Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

Ideal Government in the Vålm⁄ki RåmåyaÔApramattash cha yo rājā sarvagyo vijitendriyaԝkԆitagyo dharmashīlash cha sa rājā tishthate chiram(Araԗya Kāԗd, 33.20)The king who is undeluded, who knows Totality, whosesenses are controlled, and who acts in accord with NaturalLaw, rules for a long time.“Undeluded” (a[pm_; apramatta) refers to the ability to think clearly,and clear thinking in its most profound sense is the ability to thinkfully in accord with natural law; “all knowing” (svRD sarvagya) pertainsto one who knows Totality, Brahm, certainly fulfilling therequirement of foresight as well as insight. The expression “one whosesenses are controlled” (ivijteiN:y vijitendriya) describes an individualfully established in the Self. In his commentary on the Bhagavad-Gītā,Maharishi (1969) notes that the senses are always under the commandof the mind—the eyes will see only if and when an individual wishesto see—but that “having the senses under control” has a deeper sense:With the infusion of Being into the mind, the senses of perception,while engaged in the process of experiencing, do not register deepimpressions of experiences. The impressions they receive are just sufficientto enable them to experience, but are not deep enough to formthe seed of future desires. (p. 341)As an individual continues to establish the awareness in self-referralconsciousness, the tendency for the infinite value of pure Being to belost in favor of sensory experience significantly diminishes:A real conquest is that where the enemy ceases to be an enemy; he is leftfree to do as he likes, but is not in a position to attack or do any harm.The conquest of the senses is so fully accomplished through the masteryof the Self that the senses are left free to function and, notwithstandingall the experiences of the relative field, life is firmly established in theeternal freedom of divine consciousness. (p. 341)Thus jitendriya, or vijitendriya, in its most profound sense refers toone who is fully established in higher states of consciousness.Sītā also remarked upon the need for a king to live in higher states ofconsciousness. In a conversation with Rāvaṇ she noted the following:167