Sri Kurmam, or Kurma-kshetra, is a village in the Srikakulam, a district in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Sri Kurmam is famous for its temple of Lord Kurma, the gigantic tortoise incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Bhagavata Purana mentions that Lord Kurma had lifted the gigantic Mandara mountain on His back and gave it the necessary stability to act as a churning rod while the devatas and the demons churned the milk ocean to produce amrita, or nectar.

In my childhood, we used to live at a place very close to Sri Kurmam and would often visit the nearby temples. During one of those visits, I saw a tortoise, probably for the first time in my life. It was moving very slowly. Being curious, I went closer. It stopped moving suddenly. I was surprised and paused in my footsteps. A few moments later, the tortoise popped its head out of its shell and resumed its journey. Once again as I inched forward out of curiosity, the tortoise almost froze like a statue.

The way the tortoise paused its movement was truly a peculiar sight. It would draw its legs and face into its body which was like a small hill, and sit down completely unmoving. After a while, when it thought its path was clear, it slowly unwound itself and set off on the move.

My parents explained to me the nature of a tortoise—with a shell as hard as a rock, the tortoise protects its limbs from dangers and attacks. Whenever it encounters an obstacle, it withdraws its limbs into its shell for protection.

Later, my mother gave me a banana and encouraged me to feed the tortoise. I was a bit hesitant, but still trudged on. Finding a spot beside the tortoise, I sat down with the banana in my hand. I think it noticed me and the banana, and began trusting me. This time, it didn’t withdraw its limbs; instead, it slowly crawled towards me and I crawled to it. As we met each other, I took a little piece of the banana and extended my hand to feed it. Soon, it extended its neck, grabbed the piece in its mouth and ate it up. I was thrilled. I fed it the full banana piece by piece, and it feasted and eventually moved on.

 

The Protective Shield

The behavior of the tortoise teaches us an important lesson on the art of withdrawal, as Lord Krishna points out in this verse.

yada samharate cayam
kurmo ’nganiva sarvasah
indriyanindriyarthebhyas
tasya prajna pratishthita

“Just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs into the shell, one has to withdraw one’s senses from distracting and harmful sense objects. Such a person is perfectly intelligent.” (Gita 2.58)

To inspire us to practice sense control, Lord Krishna teaches us from the example of a tortoise. Just as a tortoise pulls its limbs inside its shell when things get tough, we can try to withdraw our senses that distract our minds to objects and people that are hurtful.

The tortoise has a natural shield in the form of its hard shell to protect it from all physical dangers. As human beings, we need to build a protective shield of wisdom to safeguard our minds from the ever-increasing distractions of this world—be it smartphones, social media or toxic association!

Facing temptations doesn’t mean literally facing them; but it means turning your face away from them. Embrace the wisdom of acting like a tortoise. Those who boast about facing temptations head-on are often the ones most susceptible to giving in.

 

Sensory Allurements

In the Gita (2.60), Lord Krishna explains,

 

yatato hy api kaunteya
purushasya vipascitah
indriyani pramathini
haranti prasabhaA manah

“The senses are so strong and restless that they forcefully drag away the minds of even wise persons who know what is right and what is wrong, even if they are trying hard to control the senses.”

Imagine walking through a bustling market where the vibrant colors catch your eye, the alluring aroma of street food hits your nose, and the chatter of the crowd reaches your ears. As you walk, your senses are inevitably bombarded with various impressions even without you consciously noticing it, and they impact your mind.

Our five senses—eyes, tongue, nose, ears and skin—are like our own personal detectives, always on the lookout for interesting things in the world. They find their objects, namely forms, flavors, scents, sounds and textures, and when they connect with these things, they create various desires, thoughts and emotions in our minds—some good and some not so good. And when we actually bring our senses in contact with their objects, that contact often creates a long-lasting impression on our minds.

Be it the beautiful form of the opposite gender, or a stylish and sophisticated car, or an attractive outfit—the eyes have a tendency to get attracted to these forms, and that creates a desire in the mind to enjoy them. On the flip side, ugly shapes repel the eyes and mind. Consider the joy derived from tasting a delicious meal. The flavors linger in your mind’s memory, prompting a desire to savor it again. On the flip side, an unpleasant taste imprints a not-so-happy memory in your mind, leading you to avoid it in the future. You can extend this to the remaining senses too.

In this sensory symphony, each sense collaborates to create a vast tapestry of experiences, which enter the mind as pleasant and unpleasant impressions. Therefore, to avoid being distracted, we need to limit our senses from coming in contact with unfavorable objects.

 

Mental Distractions

Distractions are not only external but internal too. External distractions are when the senses are allured by the sense objects, but internal distractions are when the mind deliberately starts meditating on them.

The mind has an incredible power of instigating actions within our bodies. Imagine the thought of indulging in a sweet delicacy like a rasagulla. Your mind instantly activates your senses—directing your eyes to locate the sweet shop, your legs to carry you there and your hands to procure the rasagulla. This intricate dance showcases how our thoughts manifest into physical actions, allowing us to relish life’s pleasures. While sometimes they may be natural and essential, at other times they may be harmful too.

Our minds, like excited kids, sometimes desire more than what our bodies can handle. Consider the craving for numerous rasagullas even when our stomachs are already full. Giving into the mind’s demands to overeat takes our bodies on a journey of indigestion, obesity, diabetes and so on.

This trend of the mind can be extended to much more harmful distractions of alcohol, adultery, gambling and what not. After all, the current age provides all ingredients required for one’s degradation.

 

Incompatible Connections

Apart from the sensory interactions, our minds are affected by interpersonal interactions as well.

Social dealings significantly affect mind-born thoughts and emotions.

Picture a warm reunion with a close friend, evoking feelings of happiness and excitement. Contrast this with a disagreement with a colleague that triggers anger or disappointment. These emotional responses, whether positive or negative, shape our experiences. Sometimes, we find ourselves riding the waves of happiness, and at other times, we navigate through the currents of sadness.

Our minds are like curators, collecting memories from various sensory encounters and interpersonal interactions. When we deal with people who are toxic in their mentality, exploitative, abusive and selfish, our minds get exhausted and disgusted. Our overall well-being may also get affected. In such cases, we need to take appropriate action instead of just tolerating things silently. And that’s what Lord Krishna taught Arjuna, who wanted to avoid war with his own relatives. Lord Krishna told him that whoever is on the path of unrighteousness must be punished, despite the family connections.

But some people are not that cruel, but a bit annoying. They may not cause serious harm like Duryodhana did to the Pandavas, but irritate with their unwitty and unreasonable working styles and speaking ways. Be it a demanding senior at the workplace, a stubborn sibling at home, a possessive friend, a talkative work partner or an overly emotional family member, sometimes we get troubled by such unavoidable connections. Although they are good in various ways, some facet of their personality is incompatible with our personalities or priorities in life.

This is where the art of withdrawal comes to our rescue, and the tortoise acts as our role model.

 

Following the Tortoise

Whether they are sensory allurements, mental distractions, or unreasonable relations, the art of withdrawal can help us more than we think it can. Whenever we are tempted by distractions through external objects or internal recollection, a developed intelligence inspires us to pull our mind away from temptations. Thus, we win over temptations even before they can attack us.

If we attempt to withdraw our senses from harmful sense objects, and indulge them only in beneficial ones, we can save ourselves from the pain of sensual distractions. This helps maintain a harmonious balance between indulgence and well-being. Since the senses are one type of inlet through which our minds become loaded with unlimited thoughts and cravings, we need to be careful and picky about what we expose our senses to.

Much like the discerning choices we make in nourishing our bodies, a similar mindfulness should govern the nourishment of our minds. Consequently, we must judiciously regulate what we see, consume, hear, smell and touch. This intentional sense control becomes the linchpin for mastering the mind, as encapsulated in the adage, ‘Out of sight, out of mind!’ Indeed, the governance of the senses paves the way for the governance of the mind.

Sense control leads to mind control.

Coming to the case of incompatible relationships, tolerance, patience and forgiveness are some cool tools to deal with such people. But sometimes, we need to use the tool of withdrawal at least for a while, especially when their natures distract us from our priorities.

For instance, if your nature is to be quiet and soft-spoken, you may feel uncomfortable with a man who is talkative, loud and often gets overexcited. That person may not be inherently bad, but is just incompatible with your mood. Let’s say, if he starts an excited conversation in your presence which you are not interested in, you may excuse yourself to go and focus on your work peacefully.

You may not attempt to stop him, but you shouldn’t stop your work! He will surely find someone who is compatible with his nature. You may not hate that person, but for you to focus on your priorities, you need to maintain a respectful distance from that person, and respect him from a distance, instead of being disrespectful to him by coming close.

We need to respect everyone, but we cannot be close to everyone. If coming close to certain people makes us annoyed, disrespectful and fills our minds with negativity, distancing ourselves would be a better option.

Milk is good and a nourishing food, and so is a lemon. But you know what happens when we mix the two. We’re better off keeping them separate. The same is exactly the case with people. Respectful distance avoids unnecessary friction between people. Drawing reasonable boundaries, giving space to people and taking the space that you need keeps relationships dignified and sensible. These sensual and internal personal interactions oftentimes distract our minds from what truly matters to us.

This is a chapter from the book From Chaos to Calm written by Gauranga Darsana Dasa, published by Penguin Ananda in July 2024.

 

Gauranga Darsana Dasa (www.gaurangadarshan.com), a disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami, is the dean of Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha at ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village, outside Mumbai, and a member of ISKCON Board of Examinations. He is a sastric teacher and is the author of Gita Subodhini, Bhagavata Subodhini, Caitanya Subodhini, Disapproved but Not Disowned, Bhagavata Pravaha, and other books.