Tongue, friend or enemy

In our previous topic we saw how anger takes over our intelligence when we become victims of this very dangerous emotion. One of our senses which does the work of a job aid in worsening our anger is our tongue because it can make an already precarious situation better or worse. In fact, tongue has been stated as one of the most difficult senses to control in the following verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam:

Verse 11.8.21

tāvaj jitendriyo na syād

vijitānyendriyaḥ pumān

na jayed rasanaḿ yāvaj

jitaḿ sarvaḿ jite rase

Translation

Although one may conquer all of the other senses, as long as the tongue is not conquered it cannot be said that one has controlled his senses. However, if one is able to control the tongue, then one is understood to be in full control of all the senses.

Our tongue has 2 functions-taste and speech. We will take a look at them one by one again by referring to Krishna’s rule book.

Let us look at speech first as I believe that this makes or breaks any relationship, creates or sorts a problem and, is a very important underlying factor for success or failure.

According to Krishna austerity of speech has five components. Here is the verse from the Bhagavad Gita:

Verse 17.15

anudvega-karaḿ vākyaḿ

satyaḿ priya-hitaḿ ca yat

svādhyāyābhyasanaḿ caiva

vāń-mayaḿ tapa ucyate

Translation

Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature.

Each of these 5 must be practiced individually yet simultaneously, well at least the first 4 of them.   Krishna has demonstrated its application throughout the Bhagavad Gita

Satyam/Truth –Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of ISKCON, explains that truthfulness is presenting facts as they are, for the benefit of others. Facts should not be misrepresented. According to social conventions, it is said that one can speak the truth only when it is palatable to others. But that is not truthfulness. The truth should be spoken in a straightforward way, so that others will understand actually what the facts are. Although sometimes the truth is unpalatable, one should not refrain from speaking it. Truthfulness demands that the facts be presented as they are for the benefit of others. That is the definition of truth.

Anudvega karam/non agitating - Krishna has spoken the Absolute truth throughout the Gita. Even though some of the teachings were not exactly what Arjuna might have wanted to hear as they were quite contrary  to Arjuna’s views, Krishna still gave the true knowledge to Arjuna and did not deviate from the truth. One of the interesting things we must take note of here is that at certain times Krishna was quite assertive and firm when Arjuna raised certain doubts.

Priyam/Pleasing – It is noticeable throughout the Gita that even during giving instructions to Arjuna on matters he was not very comfortable with, Krishna has maintained a pleasing demeanour which is of course one of HIS qualities. We have to remember that Arjuna did not want to fight the war, and Krishna through his instructions had to explain the Supreme Truth to Arjuna and the reasons why he must fight the war. In this material world this can be a very challenging situation for all of us. We often have to convince a friend or family to do something that they do not want to do and which we know is the right thing for them to do. We can follow Krishna on how this can be done.   

Hitam/Beneficial- Krishna has spoken only that which will be beneficial to his devotee and friend Arjuna and of course all of us. Krishna is the only true friend of all the living entities as can be seen in verse 5.29 of the Bhagavad Gita – ‘Suhrdam sarva bhutanam’. A true friend is one who will speak nothing but the truth which will be beneficial to his friend and Krishna has shown us how this can be achieved. Now that clearly takes GOSSIP out of the agenda!!

Svadhyaya abhyasanam - This includes doing our Nitya karma and chanting our vedic literature. This helps to keep our senses under control and discipline our mind.

So we don’t have to look far to learn various aspects of austerity of speech. We only have to turn to Krishna who has shown how we can practice it by being an example himself and just as Lord Chaitanya said –one way to cleanse our tongue is to cleanse our within by chanting the Lord’s Holy name as we have no other go other than this ultimate option in this Kali yuga. This is also confirmed in the following verse from the Brhan Naradiya Purana.

harer nama harer nama

harer namaiva kevalam

kalau nasty eva nasty eva

nasty eva gatir anyatha

P.S: For specific verses on where these qualities have been demonstrated by the Lord, feel free to drop me a line or even better still read the Bhagavad Gita as it is published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust(BBT) to learn more on how you can do it.

Hare Krishna