Of All the Senses the Tongue Is the Most Voracious and Uncontrollable
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the foundation of spiritual advancement lies in sense control, beginning directly with the tongue. Because the tongue is relentlessly greedy, an aspiring Vaiṣṇava must be extremely cautious not to fall into the trap of voracious eating. By understanding the physical, spiritual, and karmic dangers of an uncontrolled appetite, one can appreciate the absolute necessity of practicing austerity and honoring only Kṛṣṇa prasādam.
Conquering the Most Difficult Sense
The desire to enjoy material food is deeply ingrained in the conditioned soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently quotes the previous ācāryas to emphasize that the tongue is our most formidable enemy. However, the Supreme Lord provides a joyous and practical method for conquering this voracious sense: engaging it entirely in chanting and tasting spiritual food.
- Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, "Somehow or other we have fallen into the ocean of material sense enjoyment, and of all the senses the tongue is the most voracious and uncontrollable."
- Of all the senses the tongue is the most voracious and difficult to control. It is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world; therefore Sri Krsna has given us this nice prasadam, spiritual food, to conquer the tongue.
- Of all the senses, the tongue is the most voracious and difficult to control, but it can be controlled simply by chanting Hare Krsna and tasting Krsna prasadam, food offered to Krsna.
- Due to his past sinful life he becomes attracted by Cupid and eats good food voraciously.
The Disease of Overindulgence
Material nature strictly regulates what the human body can handle. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that voracious eating directly sabotages a person's well-being, leading to modern physical diseases and severely hampering spiritual practices by inducing a heavy, lethargic state that requires excessive sleep.
- According to the opinion of experienced medical practitioners, diabetes is a result of voracious eating, and tuberculosis is a disease of undereating. We should desire neither to be diabetic nor to be tubercular.
- Eating is not prohibited, but if we eat voraciously we shall certainly sleep more than required. Sense gratification ensues, and we may be degraded to a lower life form. In that way our spiritual progress may be checked at least for the time being.
- So long life is there, eating must be there, sleeping must be there. But not that sleeping twenty, twenty-five hours, and sex as much as they like, and eating voraciously. In this way if we keep our civilization, it will never be happy.
- The voluntary suffering means what is our enjoyment? First of all let us see. The enjoyment is if we can eat voraciously, eating, and if we can sleep thirty hours, and if we have got sex life without any discrimination, and don't care for defense.
The Principle of Tapasya (Austerity)
Human life is meant for self-realization, which requires the deliberate restriction of bodily demands. Śrīla Prabhupāda establishes that an advanced Vaiṣṇava lives by the principle of tapasya—eating only what is absolutely necessary to maintain the body in working order, rather than eating to satisfy a voracious craving.
- Eating voraciously and unnecessarily is not the business of an Aryan. Rather, the eating process should be restricted as far as possible.
- Tapasya means denying all these things, denying. Eating as much as I require to maintain my body - this is tapasya, not that voraciously eating. Tapasya means practically not eating. That is tapasya: not eating.
- Eat whatever necessity, whatever you can . . . "One man's food, another man's poison." One man eats, say, so much voraciously; the another man cannot digest. If he imitates, "Oh, he is eating so much? I will also eat so much." No.
- The people must eat sumptuously - not voraciously and make them fit for working and chanting. In this way, they will be purified and everything will be nicely organized.
The Animalistic Mentality and its Consequences
When human beings abandon austerity and dedicate themselves to eating, they descend to the platform of animals. Śrīla Prabhupāda warns that this voracious, uncontrolled lifestyle breeds cruelty (such as animal slaughter) and ultimately leads to severe, terrifying karmic punishments in the next life.
- The members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness must take a lesson from the life of Bharata Maharaja to be very cautious and to see that not a single moment is wasted in frivolous talk, sleep or voracious eating.
- The personified Vedas continued, "A nondevotee's long duration of life is compared to the long existence of a tree, his voracious eating capacity is compared to the eating of dogs and hogs, and his enjoyment in sex life is compared to that of hogs and goats."
- Everyone is going to die, but they are so voracious, they do not wait up to the death, and they have theorized that - Dead animal is dangerous to health. Now kill while it is in life.
- After death such demons are put into the hell known as Sarameyadana. On that planet there are 720 dogs with teeth as strong as thunderbolts. Under the orders of the agents of Yamaraja, these dogs voraciously devour such sinful people.
Conclusion
In summary, Śrīla Prabhupāda's instructions regarding the voracious nature of the tongue are an urgent call to austerity. A sincere Vaiṣṇava recognizes that indulging the appetite is not harmless; it is the gateway to disease, lethargy, and a descent into animalistic consciousness. By understanding that the tongue is the most difficult sense to control, a devotee must actively restrict their eating, honoring only enough Kṛṣṇa prasādam to maintain the body for service. Through this diligent practice of tapasya, one escapes the horrific karmic reactions of sense gratification and keeps their spiritual consciousness bright, alert, and firmly fixed on the Supreme Lord.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Voracious. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.