जिह्वैकतोऽमुमपकर्षति कर्हि तर्षा शिश्नोऽन्यतस्त्वगुदरं श्रवणं कुतश्चित् ।
घ्राणोऽन्यतश्चपलदृक् क्व च कर्मशक्तिर्बह्व्य: सपत्न्य इव गेहपतिं लुनन्ति ॥Jihvaikato ’mum apakarṣati karhi tarṣhā
śhiśhno ’nyatas tvag udaraṁ śhravaṇaṁ kutahśhchit.
Ghrāṇo ’nyataśh chapala-dṛik kva cha karma-śhaktir
bahvyaḥ sapatnya iva geha-patiṁ lunanti.- Bhagwat Mahapuran 11.9.27
In Udhao Gītā (Krishna’s teachings to Uddhav), Bhagwān Krishna (the Supreme Divine Personality) says to Udhao, (in which) He compares the five senses to the five wives of a man. Let’s suppose a man has five wives. Just as each wife tries her level best to attract and possess the husband to herself, in the same way, each sense, each desire, tries to capture the heart to itself, thereby leading to that person’s complete ruin and degradation. This is why all the scriptures and all the Saints have pronounced desire to be the most dangerous disease of the mind.
Little Prahlād (devotee of Lord Vishnu), he says to Naṛsiṇh Bhagwān,
विमुञ्चति यदा कामान्मानवो मनसि स्थितान् ।
तर्ह्येव पुण्डरीकाक्ष भगवत्त्वाय कल्पते ॥Vimuṇhchati yadā kāmān mānavo manasi sthitān.
Tarhyeva puṇḍarīkākṣh bhagavattvāya kalpate.- Bhagwat Mahapuran 7.10.9
He says, “Hey Bhagwān (God), forget about becoming a Saint. If a person can give up all desires, he becomes Bhagwān.”
But why has desire been described to be the most dangerous disease of the mind, the root cause of all our pain and sufferings? What about greed and anger?
…कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ।
…kāmāt krodho ’bhijāyate.
- Chapter 2, Verse 62, Gita.
“The mother, the root cause, the origin of both greed as well as anger, is desire.”
A desire can either be fulfilled or remain unfulfilled. You desire something - to eat ice cream, pizza, to meet a girl, meet a boy. (There’s) some desire. Either you fulfill it or it remains unfulfilled. When the desire is fulfilled, it leads to greed, lobh (insatiable craving), which is ever-increasing and insatiable.
न जातु काम: कामानामुपभोगेन शाम्यति ।
हविषा कृष्णवर्त्मेव भूय एवाभिवर्धते ॥Na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śhāmyati.
Havihṣhā kṛiṣhṇa-vartmev bhūya evābhivardhate.- Bhagwat Mahapuran 9.19.14
(Pouring ghee into fire does not diminish the fire, increasing it instead, the endeavor to stop desires can never be successful.)
The Bhāgwat (eternal Divine scripture) says,
“Trying to satisfy a desire…”
You know, sometimes you want something very badly, or you like something,
“I like to eat pizza, it’s not good for me, but I’ll eat a lot, 12 pizzas at one time. Then I won’t want pizza anymore!”
No! Trying to satisfy a desire is like pouring ghee (clarified butter) into fire!
