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III. Śamādisādhanasampattiḥ or the sixfold inner wealth
शमादिसाधनसम्पत्तिः का ?
शमो दम उपरमस्तितिक्षा श्रद्धा समाधानं च इति ।
śamādisādhanasampattiḥ kā ?
śamo dama uparamastitikṣā śraddhā samādhānaṃ ca iti
This verse refers to the sixfold inner wealth for a seeker, symbolized by Goddess Lakṣmī. Without these qualities, realization of the truth becomes extremely difficult. Each of these six qualities is taken up in detail in the following verses.
III a. Śamaḥ or control of the mind
शमः कः ?
मनोनिग्रहः ।
samaḥ kah? mano nigrahaḥ
The first of the sixfold inner wealth qualities of a seeker is śamaḥ, which refers to control or mastery of the mind. The mind comprises two aspects:
- Sensory experiences, things we consume or take in: sights, sounds, tastes, smells and touch.
- Vāsanās or impressions created through taking in something again and again, e.g. a song that we have heard several times.
The mind can be controlled by three kinds of techniques:
- Abhyāsa or repeated practice: any constant spiritual practice like meditation or japa
- Vairāgya or dispassion: a firm conviction that happiness lies within. Both these techniques were taught by Shri Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gītā and help us to moderate our sensory intake. By having a firm conviction that the outer world doesn’t fulfill us or give us permanent happiness, the mind turns inwards and hence, is easier to master.
- Introspection/self analysis to reveal and understand where our mind naturally goes to, where it dwells, so that we can pinpoint the things that disturb our mind and stay away from them. This helps us understand our vāsanās or impressions.
III b. Damaḥ or control of the senses
दमः कः ?
चक्षुरादिबाह्येन्द्रियनिग्रहः ।
damaḥ kah? cakṣurādibāhyendriyanigrahaḥ
The second of the sixfold inner wealth qualities of a seeker is damaḥ, which refers to control or mastery of the senses. Since the mind can be difficult to handle, one way to control the mind is to control the senses. For example, when anger fills our mind, we can control our speech, and not say something that we may regret later. Control of the senses is especially important in today’s day and age where we are inundated with stimuli from social media.
We can control our senses by being very selective about the kind of sense objects we engage with, and assess whether they are helping us evolve. We can also control our senses by practicing moderation in consuming sense objects such as movies and music.
Three practical techniques of achieving these goals are:
- Develop a daily routine to limit the amount of sense engagement and stick to it.
- Take a simple vow and implement it for a week and try your best to adhere to it, then slowly take on more challenging vows.
- Discipline our indiscipline by putting bounds or limits over the timeframe that we want to be indisciplined, and then quickly get back into discipline.