Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage

Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage

If you want God and God alone, kick off the world ruthlessly. Enough of tea and coffee, enough of soda, lemonade and crushes; enough of novels and cinemas, enough of races and aeroplanes, enough of father, mother, brothers, children, friends and relatives! You came alone and you will go alone. None will follow you save your own actions. Realise God. All miseries will come to an end.

A worldly-minded fashionable wife (or husband) is a sharp knife to cut off the life of the hus band (or wife). Be wedded to Santi and have Vairagya as the son, and Viveka, the magnanimous daughter and eat the delicious divine fruit of Atma Jnana which can make you Immortal!

Sensual pleasure is tantalising. There is enchantment so long as the person does not possess the object of desire. After obtaining possession of the object, he finds that he is entangled in it. The bachelor thinks of his marriage day in and day out, but enjoyment does not and cannot bring satisfaction to him. Far from it, it only aggravates and intensifies the desire and makes the mind more restless through passion and Trishna. He realises that he is in imprisonment. This is Mayaic jugglery. This world is full of temptations.

You cannot get bliss in the objects of the world. It is only materialistic poison. Further, marriage is a lifelong imprisonment; it is the greatest bondage on the face of the earth. A bachelor who was once free is now tied to the yoke, and his hands and feet are chained. This is the experience of married people. They weep after marriage. Therefore, do not marry, if you can help it. Escape will be difficult after marriage. Realise the glory of life in the spiritual path and the great difficulties, anxieties, worries and troubles of married life. Develop intense Vairagya. Assert your birthright of God-consciousness. Art thou not Brahman Itself in Truth?

A great man is not one who possesses enormous wealth. A man of renunciation alone is the greatest man in the world. He may be clad in rags. He may appear ugly to people of clouded intellect. Yet he is the happiest, the greatest and the richest man in the whole world! He has no cares and worries. He inherits the kingdom of .

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O poor worldling! Much hemmed in on all sides and whirling in different conditions in this fluctuating world, you are ever being driven by delusion and afflicted with pains, like dusts of sand floating in the midst of a large stone. Now, reflecting upon Time which is eternal in its true nature, you cannot but term your hundred years of life as a tiny moment. While this is so in fact, how is it that you estimate your life greatly and fall into all sorts of despondencies through the powerful deluding desires? Who is there so miserable in life as those who are spoiled through their gross mind? Fie on your un even life! Comparing this earth to the countless universes that exist but of which you are unconscious, you cannot but consider it as an atom. It is really surprising that you should rate so high this universe so full of pains. Even the greatest of persons will in course of time become the lowest of the low. All enjoyments, great men, and their kindred have appeared in former times. Where, then, is certitude of existence of all objects now? The innumerable earths with their rulers and their wealth have all perished like fine sand! The Devalokas with their Indras and celestial wealth have all disappeared like a flash in the sky above. No limit can be imposed upon the number and size of the universes, the Brahmas, Brahmandas, and Jivas that have come and gone. Where, then, are all the objects that have vanished out of sight? Where, then, is the permanency of this earthly life? It is only by bestowing your desires on the illusion of a long dream of physical delusion in the sable night of the unreal Maya that you have debased yourself to this ignorant state. Enough, enough with all the births and deaths you have undergone hithertofore. Not a single beneficent object exists in this world, either in the beginning, middle or end. Are not all created objects coated over with the varnish of destruction? You enact in your daily life sinful acts, painful deeds and illimitable vices which cannot be pardoned. In youth you are enveloped with Ajnana or illusion; in adult age you are entangled in the meshes of sense-pleasures; in old age you grownunder the burden of Samsara and deluded attachment for family and children even when in debility. You eventually die a miserable death. Being thus always half-sinking in the quagmire of delusion, when will you find time to devote yourself to virtuous actions? How came this Maya to play and dance in this world? This dreadful ghost of your mind dances in the theatre of this universe to the music of the organs. If in the opening and the closing of the eyelids, many Brahmas are created and destroyed, what are you, a mere puny creature reveling in the filth of earthliness?

Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage – Self-Control, Detachment, and Inner Freedom

Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage because it keeps the human mind tied to temporary pleasures, restless desires, and repeated dissatisfaction. The senses naturally run toward form, sound, taste, touch, and smell. When they are guided by wisdom, they can serve life properly. But when they become masters, the person loses inner peace, self-control, and spiritual direction.

Human life is meant for higher growth. It is not given only for eating, sleeping, enjoying, decorating the body, collecting objects, and chasing excitement. A person has the power to think, discriminate, love, serve, meditate, and realize the truth. If this precious opportunity is wasted only in outward enjoyment, the deeper purpose of life remains forgotten.

Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage because desire has no natural end. One pleasure is enjoyed, and another desire immediately rises. The mind says, “This will make me happy,” but after a short time, the same emptiness appears again. This endless movement from one object to another creates fatigue, dependence, and inner slavery.

The senses promise happiness, but their joy is short-lived. A sweet taste lasts only for a moment. A beautiful sight soon becomes ordinary. A pleasant touch may later create attachment. Entertainment gives excitement, but not lasting peace. When the mind depends on such passing experiences, it becomes weak and restless.

Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage when it makes a person forget discrimination. Under the force of craving, people may ignore duty, damage health, waste time, speak falsely, hurt others, and lose self-respect. The desire for pleasure can cover wisdom so strongly that even harmful actions appear attractive for a time.

Vedanta teaches that the real self is not the body, mind, senses, or ego. The true self is pure consciousness, peaceful and free. But because of ignorance, a person identifies with the body and becomes a servant of its demands. They think, “I am hungry for pleasure,” “I am incomplete,” and “I need outer objects to be happy.” This false identity is the root of bondage.

Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage also because it strengthens attachment. The mind clings to people, objects, habits, comforts, and memories. It wants the pleasant to remain and the unpleasant to disappear. But life keeps changing. When desired objects are lost or denied, sorrow, anger, frustration, and fear arise.

Self-control is therefore essential. Self-control does not mean hatred of the body or harsh suppression. It means intelligent mastery. The senses are instruments, not rulers. Food, rest, comfort, and beauty have their proper place, but they must remain under the guidance of discrimination. A disciplined life protects energy and strengthens the mind.

The seeker should practice moderation. Eat to maintain health, not merely to satisfy greed. Speak to express truth and kindness, not to feed ego. Use the eyes for noble vision, not restless attraction. Use the ears for wisdom, not gossip and impurity. Use the body for duty, service, worship, and meditation.

Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage when it keeps the mind outward all the time. A person becomes afraid of silence because silence reveals inner emptiness. They need constant noise, entertainment, talk, movement, and stimulation. But spiritual growth begins when the mind learns to become quiet and turn inward.

Good company helps greatly in overcoming sense slavery. If one stays with people who glorify indulgence, luxury, vulgarity, and careless enjoyment, the mind becomes weaker. Satsang, prayer, study, meditation, and association with disciplined people create strength and purity. The mind slowly begins to enjoy higher peace.

The path of freedom requires replacing lower taste with higher taste. Merely forcing the senses may not be enough. The seeker must develop love for prayer, meditation, mantra, service, study, truth, simplicity, and noble living. When the heart tastes inner peace, lower cravings gradually lose their power.

Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage, but it can be overcome through steady practice. Observe desires as they arise. Do not immediately obey every impulse. Pause, reflect, and ask whether the action will bring purity or bondage. This simple practice creates space between desire and action. In that space, freedom begins.

The body is temporary, and its pleasures are temporary. Youth fades, strength declines, beauty changes, and health is uncertain. If life is built only on bodily enjoyment, sorrow becomes unavoidable. The wise seeker uses the body as a temple of spiritual practice, not as an instrument of endless indulgence.

In the end, Sense Life is a Terrible Bondage is a call to awaken from slavery to the senses. It teaches that pleasure is passing, desire is endless, attachment creates pain, and self-control brings dignity. Through discrimination, moderation, devotion, meditation, selfless service, good company, and self-knowledge, the seeker rises from lower craving to inner freedom and spiritual peace.

Waste Not Precious Life