condemn material enjoyment or objects. In fact, he states that "everything has its use in the service of the Lord" (123), even sense enjoyment. He writes that we can never escape this material context by artificially abstaining from pleasure. It is impossible. The soul is hardwired to "enjoy life" (124).
The solution is to use our personal power to offer suitable items to Krishna, and then enjoy. The conclusion is that "Thus everything becomes spiritualized, and there is no danger of downfall" (124). Krishna's touch transforms something mundane - such as enjoying cheesecake! - into something spiritual that liberates the heart and mind.
Thus I can use my tendency to enjoy in the service of God. I'm not squelching or negating my desire to enjoy, only sublimating it for Krishna. Instead of losing my intelligence to the "material pool" I can use my intelligence to make choices that lead me to love and freedom.
Source:
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Mindsets-of-Victims-and-Creators-FKJ75MRSTC
In these two verses, Krishna offers a roadmap to how one becomes a victim of this material world:
contemplating objects of the senses >>
attachment >>
lust >>
anger >>
delusion >>
bewilderment of memory >>
intelligence is lost >>
falls down into material pool
As an exercise, take a sense object that you're contemplating in your life right now and insert this object into this path of "falling down" and see what the consequences are. (I just did the exercise contemplating cheesecake, uh oh.) Or maybe take a sense object that has lead to a lot of pain in your life and trace it back all the way to when you started contemplating it (I did the exercise again with an old, painful relationship).
Seriously, give it a whirl.
Did you feel like at any point you were out of control? You were a victim of pain and suffering and your own desires?
In his purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupad uses the phrase "victims of material consciousness" (124) for those who have fallen into the "material pool."
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a victim is: "one that is acted on and usually adversely affected by a force or agent." In this definition, "one that is acted on" is the key phrase, for it implies that the person in question has no choice.
Now, the reality of this world is that the material world is acting upon us and our loved ones at all times with misery after misery, and we have no choice, such as being cheated out of money or love, physically hurt, emotionally damaged, or even killed.
On a personal level, though, the word victim, implies lack of personal power. Language reflects consciousness, so if I'm using the word victim, this implies that I believe that I lack the power to choose what I truly want. Things happen to me.
Here is a chart of the mention of the word victim over the past 200 years (Merriam-Webster, accessed through Google):
Each one of these descriptions in verses 62-63 seem like something out of our power. Bewilderment of memory? Delusion? Anger?
These all seem like lost causes. Why is Krishna even giving us this sequence if there's no hope?
The verses, though, start with dhyayato visayan, or contemplating the objects of the senses. This is where choice comes in. I can choose what I want to contemplate. What's interesting here is that Krishna describes that the act of contemplating the sense objects is what leads to a downfall, not even so much that one actually enjoys the object. Contemplation is far more powerful.
In this sense, what we contemplate are the seeds which we plant that ultimately determine what we create in our lives. The opposite of a victim mindset is a creator mindset, which according to "The Mindsets of Victims and Creators Essay" by Bartleby Research, "A Creator is someone who consistently makes choices that result in the outcome that they want" (bartleby.com).
The word "creator" indicates someone with purpose and choice and power, either someone that we know or someone Divine.
Below we can see the usage of the word creator over the past 200 years (Merriam-Webster, accessed through Google).
We're falling into the "material pool" at higher and higher rates.
But wait! There is a solution. Prabhupad emphasizes that a person in Krishna consciousness does not become a victim of material consciousness. Prabhupad does not condemn material enjoyment or objects. In fact, he states that "everything has its use in the service of the Lord" (123), even sense enjoyment. He writes that we can never escape this material context by artificially abstaining from pleasure. It is impossible. The soul is hardwired to "enjoy life" (124).
The solution is to use our personal power to offer suitable items to Krishna, and then enjoy. The conclusion is that "Thus everything becomes spiritualized, and there is no danger of downfall" (124). Krishna's touch transforms something mundane - such as enjoying cheesecake! - into something spiritual that liberates the heart and mind.
Thus I can use my tendency to enjoy in the service of God. I'm not squelching or negating my desire to enjoy, only sublimating it for Krishna. Instead of losing my intelligence to the "material pool" I can use my intelligence to make choices that lead me to love and freedom.
Source:
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Mindsets-of-Victims-and-Creators-FKJ75MRSTC
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