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THE PATH OF PERFECTION
Kṛṣṇa as his spiritual master, the Lord immediately chastised him, just as a master chastises his disciple in order to teach him. Essentially, Śrī Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna, “You are talking very wisely, as if you know so many things, but actually you are speaking nonsense, because you are speaking from the bodily position.” Similarly, people throughout the world are posing themselves as highly advanced in education, science, philosophy, politics, etc., but their position is on the bodily platform.
A vulture may rise very high in the sky—seven or eight miles—and it is wonderful to see him fly in this way. He also has powerful eyes, for he can spot a carcass from a great distance. Yet what is the object of all these great qualifications? A dead body, a rotting carcass. His perfection is just to discover a dead piece of meat and eat it. That’s all. Similarly, we may have a very high education, but what is our objective? Sense enjoyment, the enjoyment of this material body. We may rise very high with our spaceships, but what is the purpose? Sense gratification, that’s all. This means that all the striving and all this high education are merely on the animal platform.
Therefore we should first of all know that our miserable material condition is due to this body. At the same time, we should know that this body is not permanent. Although I identify with my body, family, society, country, and so many other things, how long will these objects exist? They are not permanent.  Asat  is a word meaning that they will cease to exist.  Asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ : “The body is simply troublesome and impermanent.”
Many people come to us saying, “Svāmījī, my position is so troublesome,” but as soon as we suggest the medicine, they will not accept it. This means that people want to manufacture their own medicine. Why do we go to a physician if we want to treat ourselves? People want to accept only what they think is palatable.
Although we are suggesting that this body is useless and is a form of contamination, we are not recommending that it be abused. We may use a car to carry us to work, but this does not mean that we should not take care of the car. We should take care of the car for it to carry us to and fro, but we should not become so attached to it that we are polishing it every day. We must utilize this material body in order to execute Krşna consciousness, and to
Moderation in Yoga
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this end we should keep it fit and healthy, but we should not become too attached to it. That is called  yukta-vairāgya . The body should not be neglected. We should bathe regularly, eat regularly, sleep regularly in order to keep mind and body healthy. Some people say that the body should be renounced and that we should take some drugs and abandon ourselves to intoxication, but this is not a  yoga  process. Kṛṣṇa has given us nice food—fruits, grains, vegetables, and milk—and we can prepare hundreds and thousands of nice preparations and offer them to the Lord. Our process is to eat  kṛṣṇa-prasāda  and to satisfy the tongue in that way. But we should not be greedy and eat dozens of  samosās , sweetballs, and  rasagullās . No. We should eat and sleep just enough to keep the body fit, and no more. It is stated,
yuktāhāra-vihārasya  
 yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu  
 yukta-svapnāvabodhasya  
 yogo bhavati duhkha-hā
“He who is temperate in his habits of eating, sleeping, working, and recreation can mitigate all material pains by practicing the  yoga  system.” (Bg. 6.17)
Although we should minimize our eating and sleeping, we should not attempt this too rapidly, at the risk of becoming sick. Because people are accustomed to eating voraciously, there are prescriptions for fasting. We can reduce our sleeping and eating, but we should remain in good health for spiritual purposes. We should not attempt to reduce eating and sleeping too rapidly or artificially; when we advance we will naturally not feel pain due to the reduction of these natural bodily processes. In this respect, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī offers a good example. Although a very rich man's son, Raghunātha dāsa left his home to join Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Because he was the only son, Raghunātha dāsa was very beloved by his father. Understanding that his son had gone to Jagannātha Purī to join Lord Caitanya, the father sent four servants with money to attend him. At first, Raghunātha accepted the money, thinking, "Oh, since my father has sent all this money, I will accept it and invite all the  sannyāsīs  to feast."