CHAPTER TWO

Mastering the Mind and Senses

yam sannyasam iti prahur
yogam tam viddhi pandava

na hy asannyasta-sankalpo
yogi bhavati kascana

“What is called renunciation is the same as yoga, or linking
oneself with the Supreme, for no one can become a yogi unless he
renounces the desire for sense gratification.”’ (Bg.6.2)

This is the real purpose of the practice of yoga. The word yoga
Means ‘‘to join.”’ Although we are naturally part and parcel of the
Supreme, in our conditioned state we are now separated. Because
of our separation, we are reluctant to understand God and to
speak of our relationship with Him and are even inclined to think
of such discussion as a waste of time. In a church or in a Krsna
consciousness temple, we speak of God, but people in general are
not very interested. They think it is a waste of time, a kind of
recreation in the name of spiritual advancement, and they believe
that this time could be better used to earn money or enjoy them-
selves in a nightclub or restaurant.

Therefore, it is due to sense enjoyment that we are not at-
tracted to God, and therefore it is said that those who are addicted
to sense enjoyment cannot become yogis—that is, they are not eli-
gible to participate in the yoga system. One cannot advance in any

13.

