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 see that Rāvaṇa was an exceptional scholar who had performed numerous penances. He had the intellect and the endurance required to perform them but for all wrong reasons. These achievements don't come easy. One has to win over his sense organs, defeat and restrain them to show them who the boss is - so to speak! But Rāvaṇa had achieved all of these quite easily.  He had become a jitendriya, by winning over his sense organs.  

Yet he gave in and yielded to his sense-pleasures when he heard about Sītā from his sister (Śūrpanakhā). Chastity was blown to the wind. He succumbed so much to his sense organs that he wouldn't listen to any advice from anyone, including his own brother (Vibhīṣaṇa), or his wife (Maṇḍodarī). Upon his death, Maṇḍodarī lamented saying - to him who had won over them earlier, they became the cause for his downfall now.  He had conquered his senses earlier. Now it was as if his senses had come back to avenge their defeat!  

Sense pleasures are the entities that bring bondage. For example, if one yields to his 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. Along with that comes bondage constraints and so on. Hence, the objects of pleasure for the sense organs are nothing but harbingers of trouble. It is not an easy task to win over them. They are so powerful that if they are not kept under check constantly, even after winning over them once, they will return to strike harder than ever.

Awareness and incessant अनुष्ठान (anuṣṭhāna - practice) are keys to keeping a level head.  There are many traps along the way.  Hence, being vigilant of ourselves is very essential.  

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 ॥