Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad Gita G 6.6,
bandhur ātmātmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ
anātmanas tu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatru-vat

For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.

At our present stage, we can write it on bond paper: Our minds are not very much controlled, or rather, they are highly uncontrolled.

A highly uncontrolled mind becomes a reservoir of plan-making, of selfish desires, independent plan making, and rebellion against authority.

Kali-yuga: The Age of Rejection and Rebellion

Interestingly, Kali-yuga, by its very definition means the age of rebellion and rejecting authority.

In Kali-yuga, students want to reject their teachers, children want to reject their parents and disciples want to reject their gurus. In such an atmosphere, because people no longer accept any higher authority, they end up accepting only one authority, which is their own mind.

In today’s day and age, we have bullet-proof cars and jackets, winter-proof clothes, and rain-proof coats. This is all good.

But what about a advice-proof mind? A mind that rejects all advice even before it falls on one’s ears? A mind that rebels against any and every authority? It is extremely dangerous to possess such a mind.

Therefore, one thing we must be extremely cautious about in spiritual life is we must NOT make our mind advice-proof. If we do, we’ll end up becoming the servants of Kali personified and lose our spiritual lives.

Let us explore a few examples:

THE ADVICE-PROOF MIND:

Rāvaṇa had made his mind advice-proof. So many advised him to return Sītā – His wife Māndodarī, his brothers Vibhīṣaṇa and even Kumbhakarṇa, but he remained unfazed. And in the process of making his mind advice-proof, he dug his own grave.

Duryodhana also belonged to the same category. He tried to even capture Krishna. His rebellion and rejection led him to dig his own grave. Not only his own, but he was the sole cause due to which countless people lost their lives in the fratricidal war of Kurukshetra.

THE LESSER ADVICE-PROOF MINDS:

Priyavrata Mahārāja is an example.

Initially desiring to remain a brahmacārī, he was following the direction of Nārada Muni. But when Lord Brahmā requested him to take up family life and rule the world, he hesitated. He was a bit obstinate as well. But, he hadn’t allowed his mind to become fully advice-proof. And therefore, he could also listen to Brahma and accept his instruction. Finally, he performed wonderful activities in this world, and at the end of his life, he remembered the Supreme Lord and went back to Godhead.

Dhruva Mahārāja is yet another example.
When he was insulted by his stepmother, Nārada Muni advised him to go back home and not take the insult seriously. But Dhruva’s heart wasn’t ready to accept that advice at the time.

Still, Dhruva did not reject all advice. He later accepted the spiritual instructions of Nārada, worshiped Lord Viṣṇu, and became a perfected devotee.

He initially resisted, but he wasn’t entirely advice-proof.

THE FULLY OPEN MINDS:

We have so many examples in the Srimad Bhagavatam who had fully open minds! Prahlada, Prthu, Narada, Citraketu to name a few. They fully obeyed the superiors, and allowed all advice to seep in – not only through their ears, but also through their hearts. As a result, they not only obtained blessings from their superiors, but they perfectly pleased the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

THE PRODIGAL SON’S Journey

The Bible tells the story of the prodigal son. There was once a young boy who demanded his share of his father’s wealth.

His father told him, “My dear son, everything I have is already yours.” But the son had made his mind advice-proof. His father reluctantly gave him his share.

The boy left home, squandered all his wealth in gambling and merrymaking, and ended up with nothing. He survived by eating food meant for pigs.

Why did he fall so low? Because he refused to accept his father’s advice.

Eventually, he came to his senses, returned home, and was lovingly accepted by his father.

DO NOT BECOME PRODIGAL SON ONCE AGAIN!

We too are like that prodigal son. We rejected the advice of Kṛṣṇa and came to this material world.

In Bhagavad-gītā 7.27, Kṛṣṇa says:
icchā-dveṣa-samutthena dvandva-mohena bhārata
 – “All living beings are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arising from desire and hate.”

Because of this duality, we are now wandering in the desert of material life.

But by Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy and the association of devotees, we have come to the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We accepted the advice of devotees and began our spiritual journey.

But we must remember that if we again reject spiritual authority, act independently, and make our minds advice-proof, we may remain in Kṛṣṇa consciousness externally, but we will be lost internally.

We will once again become prodigal sons. And we will lose the precious opportunity to practice and perfect our Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Demons vs. Devotees: Whose Side Are We On?

The devotees have shown us the way. The path is simple. But we must be deeply convinced of this one fact: Even at the perfected stage, one cannot reject advice.

We must remain under the shelter of devotees. We must not make our minds advice-proof.

Interestingly, all the examples of those who made their minds fully advice-proof were demons.

So we must decide: Do we want to be counted among the devotees, or among the demons?