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THE METHOD AND THE MEANS.
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to be attended to. To restrain the Indriyas (organs from going towards the objects of the senses, to control them and bring them under the guidance of the will, is the very central virtue in religious culture.
Then comes the practice of self-restraint and self-denial. All the immense possibilities of divine realisation in the soul, cannot get actualised without struggle and without practice of these qualities, on the part of the aspiring devotee. The mind must always think of the Lord. It is very hard at first to compel the mind to think of the Lord always, but with every new effort the power to do so grows stronger in us. “By practice, Oh son of Kunti, and by non-attachment is the control of mind attained," * says Sri Krishna in the Gita.
The devotee therefore shall cultivate all these qualities which are essential to attain * अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येन च गृह्यते ।
( Gita, Ch. VI—35).