3.37 The Blessed Lord said It is desire, it is anger both of the ality of Rajas, all-devouring, all-sinful; know this as the foe here (in this world).

3.37 Kama esah etc. A total absence of difference among these two (desire and wrath) is indicated by the word esah 'this' twice uttered. These desire and wrath are ever interrelated and remain in an inseparable mutual co-existence. Hence [the Lord] well describes them only as identical. This is a swallower i.e., a devouer of the morsel of festival i.e., the happiness. The wrath alone is a bestower of sins as it is the cause of great sins. This is man of intelligence should view to be an enemy.

The Blessed Lord said: "Know this desire, born of the mode of passion, to be anger. It is a great devourer and a great sinner. In this matter, know it alone to be the enemy." **Commentary:** 'Born of the mode of passion' – Later, in the seventh verse of the fourteenth chapter, the Lord will say that the mode of passion arises from craving (desire) and attachment. And here, He says that desire arises from the mode of passion. From this, it should be understood that attachment gives rise to desire, and desire increases attachment. The meaning is that attachment arises from considering worldly objects to be sources of happiness, which firmly establishes their importance in the inner being. Then arises the desire to accumulate those very objects and to derive pleasure from them. Again, desire increases attachment to objects. As long as this cycle continues, there is no complete cessation from sinful actions. 'This desire, this anger' – 'May my wish be fulfilled' – this is desire. The wish to accumulate perishable inert objects, the wish for pleasure arising from union, attachment to pleasure – all these are forms of desire alone. Sinful action sometimes appears to be done under the sway of 'desire' and sometimes under the sway of 'anger'. Sins are committed separately by both. Therefore, both terms are given. In reality, desire – meaning the craving, fondness, and attraction for perishable objects – is the root of all sins. When desire is obstructed, that very desire transforms into anger. Therefore, to indicate that a single desire is the root of sins, the Lord has used the singular form in the aforementioned words. Upon the fulfillment of desire, 'greed' arises, and when desire is obstructed (or towards the one causing the obstruction), anger arises. If the one causing the obstruction is more powerful than oneself, then 'fear' arises instead of 'anger'. Therefore, in the Gita, fear is sometimes mentioned alongside desire and anger; for example – 'free from attachment, fear, and anger' (4.10) and 'with desire, fear, and anger gone' (5.28). **A Special Point Regarding Desire** Desire is the root of all sins, sorrows, miseries, etc. A person with desire not only does not get happiness while awake, but never gets happiness even in dreams – 'Desire untouched, not even in dreams is there happiness' (Manas 7.90.1). That which is desired does not happen, and that which is not desired happens – this itself is called misery. If one gives up 'desiring' and 'not desiring', then where is misery at all? The wish for perishable objects is called desire. The wish for the imperishable Supreme Self, though appearing similar to desire, is not actually 'desire'; because the desire for perishable objects is never fulfilled; rather, it only increases, but the wish for God (upon attainment of God) is fulfilled. Secondly, desire is for an object different from oneself, and God is non-different from oneself. Similarly, the wish for service (Karma Yoga), knowledge of Truth (Jnana Yoga), and love for God (Bhakti Yoga) is also not 'desire'. The wish for God-realization is, in reality, the true necessity (hunger) of life. The soul's need is for God alone, but when discrimination is suppressed, it begins to desire perishable objects. One may doubt: How will worldly affairs function without desire? The resolution is this: Worldly affairs function through objects and actions, not through the mind's desires. Objects are related to actions, whether those actions are from the past (prarabdha) or the present (udyoga). Actions are external, and desires are internal. The fruit of external actions (in the form of objects, circumstances, etc.) is also external. Desire has no connection with the attainment of the fruit (object, circumstance, etc.). How can an object, which is under the sway of action, be attained by desiring it? In the world, we see that despite having a desire for wealth, people's poverty is not removed. Except for liberated great souls, all other individuals die while still having the desire to live. Whether one desires or not, the fruit that is destined to be attained will certainly be attained. The meaning is that what is destined to happen will happen, and what is not destined to happen will never happen, whether one desires it or not. Just as unfavorable circumstances come even without desiring them, similarly, favorable circumstances will also come without desiring them. Disease comes without desiring disease, and health remains without desiring it. Slander and insult occur without desiring them, and praise and honor occur without desiring them. Just as unfavorable circumstances are the fruit of actions, similarly, favorable circumstances are also the fruit of actions alone. Therefore, the attainment or non-attainment of objects, circumstances, etc., is related to actions, not to desire. Desire can be for immediate pleasure or for future pleasure. The wish for enjoyment and accumulation is desire for immediate pleasure, and the wish for attaining the fruit of action is desire for future pleasure. In both these desires, there is only misery. The reason is that desire not only gives misery in the present, but being the cause for future births, it also gives misery in the future. Therefore, both these desires should be abandoned. Both karma (prescribed action) and vikarma (prohibited action) occur due to desire. 'Karma' occurs due to desire, and when desire increases greatly, 'vikarma' occurs. Due to desire, attachment to the unreal becomes firm. When there is no desire, connection with the unreal is severed. Upon the fulfillment of desire, we return to the same state we were in before the desire arose. For example, a desire arises in someone's mind: 'May I get a hundred rupees.' Before this, there was no desire in his mind to get a hundred rupees; thus, experience proves that desire is something that arises. As long as the desire for a hundred rupees had not arisen, there was a state of 'desirelessness'. If, due to effort and destiny, he gets a hundred rupees, then that state of desirelessness returns. But due to attachment to worldly pleasure, that state does not last, and a new desire arises: 'May I get a thousand rupees.' In this way, neither is desire fulfilled nor is there complete satisfaction. Nothing is gained except mere labor! Abandoning 'desire', meaning the desire for worldly objects, is not difficult. Reflect a little deeply: Does desire actually not leave, or does it actually not last? It will be discovered that desire actually does not last! It constantly perishes; but man keeps it alive by creating new desires. Desire arises, and that which arises must inevitably perish. Therefore, desire perishes by itself. If man does not create new desires, the old desire perishes by itself, sometimes upon fulfillment and sometimes upon non-fulfillment. The fulfillment of desire is not for everyone and not forever, but the abandonment of desire is for everyone and forever. The reason is that desire is impermanent and abandonment is permanent. What is the difficulty in being desireless? The difficulty is that we do not become unattached (nirmama). If we become unattached, the power to be desireless will come, and from being desireless, the power to be detached (asanga) will come. When unattachment, desirelessness, and detachment arrive, then freedom from modifications, peace, and independence come automatically. Pay attention to a poignant point. We consider abandoning desires to be very difficult. But consider: If abandoning desires is difficult, then is fulfilling desires easy? The fulfillment of all desires has not happened for anyone in the world till today. What to say of us, even God's father (King Dasharatha) did not have his desire fulfilled! Therefore, the fulfillment of desires is impossible. But the abandonment of desires is not impossible. If we think that abandoning desires is difficult, then even a difficult task seems easier compared to an impossible task (fulfillment of desires); because desires can be abandoned, but they cannot be fulfilled. Therefore, abandoning desires is easier compared to fulfilling desires. The mistake is that we strive for that which we cannot do, and we do not do that which we can do. Therefore, the seeker should abandon desires, which he can do. Desires are of four types: (1) Fulfill the necessary desire for mere bodily sustenance. (2) That desire which is personal and just, and whose fulfillment is beyond our capacity – offer it to God and eradicate it. (3) Fulfill the desire of others which is just and beneficial, and which we have the capacity to fulfill. By fulfilling others' desires in this way, the power to abandon desire comes to us. (4) Eradicate all other desires besides the above three types through reflection. 'Great devourer, great sinner' – There is an enemy who is pacified by gifts, worship, or entreaties, but this 'desire' is such an enemy that is not pacified by anyone. This desire is never satisfied – 'Desire-fire is not quenched, says Tulsidas, even by much ghee of sense-enjoyments.' Just as upon getting wealth, the greed for wealth only increases, similarly, as enjoyments are obtained, desire only increases. Therefore, desire is called 'great devourer'. Desire alone is the cause of all sins. All sins like theft, robbery, violence, etc., happen only due to desire. Therefore, desire is called 'great sinner'. As soon as desire arises, man turns away from his duty, his true nature, and his beloved (God), and turns towards the perishable world. Turning towards the perishable leads to sins, and as a result of sins, one attains hells and low births. It is only due to the desire for pleasure arising from union that the world appears real and the constantly changing body, etc., appear stable. By considering worldly objects to be stable, man enjoys pleasure from them and desires them. At the time of pleasure-enjoyment, attention is not paid to the transience of the world, and man sees the enjoyment and himself as stable. How can there be a desire to derive pleasure from a world that is dying – perishing – every moment? But the desire for worldly pleasure-enjoyment arises only by disregarding the knowledge that 'the world is dying every moment.' When seeing ripe grapes in a movie (cinema), there is no desire to eat them; if there is, it proves that we have considered them to be real. By considering the changing world to be stable, attention does not go at all towards the truly stable principle, that Divine Principle, or towards one's own nature. Not paying attention there, man turns away from it and gets entangled in perishable pleasure-enjoyment. This proves that without turning away from the real principle, no worldly enjoyment can be enjoyed at all, and by enjoying worldly enjoyment with attachment, man certainly turns away from God. A man who enjoys worldly objects with an enjoyer's mentality cannot avoid the sin which is violence. He commits violence against himself (his downfall) and against others. For example, if a man accumulates wealth and enjoys pleasures with it, then seeing him, the hearts of the poor feel intense sorrow due to the lack of wealth and pleasures – this is violence against them. By enjoying pleasures, he commits violence (downfall) against himself; because although being a conscious fragment of God Himself, by giving importance to the inert (wealth), he virtually becomes a slave of the inert, which causes his downfall. All objects of enjoyment in the world are limited; therefore, however much enjoyment a man enjoys, that much enjoyment comes only from the share of others. However, by accepting objects merely for bodily sustenance, man incurs no sin. Even in bodily sustenance, the scriptures prohibit enjoying objects only for oneself. For bodily sustenance, one should first give the objects to one's mother, father, guru, children, wife, elderly, etc., and then take for oneself. A man who enjoys with an enjoyer's mentality causes his own downfall, misuses and destroys the objects of enjoyment, and commits violence against deprived men; but this does not apply to a liberated great soul. Violence in the form of sin does not occur through him; because he has no enjoyer's mentality, and through him, only scripturally prescribed actions are performed with a desireless attitude for mere sustenance. The objects that come into the use of that great soul develop; they are not destroyed – meaning, upon coming to him, objects are put to good use, whereby they become meaningful. As long as the body said to belong to that great soul remains in the world, through it, the welfare of beings happens automatically and naturally. The mere necessity for bodily sustenance is not 'great devourer' and 'great sinner'. The reason is that the mere necessity for bodily sustenance is not desire. Necessity is fulfilled; for example – hunger arose and upon eating food, satisfaction was attained. But desire increases. 'Know it alone to be the enemy' – Although in reality, only upon the abandonment of desire for worldly objects is the experience of happiness and peace attained, nevertheless, due to ignorance, man assumes that happiness comes from objects. In this way, man, having considered the desire for objects to be the cause of happiness, has regarded it as his friend and well-wisher. Due to this assumption, desire never perishes. Therefore, the Lord says here: Know this desire not as a friend, but as an enemy. Desire is man's enemy because it covers man's discrimination and engages him in sins. At the root of all sins, miseries, hells, etc., in the world, there is only desire. Wherever anyone is suffering in this world or the next, the desire for the unreal is the cause. From desire, all kinds of miseries occur, and no happiness whatsoever occurs. **A Special Point** The main and simple means to destroy desire is – to serve others, to give them happiness. Other embodied beings are indeed others; even the so-called body, senses, mind, intellect, and prana are others. Therefore, their sustenance is also to be done with a service mentality, not with an enjoyer's mentality. Happiness is not to be derived from them. In Karma Yoga, the 'action' done by the gross body, the 'contemplation' done by the subtle body, and the 'steadiness' of the causal body – all three are not for oneself, but for the world alone. The reason is that the gross body has oneness with the gross world, the subtle body with the subtle world, and the causal body with the causal world. Therefore, it is proper to serve others through the body, objects, and actions, but it is improper to have pride of being a servant in oneself. It is proper to contemplate others' welfare with the subtle body, but it is improper to derive happiness from it. It is proper to be steady with the causal body, but it is improper to derive happiness from steadiness. In this way, by not deriving happiness, attachment to the fruit is eradicated; upon the eradication of attachment to the fruit, attachment to action is easily eradicated. 'My order should prevail'; 'such and such person should obey my command'; 'such and such object should come to my use'; 'my point should be established' – all these are forms of desire alone. The desire to take something from the perishable (unreal) world is a great cause of calamity. By fulfilling the just desire of others (in which there is others' welfare and which we have the capacity to fulfill), the strength to abandon desire comes to us. Even if we cannot fulfill others' desire, the feeling to fulfill it should remain in the heart. Identification – I-ness (considering oneself to be the body), my-ness (considering body, etc., objects as one's own), and desire (the feeling – 'may such and such object be attained') – through these three alone the soul is bound in the world. From identification arises limitation, from my-ness arise modifications, and from desire arises restlessness. Through the abandonment of desire, my-ness is eradicated, and through the abandonment of my-ness, identification is eradicated. A Karma Yogi, in principle, does not consider any connection of himself with any of these; because he does not consider the body, senses, mind, intellect, ego, objects, etc., as his own or for himself; he considers these body, etc., to be only of the world and for the service of the world, which in reality they are. When there is a feeling of not giving pain to anyone, service begins. Therefore, in the seeker's heart, the feeling – 'may no one have pain' – should constantly remain. If, by mistake, someone gets pain due to us, we should ask for forgiveness. Even if they do not forgive, there is no fear. The reason is that forgiveness from God's side happens automatically for one who asks for forgiveness with a sincere heart. While serving, the seeker should always be careful that the feeling of taking something in return for service does not arise in him. By serving in this way, the enemy in the form of desire is easily destroyed. **Connection:** Even after knowing 'this is sin', man engages in sin; therefore, what is the reason for this knowledge not influencing conduct? The Lord explains this in the next two verses.