Just as there are plenty of opportunities for dirt and impurities to settle down on objects and beings, one’s physical and mental faculties are also liable to get soiled. While it is natural and possible to remove external dirt regularly to a certain extent, it is all the more necessary to try and get rid of the inner dirt accumulated in the mind, pointed out Velukkudi Sri Krishnan in a discourse. Ultimately, the purity of mind is essential as this influences thought, word and deed, and is reflected as one’s moral fibre, temperament, personality and character. The mind is known as anta-karana, that is, it is an internal instrument, while the karmendriyas and jnanendriyas are the external instruments and are known as ‘bahya’ karana.
A human being is able to think, perceive, sense, reason out and act because of the mind that functions in coordination with buddhi, chitta, and ego sense or ahamkara. By nature, the mind is drawn to sense objects; the buddhi or intellect is the determining force for decision-making, while the ahamkara is what identifies with the self. The mind communicates the message from buddhi to the sense organs. Normally, there is a gap between thought, speech and action. Since the thought is the starting point from which one’s speech or feelings follow as actions, much care is to be taken about the good or bad nature of the thoughts. How is one to distinguish between right and wrong? That which is beneficial to the body and mind is to be taken as right; and that which is harmful is wrong. Even as habits get set in people, certain ways of thinking also get ingrained in the mind owing to upbringing and environment. So, having a self-check on one’s habits and behaviour, as well as the thoughts arising in the mind, has to be an ongoing process.