Category Archives: kaamaha

Bhagavad Gita Verse 5, Chapter 17

25 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by in 17.5, ahankaaraha, ashaastravihitam, balaanvitaahaa, chapter 17 verse 5, dambhaha, ghoram, janaahaa, kaamaha, raagaha, samyuktaahaa, tapaha, tapyante

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ashaastravihitam ghoram tapyante ye tapo janaahaa |
dambhaahankaarasamyuktaahaa kaamaraagabalaanvitaahaa || 5 ||
 
Those people who perform horrible austerities that are shunned by laws of scripture, entrenched in ostentation and pride, possessed with the force of desire and attachment.
 
ashaastravihitam : shunned by laws of scripture
ghoram : horrible
tapyante : perform
ye : those who
tapaha : austerities
janaahaa : people
dambhaha : ostentation
ahankaaraha : pride
samyuktaahaa : entrenched
kaamaha : desire
raagaha : attachment
balaanvitaahaa : possessed with force
 
Let us imagine that you are attending a class on basic electronic circuits. It is your first day in the electronics lab. If you have a good teacher, chances are that they will not start day one of the class with the topic of electronics itself. They will probably talk about the dos and donts of handling electronics equipment. This is because they have your safety and the safety of other students in mind. Shri Krishna, teacher extraordinaire, uses this shloka and next to give us a warning before delving into the topic of analyzing the texture of our faith.
 
This warning is very simple. Any time we see people abuse and torture themselves or others in the name of devotion, physically or mentally, we need to stay away from such people. Or, in the rare chance that we have been misguided by someone to do such things, we should immediately stop. Such torture could be something as basic as denying oneself food and water to the detriment of one’s health, or could be as terrible as poking and prodding oneself with pins and needles. None of this is sanctioned by any scripture.
 
So why would someone perform such painful austerities? Shri Krishna says many of these people have some misguided pride about some body-oriented feat such as walking on hot charcoals. They want to put on a show so that they can satisfy the urge of ostentation, to show off their feats. Some others become so attached a worldly goal that they take on vows of incessant fasting without taking their health into consideration. Broadly speaking, such people do not gain their result, and end up harming themselves and others around them.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 21, Chapter 16

16 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in 16.21, aatmanaha, chapter 16 verse 21, dvaaram, idam, kaamaha, krodhaha, lobhaha, naashanam, narakasya, tasmaat, trayam, trividham, tyajet

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trividham narakasyedam dvaaram naashanamaatmanaha |
kaamaha krodhastathaa lobhastasmaadetattrayam tyajet || 21 ||
 
Three gates of hell cause one’s destruction, desire, anger and greed. Therefore, give up these three.
 
trividham : three
narakasya : hell
idam : these
dvaaram : gates
naashanam : destructive
aatmanaha : oneself
kaamaha : desire
krodhaha : anger
tathaa : and
lobhaha : greed
tasmaat : therefore
etat : these
trayam : three
tyajet : give up
 
Like a good teacher, Shri Krishna summarizes the entire chapter comprising the rather lengthy list of devilish qualities into three main ones: desire, anger and greed. He says that we always need to watch out for these three qualities in our daily lives, and minimize them as much as possible. He calls them gateways into hell, because they lead to the path of destruction rather than the path of liberation. Even the order of these three is important, because both anger and greed follow desire.
 
The second chapter explained how kaama or desire comes into our lives. Dhyavato vishayaan, by constantly thinking of an object (or a person or a situation), we develop an association with it. If carried on for long, this association results in a desire to procure that object. If anyone or anything comes between us and the object, we develop anger. And once we have the object, once our desire is fulfilled, we want more of the object. This results in greed.
 
So then, how do we tackle these three gates of hell? Let us first look at kaama or desire. If desire develops through contemplation of objects, we can reduce desire to a certain extent by keeping a watch on what we expose our mind to. For example, we can go to the mall with a shopping list rather than wander around shops that we don’t need anything from. But the root of desire is the labelling of objects as desirable by our mind. This labelling or superimposition is known as “shobhana adhyaasa”. It is why the same dress looks desirable to one person and irrelevant to another, since objects by themselves are not desirable. Controlling and convincing the mind through study of scriptures and meditation helps to reduce this labelling.
 
Desire is somewhat easy to control, but once we are in the grip of anger, it becomes somewhat difficult to do so. At least we do not publicly display our desires, but we do not hesitate to show our anger publicly. We require tremendous control over our mind in order to release ourselves from the grip of anger. It is therefore better to focus on rooting out unnecessary desires than to confront anger directly.
 
Lastly, lobha or greed can be kept in check through charity. Anytime we start feeling pride over our wealth or possessions, we should immediately donate a portion of our wealth or possessions. How exactly we should do so is covered in the next chapter.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 11, Chapter 7

07 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in 7.11, aham, asmi, aviruddhaha, baalvataam, balam, bharatarshabha, bhooteshu, cha, chapter 7 verse 11, dharma, kaama, kaamaha, raaga, vivarjitam

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balam baalvataam chaaham kaamaraagaavivarjitam |
dharmaaviruddho bhooteshu kaamosmi bharatarshabha || 11 ||
 
I am strength in the strong that is free from desire and attachment, and I am desire in beings that is consistent with duty, O scion of the Bharataas.
 
balam : strength
baalvataam : in the strong
cha : and
aham : I am
kaama : desire
raaga : attachment
vivarjitam : free from
dharma : duty
aviruddhaha : consistent with
bhooteshu : beings
kaamaha : desire
asmi : I am
bharatarshabha : O scion of the Bharatas
 
Shri Krishna further adds to the list of Ishvara’s vibhootis in this shloka. He says that Ishvara is the strength that is free of selfishness and attachment, and the desire that is selfless.
 
What exactly are desire and attachment? Desire is craving for something that we do not have, and attachment is holding on to something that we already have. Selfish actions generate attachment which binds us to the material world. The more selfishly we act, the further we move away from Ishvara acting through us. Only when we act selflessly does Ishvara act through us. Shri Krishna says that Ishvara is that desire which is not selfish, or which is consistent with one’s duty.
 
Now, when we begin to act in a selfless manner, we develop an inner strength. Conversely, whenever we act out of selfish desire and attachment, we become weak. In the Mahabharata, the Pandavaas knew that they could not target Drona directly because he was too powerful. Instead, they targeted someone whom he was deeply attached to – his son Ashwaththaamaa. The more we turn towards Ishvara, the less we get attached to people and worldly objects.
 
It is our choice whether we act selfishly for our personal gains, or selflessly with a view to benefit a higher ideal. Any action that harmonizes or integrates brings with it the power of the entire universe. Therefore, Shri Krishna says that he is the strength that is free from selfish desire and attachment.
 
Shri Krishna concludes the topic of his vibhootis with this shloka. A much more in-depth discussion on this topic is found in chapter ten of the Gita.
 

Bhagavad Gita Verse 62-63, Chapter 2

29 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.62, 2.63, abhijaayate, attachment, bhavati, chapter 2 verse 62-63, dhyayataha, kaamaat.krodhah, kaamaha, krodhaat, pumsaha, sammohaat, sammohah, sangaat, sangah, sanjaayate, teshu, upajaayate, vishayaan

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dhyayato vishayaanpumsaha sangasteshoopajaayate |
sangaatsanjaayate kaamaha kaamaatkrodhobhijaayate || 62 ||

krodhaadbhavati sammohah sammohaatsmritivibhramaha |
smritibhramshaad buddhinaasho buddhinaashaatpranashyati || 63 ||

When a man constantly thinks about objects, attachment for those objects arises. From attachment is born desire, and from desire is born anger.

From anger comes delusion, from delusion comes loss of memory, from loss of memory comes destruction of intellect, and once the intellect is destroyed, he perishes.

dhyayataha : thinking
vishayaan : objects
pumsaha : individual
sangah : attachment
teshu : to those
upajaayate : is born
sangaat : from attachment
sanjaayate : is born
kaamaha : desire
kaamaat : from desire
krodhah : anger
abhijaayate : is born

krodhaat : when anger arises
bhavati : happens
sammohah : delusion
sammohaat : from delusion
smritivibhramaha : loss of memory
smritibhramshaad : from loss of memory
buddhinaasho : destruction of intellect
buddhinaashaat : from destruction of intellect
pranashyati : he perishes

Earlier, Shri Krishna touched upon the topic of continually thinking about material objects when we do not contact them physically. In this shloka, he goes into great detail as to why it is to be avoided. These two shlokas are sometimes referred to as the “ladder of fall”. They illustrate how one simple thought can lead to the downfall of an individual. 

Here is the entire sequence of events as mentioned in the 2 shlokas:

Constant thinking of material objects -> attachment -> desire -> anger -> delusion -> loss of memory -> destruction of intellect -> individual perishes.

Let’s first examine the sequence of events from constant thinking all the way upto desire using the Ipod example from earlier :
A person has thoughts about ipod on sale -> gets attached to that ipod deal -> desire to buy ipod on sale is created.

Now, at this point, he has purchased the Ipod and is extremely attached to it. Even without going forward in the sequence, we can see that the material desire to procure an Ipod has taken the person away from performing his svadharma. His equanimity has already been disturbed. He is dragged back into the material world, and has taken one step backwards from moksha or freedom.

Let’s move forward in the sequence:
Ipod breaks down -> he is angry that it has broken down -> he completely loses his equanimity -> takes anger out on his wife -> family environment is agitated.

Here, not only has he completely lost his equanimity, but has also caused pain to other members of his family. So the message here is that constant pondering and thinking about objects eventually leads to moving away from equanimity, hence it is to be avoided, or at least minimized to the extent possible.

An interesting point seen here is around anger. Per the shlokas, anger is caused when one’s desire gets obstructed. Also, attachment to a concept such as one’s job title or position causes continual waves of thought, anger and delusion, in other words, stress.  Therefore, these shlokas provide an ancient but relevant analysis of anger and stress.