**3.40** The senses, mind, and intellect are said to be the dwelling places of this desire. Through these—(the senses, mind, and intellect)—desire, veiling knowledge, deludes the man who identifies with the body.
**Commentary:** 'Indriyāṇi mano buddhir asyādhiṣṭhānam ucyate'—Desire is seen in five places: (1) in objects (Gita 3.34), (2) in the senses, (3) in the mind, (4) in the intellect, and (5) in the assumed 'I' (the ego), i.e., the doer (Gita 2.51). Although it appears in these five places, desire truly resides only in the assumed 'I' (the knot of consciousness and matter). However, because it appears in the aforementioned five places, they are called the dwelling places of this desire.
All actions are performed only by the body, senses, mind, and intellect. These four are the instruments for performing action. If desire resides in them, it does not allow the action to be for the supreme good (Paramārtha). Therefore, a Karma Yogi, being desireless, without a sense of mine-ness, and unattached, performs action through the body, senses, mind, and intellect for the purification of the heart (Gita 5.11).
In reality, desire resides only in the ego (the identification of the conscious self with inert matter). The ego, meaning 'I-ness', is merely an assumption. That I belong to such and such caste, stage of life, or tradition—this is merely a belief. There is no other proof for this apart from belief. It is in this assumed relationship that desire resides. From desire alone all sins arise. Sins are destroyed by suffering their consequences, but without desire being removed from the ego, new sins keep arising. Therefore, desire alone is what binds the soul. The Mahabharata states: 'Desire alone is the bondage; there is no other bondage here. One who is freed from the bondage of desire becomes fit to attain the state of Brahman.' (Shanti Parva 251.7)
'Etair vimohayaty eṣa jñānam āvṛtya dehinam'—Due to desire, a man does not do what he ought to do and does what he ought not to do. In this way, desire deludes the man who identifies with the body.
In the second chapter, the Lord said that from desire anger arises—'kāmāt krodho 'bhijāyate' (2.62)—and from anger arises delusion (extreme stupefaction)—'krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ' (2.63). From this, it should be understood that when desire is obstructed, anger arises; but if desire is not obstructed, then from desire arises greed, and from greed arises delusion (Note p. 197.1). The essence is that if the desired object is not obtained, 'anger' arises, and if the object is obtained, 'greed' arises. From them, 'delusion' then arises. Desire is the activity of the mode of passion (Rajo Guna), and delusion is the activity of the mode of ignorance (Tamo Guna). The modes of passion and ignorance reside close together (Note p. 197.2). Therefore, desire, anger, greed, and delusion reside very close together. Desire, through the senses, mind, and intellect, deludes (stupefies) the man who identifies with the body. Thus, although desire is the activity of the mode of passion, it results in delusion, which is the activity of the mode of ignorance.
When desire arises, a man first desires to enjoy through the senses. Initially, the objects of enjoyment are not obtained, and even if obtained, they do not last. Therefore, to obtain them somehow, he entertains various desires in the mind. In the intellect, he thinks of various means to obtain them. In this way, desire first engages the senses in the temptation of pleasure born of contact. Then the senses pull the mind towards them, and thereafter, the senses and mind together pull the intellect also towards them. In this manner, desire, veiling knowledge, deludes the one who identifies with the body through the senses, mind, and intellect, and casts him into the pit of downfall.
It is a principle that if a servant is good, but the master dismisses him contemptuously, then he will not get a good servant again. Similarly, if the master is good, but the servant treats him with contempt, then he will not get a good master again. In the same way, if a man, without attaining God, wastes the human body merely in worldly enjoyments and possessions, then he will not attain a human body again. A good thing is scorned due to the impurity of the heart, and the heart becomes impure due to desire. Therefore, first and foremost, desire must be destroyed.
The meaning of the words 'dehinam vimohayati' is that this desire deludes only the man who identifies with the body. Only he who considers the body as 'I' and 'mine' is one who identifies with the body. At the very beginning of His teachings, the Lord explained the distinction between the body (deha) and the dweller in the body (dehī—the soul) (Gita 2.11–30). That the body and the dweller in the body are separate—this is everyone's experience. This desire, veiling knowledge, binds the one who identifies with the body (who believes in a relationship with the body), not the dweller in the body (the pure Self). It cannot bind one who does not believe in a relationship with the body. Only by considering the body as 'I', 'mine', and 'for me' does a man give importance to perishable inert objects; from this, attachment to inertness arises in him. When attachment arises, a relationship with inertness is formed. It is only when a relationship with inertness is formed that desire is born. When desire is born, the soul, becoming deluded, gets bound in worldly bondage.
**Connection:** Now, in the next three verses, the Lord, explaining the method of slaying desire, commands its destruction.
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