The senses are like the black cobra

Expressions researched:
"Just like cobra" |"cobra, black cobra. So these indriyas are like that. Indriya means senses" |"senses are described as kala sarpa" |"the senses are like black cobra"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Sometimes these senses are described as kāla sarpa. Kāla sarpa means the black cobra. As soon as the cobra touches—immediately dead.

Lecture on SB 1.2.8 -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

We have invented so many nonsense things for simply satisfaction of the tongue. A vaiṣṇava kavi, Vaiṣṇava poet, ācārya, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he has wrote a song. That song we chant or sing during the time of taking prasādam. In that song he writes, śarīra abidyā-jāl joḍendriya tāhe kāl: "This body is an emblem of ignorance." Actually we get this material body due to our ignorance. By ignorance we commit so many wrong things, and you have obliged to accept a certain type of body. Therefore it is a network of ignorance. Śarīra abidyā-jāl joḍendriya tāhe kāl. In that network of ignorance there are different senses, joḍendriya tāhe kāl, gross material senses. They are just like our death. Sometimes these senses are described as kāla sarpa. Kāla sarpa means the black cobra. As soon as the cobra touches—immediately dead. Similarly, if we allow this kāla sarpa to act in their own way, that means we are inviting death at every moment. Therefore those who are too much bodily attached, for them this yoga system is controlling the senses, yoga indriya saṁyamaḥ. Yoga does not mean to increase the power of sense gratification. Yoga means controlling the senses.

So the Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said that this network of ignorance, where the senses are like black cobra, out of all those senses the tongue is the greatest black cobra.

Lecture on SB 1.2.8 -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

So the Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said that this network of ignorance, where the senses are like black cobra, out of all those senses the tongue is the greatest black cobra. Tā'ra madhye jihvā ati, lobhamoy sudurmati. The tongue, if you practice... Just for example, nobody learns smoking from the birth, but when he's habituated, then they are as chain smoker, one cigarette after another, one cigarette after..., you see. This is simply by bad association. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said that tā'ra madhye jihvā ati lobhamoy sudurmati. Because we have indulged this tongue to increase his greediness, therefore we see so much advertisement of liquor and cigarettes and so many, or teas and coffee. Simply it is practice. So as you have practice, by practice you have increased so-called demands of your body, you can decrease it also. Just like these boys. They were practiced to all these things, but since they have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by practicing they have given up everything. So anything artificial we may be habituated, but you can give it up. Therefore here it is said, kāmasya nendriya prītiḥ. You should not introduce sense gratification for maintaining your body. Your body can be maintained very nicely if you take simple food made of rice, wheat, vegetable, little ghee and little milk. That's all. And you can get all these things anywhere, in any part of the world, and you can offer to Kṛṣṇa.

The senses are very strong. They are compared with serpents. Durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. Kāla-sarpa. Just like cobra. Someway or other, it touches—immediately death.

Lecture on SB 2.9.4-8 -- Tokyo, April 23, 1972:

If you simply engage your senses to execute the order of the Lord, then it is controlled. Otherwise, you cannot control. It is impossible because we have got our senses—they are very strong. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). The mind is the master of the senses. The central sense, the chief sense, the prime minister sense is the mind. Therefore Mahārāja Ambarīṣa first of all engaged his mind in Kṛṣṇa. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ. If you engage your mind always to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then the sense deviation, sense going other, otherwise—immediately controlled. Immediately controlled. The senses are very strong. They are compared with serpents. Durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. Kāla-sarpa. Just like cobra. Someway or other, it touches—immediately death. So our senses are so strong that it is simply dragging us towards hell. Adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisram (SB 7.5.30). Mind is dragging somewhere, eye is dragging somewhere, ear is dragging somewhere, and touch sensation is dragging somewhere. In this way we are perplexed.

General Lectures

Our senses in this material world have been described as venomous serpents. Indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. Kāla-sarpa, cobra, black cobra. So these indriyas are like that. Indriya means senses. As soon as touches, immediately it makes him poisonous.

Town Hall Lecture -- Auckland, April 14, 1972:

So there are so many rules and regulations. Those who are interested in yoga, you will find in the authorized books, yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ: "The aim of yogic power, yogic success, is to control the senses." Our senses in this material world have been described as venomous serpents. Indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. Kāla-sarpa, cobra, black cobra. So these indriyas are like that. Indriya means senses. As soon as touches, immediately it makes him poisonous. And that is the cause of our material conditional life. The more we are indulging unrestrictedly in sense gratification, we are becoming more and more entangled.