BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:58

BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:58

yada samharate cayam
kurmo 'nganiva sarvasah
indriyanindriyarthebhyas
tasya prajna pratisthita

WORD FOR WORD

yada--when; samharate--winds up; ca--also; ayam--he; kurmah--tortoise;
angani--limbs; iva--like; sarvasah--altogether; indriyani--senses;
indriya-arthebhyah--from the sense objects; tasya--his;
prajna--consciousness; pratisthita--fixed.

TRANSLATION

One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the
tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect
consciousness.

PURPORT

The test of a yogi, devotee, or self-realized soul is that he is able
to control the senses according to his plan. Most people, however, are
servants of the senses and are thus directed by the dictation of the
senses. That is the answer to the question as to how the yogi is
situated. The senses are compared to venomous serpents. They want to
act very loosely and without restriction. The yogi, or the devotee,
must be very strong to control the serpents--like a snake charmer. He
never allows them to act independently. There are many injunctions in
the revealed scriptures; some of them are do-not's, and some of them
are do's. Unless one is able to follow the do's and the do-not's,
restricting oneself from sense enjoyment, it is not possible to be
firmly fixed in Krsna consciousness. The best example, set herein, is
the tortoise. The tortoise can at any moment wind up his senses and
exhibit them again at any time for particular purposes. Similarly, the
senses of the Krsna conscious persons are used only for some
particular purpose in the service of the Lord and are withdrawn
otherwise. Arjuna is being taught here to use his senses for the
service of the Lord, instead of for his own satisfaction. Keeping the
senses always in the service of the Lord is the example set by the
analogy of the tortoise, who keeps the senses within.

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with
permission.