Every one of us is unique. Our uniqueness is based on our own nature (svabhāva). This nature is what makes us think the way we do. Knowledge gives great happiness and fulfillment. But even with all the knowledge, it is not possible to walk the talk, as our nature is so powerful. That doesn’t mean we can’t tame it; it just requires extra effort because of its strength.
First, we must understand that the mind has its own inclinations (rāga). It also has disinclinations (dveṣa). These exist regardless of whether something is right or wrong. There is nothing wrong with having those inclinations or disinclinations. The problem is when we have inclinations for what is not conducive to growth and disinclinations for what is conducive to growth.
In the next verses, Śrī Kṛṣṇa guides Arjuna (us) on how to progress without letting our likes and dislikes overpower us.
Chapter 3, Verse 34
इन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे रागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ ।
तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत्तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ ॥३.३४॥
indriyasyendriyasyārthe rāgadveṣau vyavasthitau,
tayorna vaśamāgacchettau hyasya paripanthinau. (3.34)
3.34. The senses naturally experience attachment and aversion to the sense objects, but do not come under their sway, for they are foes.
It is the nature of the sense organs to have attachments and aversions to the sense objects. These are born from your own nature (svabhāva). Understanding this, you avoid falling under the sway of the senses. They are the looters in your life and give you sorrow.
As long as I have vāsanās (innate tendencies), I like things that align with my vāsanās. I dislike things that do not align with my vāsanās. Understanding this, when we are not overpowered by them and don’t come under their sway, we progress spiritually. For that, self-effort is required. Empower yourself with the knowledge of scriptures. Weaken the likes and dislikes. This way, they won’t drag you as they wish in random directions. With an alert and vigilant mind, we become stronger to conquer these senses.
Chapter 3, Verse 35
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥३.३५॥
śreyānsvadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmātsvanuṣṭhitāt,
svadharme nidhanaṃ śreyaḥ paradharmo bhayāvahaḥ. (3.35)
3.35. It is far better to perform one’s own duty, though devoid of merit than to perform another’s prescribed duty, though perfectly. In fact, better is death in the discharge of one’s duty, than to follow the path of another, which is fraught with fear.
Each of us has duties (svadharma) based on our innate tendencies. Even if we can’t perform our duties perfectly, it is better to do our own duty. It is preferable to do this rather than someone else’s duty.
Arjuna, a dynamic man of action, was ready to renounce everything without fighting the war (refer to chapter 1). It wasn’t because he was mentally ready to do so. Instead, it was because of his aversion to fighting with his kith and kin. His duty at this time is to fight based on his nature. He would be miserable if he renounced without sufficient preparation because his natural tendencies are suppressed and not sublimated. Thus, it is better to conquer the senses by doing your own duty. Do not perform duties that are not yours.
Don’t try to imitate anyone. Just live your life according to your own vāsanās. If you try to imitate, you will create new vāsanās. At the same time, you will suppress the ones you already have. This will make you very agitated. While doing your duty, do it with the feeling of surrender and reverence to the higher. Accept any results you may get from your actions happily. This will help conquer the sway the senses have on the mind.
Chapter 3, Verse 36
अर्जुन उवाच
अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः
अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजितः ॥३.३६॥
arjuna uvāca
atha kena prayukto’yaṃ pāpaṃ carati pūruṣaḥ,
anicchannapi vārṣṇeya balādiva niyojitaḥ. (3.36)
3.36. Arjuna said: Then, by what is a person impelled to commit sin against his wishes as if by force, O descendant of Vṛṣṇi (Kṛṣṇa)?
It is a sin if we do something for the immediate joy of satisfying the sense organs when we know it is wrong. The mind becomes very agitated when we do something contradictory to our own intellectual convictions. What is the power in us that compels us to do wrong actions even though we know it is wrong? Śrī Kṛṣṇa answers this question from Arjuna in the next verse.
Chapter 3, Verse 37
श्रीभगवानुवाच
काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भवः ।
महाशन महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् ॥३.३७॥
śrībhagavānuvāca
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajoguṇasamudbhavaḥ,
mahāśano mahāpāpmā viddhyenamiha vairiṇam. (3.37)
3.37. The Lord said: It is desire later transformed into anger, born of the ‘active’. Know this as the all-sinful, all-devouring enemy here.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa says that the force which compels everyone to act with extreme impatience contrary to our knowledge is lust or desire (kāma). This transforms into anger (krodha), which is uncontrollable when the desire is not fulfilled.
One’s discriminatory power goes to a toss irrespective of whether a desire is fulfilled or not. If a desire is fulfilled, you want more. It is like pouring oil into a fire. Desire can never be satisfied. As you satisfy one, there are several others waiting in the queue. If a desire is not fulfilled, you are angered, hurt, jealous, etc. So in either case desire makes the mind restless, unstable, and agitated.
Chapter 3, Verse 38
धूमेनाव्रियते वह्निर्यथादर्शो मलेन च ।
यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस्तथा तेनेदमावृतम् ॥३.३८॥
dhūmenāvriyate vahniryathādarśo malena ca,
yatholbenāvṛto garbhastathā tenedamāvṛtam. (3.38)
3.38. Just as a fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an embryo is by the womb, this knowledge gets covered by desire or anger.
Our discriminating ability and intellectual thinking are lost when desire or anger rises in us. Desire creates agitation in the mind that veils our knowledge to discriminate.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa gives three examples explaining how desires veil knowledge. The texture of the covering or veil depends on the kind of desire.
- When there is fire, the flame is covered by its own smoke. The smoke that veils the flames can be removed easily with the passing winds. If the desire is sattvic, the veil on knowledge goes away with meditation, as smoke disappears with just a little wind.
- If the desire is rajasic (passionate), it can’t be removed as easily as smoke over the flames. A little more effort is needed, like wiping a mirror covered with dust to see your reflection.
- If the desire is tamasic, it cannot be removed by blowing or wiping. It needs effort for a long period of time. It is like how it takes a long time and effort for the fetus covered by the embryonic wall to come out of the womb.
Chapter 3, Verse 39
आवृतं ज्ञानमेतेन ज्ञानिनो नित्यवैरिणा ।
कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च ॥३.३९॥
āvṛtaṃ jñānametena jñānino nityavairiṇā,
kāmarūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca. (3.39)
3.39. O son of Kuntī (Arjuna), the knowledge gets covered by this eternal enemy of the wise in the form of desire, which is never satisfied and burns like fire.
Knowledge and wisdom are what give us discriminatory power. Desire veils this knowledge making us act impulsively rather than wisely. Hence that is the eternal enemy of a wise person.
Desire is like a jungle fire burning tree after tree. It can never be satisfied or stopped easily. So do not give in. To conquer any enemy we need to know where the enemy is and how we can catch the enemy.
Chapter 3, Verse 40
इन्द्रियाणि मन बुद्धिरस्याधिष्ठानमुच्यते ।
एतैर्विमोहयत्येष ज्ञानमावृत्य देहिनम् ॥३.४०॥
indriyāṇi mano buddhirasyādhiṣṭhānamucyate,
etairvimohayatyeṣa jñānamāvṛtya dehinam. (3.40)
3.40. The senses, mind, and intellect are said to be the dwelling place (of desire). Through them, it clouds one’s knowledge and deludes the embodied.
Senses, mind, and intellect are the abodes of desire. Desire stands apart and manifests itself as the craving in the senses; the imagination in the mind of the pleasure when it is fulfilled; and the planning in the mind for fulfilling it. It confuses and deludes a person, veiling our knowledge. Then we foolishly act, enchanted with the things of the world outside.
Chapter 3, Verse 41
तस्मात्त्वमिन्द्रियाण्यादौ नियम्य भरतर्षभ ।
पाप्मानं प्रजहि ह्येनं ज्ञानविज्ञाननाशनम् ॥३.४१॥
tasmāttvamindriyāṇyādau niyamya bharatarṣabha,
pāpmānaṃ prajahi hyenaṃ jñānavijñānanāśanam. (3.41)
3.41. Therefore, O best of the Bharatas, first bring the senses under control and slay this enemy (desire), which is the embodiment of sin and destroyer of knowledge and wisdom, O descendant of Vṛṣṇi (Kṛṣṇa)?
We conquer this enemy (desire) by tackling the abodes one by one. First, we learn how to conquer it at the level of the senses as it is the easiest. Destroy it completely when conquered.
It is a bit difficult to conquer it at the mind and the intellect level because of our existing vāsanās. So how do we do it?
Chapter 3, Verse 42
इन्द्रियाणि पराण्याहुरिन्द्रियेभ्यः परं मनः ।
मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्यो बुद्धेः परतस्तु सः ॥३.४२॥
indriyāṇi parāṇyāhurindriyebhyaḥ paraṃ manaḥ,
manasastu parā buddhiryo buddheḥ paratastu saḥ. (3.42)
3.42. The senses are superior to the gross body, and superior to the senses is the mind. Superior to the mind is the intellect, and superior to the intellect is He (Ātman).
The senses are subtler than the sense objects. The mind is subtler than the senses. Intellect is subtler than the mind. And superior to intellect is the Supreme (Ātman).
We are incapable of controlling the senses now because we are so identified with the body. And the senses play with us as they wish. If we focus on a higher ideal, the mind is involved in reaching that ideal. Then the senses are controlled automatically. In this way, by focusing on a higher ideal, apprehend the enemy (desire) and destroy it.
Chapter 3, Verse 43
एवं बुद्धेः परं बुद्ध्वा संस्तभ्यात्मानमात्मना ।
जहि शत्रुं महाबाहो कामरूपं दुरासदम् ॥३.४३॥
evaṃ buddheḥ paraṃ buddhvā saṃstabhyātmānamātmanā,
jahi śatruṃ mahābāho kāmarūpaṃ durāsadam. (3.43)
3.43. Thus knowing Him who is superior to the material intellect, O mighty-armed Arjuna, restrain the lower self (senses, mind, and intellect) by the higher Self, and slay this formidable enemy in the form of desire.
If you really want to destroy the enemy, then awaken to the highest state of consciousness with greater knowledge. Conquer the desire at all levels (senses, mind, and intellect).
If you ask a child to give up his toys, he will not. But when he grows up, he throws them away himself. He has outgrown that stage of playing with the toys. Similarly when you grow and realize the highest, you throw away your identification with the senses, mind, and intellect. You have outgrown them, killing the enemy once and for all.
This concludes the third chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā.
ॐ तत्सदिति श्रीमद् भगवद् गीतासूपनिषत्सु
ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे
श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादे साङ्ख्ययोगो
नाम द्वितीयोऽध्यायः ॥
om tatsaditi śrīmad bhagavad gītāsūpaniṣatsu
brahmavidyāyāṃ yogaśāstre
śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṃvāde karmayogo
nāma tṛtīyo’dhyāyaḥ.
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