THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER THREE
KARMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF ACTION OR THE METHOD OF WORK:
VERSE NUMBER 39
Text in Transliteration:
aavrtam jnaanam etena jnanino nityavairinaa
kaamaroopena kaunteya duspoorenaa ‘ nalena cha
Text in English
Knowledge is covered, O son of Kunti, by this insatiable fire of desire, the constant foe of the wise.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
Desire grown to the stature of greed is a destructive force and an enemy to all human beings. But the ignorant among them who come under its sway hold it as a helpful friend. Whenever a set back and humiliation ensue from it, the destructive force of desire is momentarily detested as a treacherous factor in the make up of man. But this feeling vanishes as quickly as it dawns. The unwary ignorant choose to ally with it always. But the case of the knowing man is different. Both while under the influence of desire and while holding it in abeyance the wise man views it as his sworn enemy. He likes no alliance with it. Still, in spite of him, it steals into his heart assuming innumerable forms and trying to allure him. it is therefore the constant foe of the wise.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
The indicator in the balance moves away from the middle point when there is more weight on one side. The mind of man moves away from God allured by the weight of lust and greed.
COMMENTARY BY DR. S. RADHAKRISHNAN:
Cp. “Desire is never satisfied by the enjoyment of the objects of desire; it grows more and more as does the fire to which fuel is added.”
na jaatu kaamah kaamaanaam upabhogena saamyati
havishaa krshnavartmeva bhooyaevaabhivardhate.
Manu, II, 94.
Cp. Spinoza: “For the things which men, to judge by their actions, deem the highest good are Riches. Fame or Sensual pleasure. Of these the last is followed by satiety and repentance, the other two are never satiated; the more we have, the more we want; while the love of fame compels us to order our lives by the opinions of others. But if a thing is not loved, no quarrels will arise concerning it, no sadness will be felt if it perishes, no envy if another has it, in short no disturbances of the mind. All these spring from the love of that which passes away. But the love of a thing eternal and infinite fills the mind wholly with joy, and is unmingled with sadness. Therefore it is greatly to be desired, and to be sought with all our strength.” De Intellectus Emendations. The fundamental social crime is appropriation in any form whatever, class privilege, race discrimination or national egotism, for it involves pain to others. There is no answer to Wordsworth.
“Never to blend our pleasure or our pride
With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels.”
Hart-Leap Well.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
Manu says, “Desire can never be satiated or cooled down by the enjoyment of objects. But as fire blazes forth the more when fed with Ghee (melted butter) and wood, so it grows the more it feeds on the objects of enjoyment of objects of enjoyment. If all the foodstuffs of the earth, all the precious metals, all the animals and all the beautiful women were to pass into the possession of one man endowed with desire, they would still fail to give him satisfaction.”
The ignorant man considers desire as his friend when he craves for objects. He welcomes desire for the gratification of the senses; but the wise man knows from experience even before suffering the consequence, that desire will bring only troubles and misery for him. so it is a constant enemy of the wise but not of the ignorant.
Comments by the blogger:
Knowledge is covered by the insatiable fire of desire. It is, as per the Lord’s words, the constant foe of the wise.
Here desire is rightly compared to insatiable fire. Why insatiable? The fire can never be extinguished. But there is an important statement in this stanza that harks back to the Upanishadic Maha Vakya, namely, THOU ART THAT. Thou are the Lord. In other words, the Lord is inside of you, and it is for you to realize Him. Though not every one has got the power to discern the fact, every single individual is the abundant and full expression of the Lord. That is why the Maha Vakya or the Great Sentence of the Upanishad proclaims, “Thou art that”. Every individual is God. The meanest beggar on the street, the most violent rapist and the victim are all the individual expression of the Lord. Then what is the problem? Not everyone is in possession of the knowledge that he or she is God! Though every one is God, he or she has to realize the fact.
There is a common lore which holds that for a long time a beggar was seated on a mound of soil and went studiously about his work and vocation of begging. He had to lead an abject life. And one day he died and some good souls took his body and commended the same to the fire. After the funeral rights were over, they went away. After a long time, to broaden the street the mound of earth the deceased beggar had seated for a long time had to be dug up. It was then gold ornaments and many lacks of rupees were found in thalis beneath the mound on which the abject beggar had lived and spent his life!
This is how even after the Sastras or the Scriptures have proclaimed in the unequivocal words that THOU ART THAT we are unable to realize the fact. For, this knowledge is engulfed by the constantly flaring fire called desire. A desirous mind never keeps silent. It is agitated like the surface water of the ocean. Only when the desires for this worldly things cease and the waters is not agitated, we can see what is beneath the surface water. Our knowledge needs to be realized. Until then, despite of ours being God, we cab never enjoy the qualities and attributes of God.
Till the insatiable fire goes on crackling, we cannot see into and enjoy our godhood.
In this stanza, the Lord calls Arjuna as the son of Kunti. In every stanza Lord calls and describes His student, Arjuna, in various ways. Here he calls him as the son of kunti. Kunti is of high-class birth. So Arjuna and the rest of the Pandavas belong to the high class. Their station in society also harks back to the way they think and act. They are wise people. For such wise people, this insatiable fire of desire is a constant enemy, rendering them unable to realize their real Godhood. They are co-extensive with the Lord. Even though they are wise, they are singularly unable to realize the fact of their being the Lord Himself or individual expression of God.
For others who are not knowledgeable, like that beggar who spent a lifetime sitting on the mound of earth and the riches beneath, this question of constant enemy or in other words, the insatiable desire is their constant and continuous enemy rendering them unable to realize who indeed they are does not simply arise.
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