Down-pulling Tendencies in Bhakti
1. Sense Pleasure
The jīva is pulled toward taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell as if fulfillment lies there. Each contact promises relief or excitement, but ends in saturation and further craving.
Bhagavad-gītā 2.60–63
The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.
One who restrains his senses and fixes his consciousness upon Me, however, is known as a man of steady intelligence.
While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.
From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.12
My dear Uddhava, one who has fixed his consciousness on Me should give up all material desires, which are based on sense gratification and are a cause of suffering.
2. Sexual Attraction
Sexual energy is the strongest downward pull in the material field. It convinces the jīva that completion lies in union with another body rather than service to the Supreme Person.
Bhagavad-gītā 3.37–39
It is lust only, Arjuna, born of contact with the mode of passion and later transformed into wrath. This lust is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.
As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, so the living entity is covered by different degrees of this lust.
Thus the wise living entity’s pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.8
Sex life is compared to the rubbing of two hands to relieve an itch. Gṛhasthas who have sex life enjoy a little pleasure, but at the end they suffer.
3. Comfort and Ease
The jīva is drawn to minimize effort and maximize bodily comfort. This dulls alertness and replaces purposeful living with maintenance and avoidance.
Bhagavad-gītā 6.16–17
There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.
He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.8–9
One who is too attached to material life becomes attached to family life and family members. In this way he becomes entangled in the bodily concept of life. Because of this entanglement, he loses his spiritual intelligence and becomes completely blind to his actual self-interest.
What person who is excessively attached to household life, being unable to control his senses, can liberate himself? An attached householder is bound very strongly by ropes of affection for his family.
4. Emotional Validation
Being seen, affirmed, and needed becomes a substitute for being known by the Lord. The jīva becomes dependent on emotional feedback instead of inner alignment.
Bhagavad-gītā 2.44
In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.28.15
Lamentation, elation, fear, anger, greed, confusion and hankering, as well as birth and death, are experiences of the false ego and not of the pure soul.
5. Power and Control
The sense of directing outcomes creates the illusion of safety and worth. Control becomes addictive because it temporarily masks dependence.
Bhagavad-gītā 16.13–15
The demoniac person thinks: “So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more.”
“I am the lord of everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy.”
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.37
Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When he turns away from this illusory energy and fixes his consciousness on the Supreme Lord, he becomes free from fear.
6. Identity Through Role
Titles, functions, and social roles offer a ready-made self-definition. The jīva clings to them to avoid facing the emptiness of forgotten svarūpa.
Bhagavad-gītā 5.8–9
A person in divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.10.10
Material existence occurs when the living entity falsely accepts the qualities of the gross and subtle bodies as being his own factual nature.
7. Possession and Ownership
Accumulating and protecting “mine” gives a sense of continuity across time. Ownership promises permanence in a realm defined by loss.
Bhagavad-gītā 2.71
A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego—he alone can attain real peace.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.8
The attraction between male and female is the basic principle of material existence. On the basis of this misconception, which ties together the hearts of the male and female, one becomes attracted to his body, home, property, children, relatives and wealth. In this way one increases life’s illusions and thinks in terms of “I and mine.”
8. Achievement and Recognition
Success feeds the false ego with proof of existence and value. The jīva becomes addicted to results instead of sincerity of intention.
Bhagavad-gītā 12.15
He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.26.27
My devotees fix their minds on Me and do not depend upon anything material. They are always peaceful, endowed with equal vision, and free from possessiveness, false ego, duality and greed.
9. Mental Stimulation and Novelty
Endless input—news, ideas, entertainment—keeps the mind occupied. Constant stimulation prevents silence, where remembrance would naturally arise.
Bhagavad-gītā 6.34
For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.23.47
All the senses have been under the control of the mind since time immemorial, and the mind himself never comes under the sway of any other. He is stronger than the strongest, and his godlike power is fearsome. Therefore, anyone who can bring the mind under control becomes the master of all the senses.
10. Fantasy and Inner Narratives
The jīva retreats into imagined futures or reworked pasts. These inner worlds feel meaningful while quietly draining presence and responsibility.
Bhagavad-gītā 18.58
If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace.
Amṛtabindu Upaniṣad 2
The mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation for human beings. Attachment to sense objects leads to bondage; freedom from sense objects leads to liberation.
11. Moral Superiority
Feeling “better than others” replaces genuine humility. The jīva gains self-worth through comparison rather than surrender.
Bhagavad-gītā 13.8
Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity—these I declare to be knowledge.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.11.29
A saintly person is merciful and never injures others. Even if others are aggressive he is tolerant and forgiving toward all living entities.
12. Victim Identity
Suffering becomes a badge that explains everything and excuses inaction. The jīva gains emotional protection at the cost of freedom.
Bhagavad-gītā 2.11
While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.28.15
Lamentation, elation, fear, anger, greed, confusion and hankering, as well as birth and death, are experiences of the false ego and not of the pure soul.
13. Belonging Without Purpose
Group identity provides warmth and safety. Without shared service to the Lord, it slowly replaces conscience and personal responsibility.
Bhagavad-gītā 3.21
Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.31
As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, so people who are attached to materialistic life, led by similarly attached leaders, are bound by the ropes of material nature.
14. Pseudo-Spiritual Pleasure
Subtle experiences, insights, or calm states become objects of enjoyment. The jīva enjoys spirituality instead of offering himself.
Bhagavad-gītā 7.20
Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.14
One who has fixed his consciousness on Me desires neither the position or abode of Lord Brahmā or Lord Indra, nor an empire on the earth, nor sovereignty in the lower planetary systems, nor the eightfold perfection of yoga, nor even liberation from birth and death. Such a person desires Me alone.
15. Fear of Letting Go
Attachment persists because surrender feels like annihilation. The jīva clings downward rather than risk standing exposed before the Lord.
Bhagavad-gītā 18.66
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.20.9
As long as one is not disgusted with material enjoyment and has not developed faith in hearing and chanting about Me, one must continue wandering in this world.