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By intelligence we have to conquer over the formidable enemy which has captured the three strategic position -That means the senses and the mind and intelligence

Expressions researched:
"By intelligence we have to conquer over the formidable enemy which has captured the three strategic position" |"That means the senses and the mind and intelligence"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

In the Third Chapter, that He said, "By intelligence we have to conquer over the formidable enemy which has captured the three strategic position." That means the senses and the mind and intelligence. "In three strategic position, the formidable enemy . . ." That means ignorance that I am trying to lord it over the material nature. This ignorance.

Supreme consciousness, He has distinguished in this way, that we, the . . . in the battlefield . . . He first of all made this clear, that "My dear Arjuna, yourself, Myself and all these people who have assembled before us for fighting, all of them as living entities, they existed, and they are existing at present, and they'll continue to exist." "They will continue to exist." That means the soul is eternal. Then He has described the nature of the soul and the nature of the body very nicely and has concluded that soul is eternal, but the body is not eternal. Antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ (BG 2.18). Śarīriṇaḥ means one who possesses this body.

This thing we have discussed in the Second Chapter, and in the Third Chapter Arjuna is advised to adopt the means of karma-yoga. For spiritual emancipation we have to act on the platform of consciousness, and because we are now engaged in material engagement, it is not possible for us to at once get rid of this material consciousness, but we have gradually to get out of it. And that is called karma-yoga. Karma-yoga means you have to adopt this process of karma-yoga in such a way that even within your material body you shall be able to act on spiritual platform, consciousness. That we have already discussed.

And the last, and the last śloka in the Third Chapter, that He said, "By intelligence we have to conquer over the formidable enemy which has captured the three strategic position." That means the senses and the mind and intelligence. "In three strategic position, the formidable enemy . . ." That means ignorance that I am trying to lord it over the material nature. This ignorance. This is ignorance, because I cannot lord it over the material nature. It is impossible. I am not so powerful that I can become the master of the material nature.

The whole world's activity is going on under this impression that "We shall be able to conquer over the material nature." The modern scientific advancement of knowledge is aiming in that way. But it is not possible—because we are not actually the master of the material nature. That is an ignorance. That is an ignorance. We are trying to enjoy the material resources to our best, but that is not possible. That is called illusion.

So this has been explained by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna that, "This is your . . . this sense of mastering over or lording over the material nature, kāma"—kāma means to enjoy; kāma means enjoy—"that is your formidable enemy, and that formidable enemy is sitting in three places—on your mind, on your intelligence, on your senses." Now, you have to deal with them very tactfully. How? That you have to replace the enemy with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You have to replace. Simply you have to replace.

Just like if you have got a glass of water, now, if you want to fill up this glass with milk, then you have to throw the water and take milk. Similarly, if your mind is occupied by the lust of enjoying the material world, if you replace Kṛṣṇa on your mind, then you'll find that the enemy which is occupying your strategic position of mind, it will be defeated. So far we have discussed in the, up to Third Chapter.

Page Title:By intelligence we have to conquer over the formidable enemy which has captured the three strategic position -That means the senses and the mind and intelligence
Compiler:SharmisthaK
Created:2022-09-17, 06:59:19
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1