February 13th

Sanskrit Pearl of the day:
इन्द्रियाणि पुरा जित्वा जितं त्रिभुवनं त्वया ।
स्मरद्भिरिव तद्वैरम् इन्द्रियैरेव निर्जितः ॥
- रामायण, युद्धकाण्ड

Transliteration:
indriyāṇi purā jitvā jitaṃ tribhuvanaṃ tvayā ।
smaradbhiriva tadvairam indriyaireva nirjitaḥ ॥
- rāmāyaṇa, yuddhakāṇḍa

Meaning of the subhAShita:

Formerly, by winning over your senses, the three worlds were won by you. As if in memory of that enmity, you were defeated by the same senses.
(A verse by lamenting Maṇḍodarī to Rāvaṇa's cadaver).

Commentary:

In the great first epic Rāmāyaṇa, we have seen that Rāvaṇa was an exceptional scholar who had performed numerous penances. He had the intellect and the endurance required for performing them, although for all wrong reasons. These achievements don't come easy. One has to win over his sense organs, defeat them, restrain them and show them who the boss is - so to speak! Rāvaṇa had achieved all of these quite easily. But he still gave in and yielded to his senses when he heard about Sītā from Śūrpanakhā (his sister). Chastity was blown to the wind. He surrendered so much to his senses that he wouldn't listen to any advice from anyone, including his own brother, Vibhīṣaṇa, or his wife, Maṇḍodarī. Upon his death, manDodarI lamented saying - he had conquered his senses earlier. Now, as if his senses came back to avenge their defeat, became the cause for his own downfall.

Senses are the entities that bring bondage. For example, if one yields to the sense organ - tongue, he will either like or dislike the food he eats. The minute there is राग-द्वेष (rāga-dveṣa - love or hate) there is a reaction to it. And then, along come bondage constraints and so on. Hence, the objects of pleasure for the sense organs are harbingers of trouble. It is not an easy task to win over them. They are so powerful that even after winning over them once, if they are not kept under check constantly, they will come back to strike harder than ever.

Awareness and incessant अनुष्ठान (anuṣṭhāna - practice) are keys to keeping a level head.

pada vigrahaH:
इन्द्रियाणि पुरा जित्वा जितं त्रिभुवनं त्वया ।
indriyāṇi purā jitvā jitaṃ tribhuvanaṃ tvayā ।

स्मरद्भिः इव तत् वैरम् इन्द्रियैः एव निर्जितः ॥
smaradbhiḥ iva tat vairam indriyaiḥ eva nirjitaḥ ॥

Alternate Transliteration:
indriyaaNi puraa jitvaa jitaM tribhuvanaM tvayaa ।
smaradbhiriva tadvairam indriyaireva nirjitaH ॥
- raamaayaNa, yuddhakaaNDa

indriyaaNi puraa jitvaa jitaM tribhuvanaM tvayaa ।

smaradbhiH iva tat vairam indriyaiH eva nirjitaH ॥