Mind should be kept off of temptations

Mind should be kept off of temptations.

There have been occasions when Saints-symbols of purity, austerity and piety-have given expression to their any wish and cringing before their personal duties to condone their ‘mistakes’. Does it mean that they have really indulged in sinful acts, if so will not they that lose their credibility? Far from it such agonizing out pouring reflects the situation as prevailed then and also serves as a warning to others not to be misguided by unscrupulous elements.

Even Adi Sankara (आदि शंकर) composed such a “self Critical” hymns called Aparad Kshamapanm अपराध क्षमापनं though by no stretch of imagination can be declared guilty of any misdeed. In the same strain, Saint Tyagaraja (संत त्यागराज) has regretted that he had wasted his time chasing illusory pleasures and had not taken steps to get freed from worldly shackles. On the contrary, he was steeped in devotion and when the question of family partition cropped up, he preferred to retain lord Rama’s idol with him. He says that God has provided number of steps to help an aspirant get his dream fulfilled. Most important among them is to keep the mind uninfluenced by temptations, for this, the traditional singing of the praise of God Bhajan (भजन ) is an effective method. There is no need for ostentation’s display. A “Conditioned mind” needs no “Mantra or Tantra.” (तंत्र). There is no purpose in an unscrupulous man taking a dip in the holy waters of Ganga (गंगा) or Cauvery (कावेरी ) believing that it would wipe out his sins, the saints has declared in a song which pinpoints that the senses should be kept under check.