Eclipse of Wisdom by Desire - Bhagavad Gita 3.38-3.40

In the words of Aquinas, the erudite Italian Catholic Priest of the 13th Century, it is legitimate for us to pray for anything which it is legitimate for us to desire. There are some things that no one has the right to desire, such as the fruits of crime or wrong doing. Other things may be legitimately desired by people on one level of spiritual development but the same would be very wrong to desire for those on a higher level of spiritual development. The ultimate aim of all spiritual development is to reach a point of no desire. St. Francois de Sales had reached that point where he could say, “I have hardly any desires, but if I were to be born again, I should have none at all. We should ask nothing and refuse nothing, but leave ourselves in the arms of divine Providence without wasting time in any desire, except to will what God wills of us”

Let us look at ‘desirelessness’ in another perspective. When scientists launch a satellite, they manoeuvre its movement until it is put in a ‘geo synchronised’ orbit. That is to say, it is put in a spot high over the planet in such a way that its movement is totally synchronised with the planet’s revolution on its own axis. Thus it looks motionless when observed from the earth. Similarly, we reach a state of ‘desirelessness’ when we are able to live in total synchrony with the Will of God. But the question will arise in our minds about how to know the Will of God in relation to our living. This is beautifully summed up by the French Priest Fenelon:
“Lord, I know not what ask of thee. Thou only knowest what I need. Thou lovest me better than I know how to love myself. Father, give to thy child that which he himself knows not how to ask. Smite or heal, depress me or raise me up: I adore all thy purposes without knowing them. I am silent; I offer myself in a sacrifice; I yield myself to Thee; I would have no other desire than to accomplish Thy Will”

There are any number of mythological stories to point out to us how desire at a personal level can be destructive. If non fulfilment of desire kills us in one way, fulfilment destroys us in another way. Desire begets more desires. Sage Vyasa narrates in his epic, Mahabharat, how starting with Pururava, the stage is set for the greatest dénouement of all, The Kurukshetra Battle, through a series of incidents of fulfilment of human desire leading to a counter effect that nullifies the fulfilment of the earlier desire. He lets such fascinating characters like Pururava, Nahusha, Yayathi, Samvarana and Santhanu down to the Kauravas and the Pandavas to parade before us to highlight the malefic effects of nursing personal desires. Even Lord Krishna’s actions in helping the Pandavas earn Him the curse of Gandhari which He humbly accepts and His clan is decimated as that of Gandhari.
It is quite significant that Lord Krishna shows by personal example how personal desires could lead to destruction.

Krsna appears to have had two major desires: the bringing together of various clans such as the Vrsnis, Andhakas, Bhojas, Yadavas, Kukutas, etc. to form a single community at Dvaraka, safe from the depredations of the imperialistic ambitions of Magadha and Hastinapura. This was granted him. As its counterpoint, he witnessed his kith and kin destroy one another in a drunken orgy of senseless violence, with Krsna himself joining in that destructive spree.

His second desire, subsuming the first one, was the establishment of an empire based upon dharma, righteousness, doing away with warring petty kingdoms and bringing them all under a single sovereign of impeccable rectitude. This, too, was granted him. But what subjects were left for Dharmaraja Yudhishthira to rule over? A filed of ashes filled with millions of mourning widows! The Stri Parva is a merciless commentary on the fruit of Krishna's desire and has found expression in the curse of unsurpassed poignancy voiced by Gandhari as she stands in Kurukshetra mourning the death of her sons.
The disastrous effect of Desire is embodied in this Sloka from Adi Parva roughly translated into English as under:
Desire never ends,
Desire grows with feeding,
Like sacrificial flames
Lapping up ghee.
Become the sole lord of
The world's paddy fields, wheat-fields,
Precious stones, beasts, women...
Still not enough.
Discard desire.
This disease kills. The wicked
Cannot give it up, old age
Cannot lessen it. True happiness
Lies in controlling it. (Adi parva, 85.12-14)

 

Dear Usha
I am amazed by your capability to embellish your FBs with apt stories and quotes. This is the third time today that I am being a witness to it!

The story 'Necklace' is a very apt one indeed in the present context. It proves beyond doubt how our materialistic ambitions can lead us to destruction. It is sheer irony that such a person had to toil all her life to repay a non-existent debt. That is what happens when a person's wisdom is clouded by desire!
Sri

 

Dear Vidhi
Mahabharat is a great epic that is a storehouse of morals. Every character in this epic has a message to deliver. Even Krishna's own life has something to teach us. Even the Pandavas were not without fault and they too had to pay a price for their follies.

It is interesting to read Plato's take on a man consumed by desires. Plato describes him as the democratic man being a person who feels he is entitled to indulge whichever desire takes hold of him at a particular moment, now capriciously embracing asceticism, the other moment wallowing in pleasures of the senses, but never satisfied with what is! Such a man is passion- driven, not ruled by his will, and is never at rest. Plato also compares the desires to wild beasts for the more they are satisfied, the more importunate they grow, driving the man to ever more strenuous attempts to achieve an ever-diminishing satisfaction. Finally, one desire tends to overcome others and wholly possess the person who becomes obsessed with it, be it ambition, drugs, wealth, sexual pleasure, power. Such a person loses control of his self and is described by Plato as the tyrannical soul, in whom one aspect tyrannizes over the rest of his self.
Sri