Respected devotees of Shree Maharaj Ji!
Respected guests and respected viewers!
Radhey Radhey!
There are two kinds of worlds. The external physical world that we see around us, and then there is a world, the inner world, the inner subtle world of our attachments. So the inner world of our attachments is that which resides in the heart of each and every individual as a result of past sanskars in the form of the desires for the objects of the outer physical world. And the external world refers to the external form of the desired objects of the inner subtle world of our attachments. So of these two, the inner world of our attachments is much stronger because even when the objects are not in front of us, the inner world of desires continues to have its effect on us through repeated thinking.
So, in fact, the inner subtle world of our attachments is the culprit. It poses a problem for us. And it is because of the inner world that we as individuals under the bondage of maya have been since time immemorial attached to the objects and the people of this physical world since eternity. So let us try to understand this scientifically. The inner world is afflicted with many diseases, defilements.
काम क्रोध मद लोभ सब नाथ नरक के पंथ। सब परिहरि रघुबीरहि भजहु भजहिं जेहि संत ॥
Kām krodh mad lobh sab nāth narak ke paňth. Sab parihari raghubhīrahi bhajahu bhajahiń jehi sant.
- Ramayan
Shri Krishna describes in the Gita,
त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मन: | काम: क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत् ||
Tri-vidhaṁ narakasyedaṁ dwāraṁ nāśhanam ātmanaḥ. Kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobhas tasmād etat trayaṁ tyajet.
- Gita 16.21
So, Shri Krishna says in the Gita,
विहाय कामान्य: सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति नि:स्पृह: | निर्ममो निरहङ्कार: स शान्तिमधिगच्छति ||
Vihāya kāmānyaḥ sarvān pumānśh charati niḥspṛihaḥ. Nirmamo nirahankāraḥ sa śhāntim adhigachchhati.
- Gita 2.71
काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भव: | महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् ||
Kām eṣh krodh eṣh rajoguṇa-samudbhavaḥ. Mahāśhano mahā-pāpmā viddhyenam iha vairiṇam.
- Gita 3.37
So, Shri Krishna tells us in the Gita that there are three gates leading to the hell of self-destruction. What are they? Desires, anger and greed. This is what Shri Krishna tells us and out of these three, the most detrimental to our being is desires.
यदा सर्वे प्रमुच्यन्ते कामा येऽस्य हृदि श्रिताः । अथ मर्त्योऽमृतो भवत्यत्र ब्रह्म समश्नुते ॥
Yadā sarve pramuchyante kāmā ye’sya hṛidi śhritāḥ. Ath martyo’mṛto bhavatyatra brahma samaśhnute.
- Kathopaniṣad 2.3.14
So, the Upanishads describe that if when an individual's desires are completely destroyed then he attains perfection and then thereafter there remains no need to gain any knowledge or practice devotion, practice spirituality whatsoever. And this is why when Prahlad was only five years of age, when he was granted a boon by Narsingh Bhagwan, he asked for something very unique.
यदि दास्यसि मे कामान्वरांस्त्वं वरदर्षभ । कामानां हृद्यसंरोहं भवतस्तु वृणे वरम् ॥
Yadi dāsyasi me kāmānvarāṁs tvaṁ varadarṣhabh. Kāmānāṁ hṛidyasaṁrohaṁ bhavatas tu vṛiṇe varam.
- Bhagwatam 7.10.7
Ek var māṅgu Hari Govind Radhe, māṅgane ki buddhi kabhu sapnehu nā de
- Radha Govind Geet
So, Prahlad said, “My Lord, please I beg You to make me, if You want to grant a boon, yes, please make me desireless, please grace me so that the seed of desire that is within me may be destroyed forever!” This is what he asked for from the Lord. So, why are desires considered dangerous? The scriptures give us the answer:
इन्द्रियाणि मन: प्राण आत्मा धर्मो धृतिर्मति: । ह्री: श्रीस्तेज: स्मृति: सत्यं यस्य नश्यन्ति जन्मना ॥
Indriyāṇi manaḥ prāṇ ātmā dharmo dhṛitir matiḥ. Hrīḥ śhrīs tejaḥ smṛitiḥ satyaṁ yasya naśhyanti janmanā.
- Bhagwatam 7.10.8
So, as soon as a desire appears in one's consciousness it destroys all the noble faculties of an individual; the strength of his senses, his mind, his vital breath, vital energy, vital force and his body. He loses his sense of righteousness, determination, understanding, good fortune, modesty, prowess and adherence to truth. This is what the scriptures describe. As individuals we have five senses of perception. And they are eyes, ears, nose, our tongue, and the skin. So there are five desires or five objects associated with our five senses of perception. The desire to see, the desire to smell, the desire to hear, the desire to touch, and the desire to taste.
And how powerful are these?
Kuraṅg mātaṅg pataṅg bṛiṅg mīnāhatāḥ pañchabhireva pañch. ekaḥ pramādī sa kathaṁ na hanyate yaḥ sevate pañchabhireva pañch.
- Sukti Sudhakar
So, the desire for music leads a deer to its death. A honey bee falls prey to its desire for sweet fragrance. The fish dies due to its desire for taste. The moth falls victim to the flame. And the elephant gets caught in the trap because of its desire to roll around in cool mud. So these creatures meet their end while attempting to satisfy only one desire. But what to say of us humans who are constantly tormented by the five desires of our five sense organs? And each one demanding, all of them rather, demanding to be satisfied and fulfilled simultaneously. So is desire and yet some claim that anger is such a dangerous thing. Under the influence of anger, people commit horrible crimes and sins. While others talk about greed as being rather detrimental. But then why is it that the scriptures put so much emphasis on desires? Why?
All the scriptures, they talk about renouncing desires. So all these scriptures, they talk about renouncing desires.
उपासते पुरुषं ये ह्यकामास्ते शुक्रमेतदतिवर्तन्ति धीराः ॥
Upāsate puruṣhaṃ ye hyakāmāste śhukrametadativartanti dhīrāḥ.
- Mundakopanishadविमुण्चति यदा कामान्मानवो मनसि स्थितान् । तर्ह्येव पुण्डरीकाक्ष भगवत्त्वाय कलपते ।।
Vimunchati yadā kāmān mānavo manasi sthitān. Tarhyev puņdarīkāksha bhagavattvāy kalpate.
- Bhagwatam 7.10.9प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान् | आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्ट: स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते ||
Prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān. Ātmany-evātmanā tuṣhṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadochyate.
- Gita 2.55
देह धरे कर यह फलु भाई। भजिअ राम सब काम बिहाई।
Deh dhare kar yah phal bhā-ī, bhaji-a Ram sab kām bihā-ī. - Ramayan
That's what they tell us. But what do the scriptures say about anger and greed? So the scriptures tell us that anger and greed are byproducts of desires. They are born of desires. In fact, desire is the mother of anger and greed. Because at any given time, when we have a desire, one of two things will happen or bound to happen. The desire will either be fulfilled and that fulfillment multiplies ambition. In other words, greed keeps ever increasing. And if the desire is not fulfilled, then inevitably we suffer from anger and frustration. And this is what happens. So if we can eliminate desires, then we are automatically liberated from the diseases of anger and greed.
So, the next step is to know or to find out the cause of desires. What is the cause of desires? What is the very basis of desires? If we wish to get rid of anger and greed, yes, get rid of desire first. But to get rid of desires in the first place, how do we do that? What is the cause? So we must know the cause. Just as if someone wants to destroy a tree, for example. So the most obvious effective method is to strike at the roots. And so once the roots are destroyed, then naturally there's no question of any further growth of branches and twigs and flowers and fruits and etc. and leaves. So in the same way, if we want to know what the cause of desires is, we go to the scriptures. So what do they tell us?
सङ्गात्सञ्जायते काम: कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ||
Saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāt krodho ’bhijāyate.
- Gita 2.62
So all of our five desires can be summed up in one word and that is desire, and that is attachment. All of our five desires, the cause or the very basis of our desires can be summed up in one word and that is attachment. You see as individuals, we all have our individual respective attachments. People are attached to tea, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, etcetera. So wherever our attachment is to any individual or any object then what happens? Very naturally the desire for those objects or those individuals, they keep arising in our consciousness. And this is because we as individuals have a natural tendency to desire. How many times have you heard someone or even yourself say, “Well, you know, I really honestly can't get started with my day unless I have coffee!” Now coffee can be substituted for tea, alcohol, cigarettes, whatever.
We do hear this. And why? It's because we have developed, we have formed an attachment. to various different things and various people in our life. That's why. Just take for example a room. There's a few people in that room, and one individual gets up and says, “Who ate the donuts that I had left on that table?!” So another person indignantly shouts, “Well, certainly not me! What do you think? Like, I haven't had any donuts in my life? You think that I would take yours?!”
So, the thing, the only thing or the only way to implicate this person is through knowing, of course, that this person has had a number of donuts all throughout his life. Because a person who has not had any donuts, what will happen? They would not even have an attachment to donuts. But the person who has had donuts in their life a number of times would desire to have more because they have an attachment. That's why. Similarly, people who have drunk a lot of tea and coffee, what has happened? They have developed an addiction to tea and coffee. Likewise, a person who has been drinking for a number of years, then what? They have an attachment to alcohol. Yes. Another thing that we should also remember is that our desires do not necessarily correspond to attributes or qualities or virtues of something or someone, our likes and dislikes, our distastes, etc., or rather they correspond to our individual attachments that we have developed in our life over the years. So for example, just because something is very fragrant or for that matter or someone who's very beautiful, doesn't mean that one would have an attachment or have a desire for that particular object. Take an example. Just like an alcoholic, an alcoholic loves the smell of alcohol, whereas a teetotaler feels totally repulsed, let alone the smell by the mere sight, by the mere sight.
A mother, she places her mouth on the mouth of her child. The child is not very clean, maybe sick. An onlooker feels disgusted when they see that. And if they were asked to place their mouth or even their nose on the child, they would be uncomfortable. Why? Because they don't have an attachment that the mother has. So for the mother, the foul smell, the bad smell, coming from the child is not repulsive. For the mother, it's an aroma because she has an attachment. So the point is that just because something is attractive or fragrant or for that matter even delicious, it doesn't mean that person will have an attachment. So our attachment induces those desires in our consciousness. That is what happens. Take another example. A mother has lost her child in a crowd and so the mother is frantic and she reports her lost child at a nearby police station. And she also notices that there are a number of children who are there who have been separated from their parents as well. So when asked to identify if perhaps one of those were her, she shakes her head because none of those children are hers. None of them. So it is evident from the description that she gives of her own child that a lot of those children are very attractive, very beautiful. But the mother doesn't care about the beauty. She doesn't care about how attractive the other children are. She only cares about finding her own child no matter how unattractive the child may be because the mother is not drawn to beauty. The mother is drawn and cares about her child to whom she is attached. So attachment is the cause of desires. So when we have attachment, what happens? We develop a desire and when the desire is fulfilled, we experience greed and when the desire is not fulfilled, we experience anger and frustration.
So let us move on. What is the cause? What is the reason behind attachment? So Shree Krishna tells us in the Gita,
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंस: सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते |
Dhyāyato viṣhayān puṁsaḥ saṅgas teṣhūpajāyate.
-Gita 2.62
“The reason for attachment is when we repeatedly dwell, when we repeatedly meditate on something or someone to be a source of happiness, joy, and satisfaction for us, we develop an attachment.”
When we repeatedly think of someone or something as a source, because as I have mentioned earlier, we all have our own individual attachments. Yes. So how did we get attached to all of these different people and different things in our life since our birth? How did that happen? We were not born as an alcoholic. We were not born as a smoker. We were not born as an addict for tea and coffee. No, none of these were there. They didn't exist when we were born. So, what happened? Well, (it’s) because we repeatedly contemplated happiness in an object or person. If you ask an alcoholic their experience for the first time when they actually had a sip of alcohol, they will tell you that they didn't like it the first time they had it. But what happened? Peer pressure, wanting to look great in front of people, to show off, to flaunt oneself or whatever. Then what happened? Then over so many days and then weeks and months, then the person becomes a reputable alcoholic. How? Just repeatedly thinking of that object to be a source of happiness and joy. Yes.
So it's when we contemplate happiness in something or someone, then what happens? We become attached. And then when we become attached, we develop a desire. And when the desire is fulfilled, greed not fulfilled, we experience anger. Now, why? What is the reason that we presume happiness? Why is it? What is the reason that we seek happiness through things, through objects, and through people? Why? What is the reason?
आनन्द पाने की गोविन्द राधे, जीव में नित्य आकांक्षा बता दे ।
Ānand pāne kī Govind Radhe, Jeev meņ nitya ākānkshā batā de.
- Radha Govind Geet
So it is innate within every individual. We inherently desire happiness. Why? Because it is innate within us; it's our very nature. And this nature of us is because we are a part and parcel, a fraction, a spark of Divinity, a fraction of God.
Verse from the Vedas.
अंशो नानाव्यपदेशा…Aṃśho nānāvyapadeśād…
-Brahma Sutra 2.3.43
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूत: सनातन: |
Mamaivānśho jeev-loke jeev-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ.
- Gita 15.7
ईश्वर अंश जीव अविनाशी,चेतन अमल सहज सुख राशी।
Īshvar ansh jeev avināshī, chetan amal sahaj sukh rāshī.
- Ramayan
हरिर्देहभृतामात्मा स्वयं प्रकृतिरीश्वर: । तत्पादमूलं शरणं यत: क्षेमो नृणामिह ॥
harir deha-bhṛtām ātmā svayaṁ prakṛtir īśvaraḥ. tat-pāda-mūlaṁ śaraṇaṁ
yataḥ kṣemo nṛṇām iha
- Bhagavatam 4.29.50
So all of these scriptures declare that because we, the individual soul, is a fraction of God who is personified bliss, it is our very nature. We seek pleasure. We seek bliss and perfection. That is our very nature. We inherently seek it. So in our search for happiness, what will happen? Inevitably, we will stumble upon something or someone, and in our ignorance we will believe that that object or that person is a source of happiness. Yes? And then what will happen? That will induce attachment and then attachment will lead to desire and then desire will lead to either us feeling greedy for more or feeling restless in the absence or the unfulfillment of that desire. This is what the scriptures describe. So desire is the very seed or the root of all mayic, worldly material afflictions. It is desire. So how to get rid of all these desires so that we can be liberated forever from the defilements? Mainly, greed and anger. How? What do we do? What's the solution? What is the recourse? So the scriptures describe that, in fact, until and unless we realize happiness of that magnitude - infinite, unlimited, immeasurable happiness - until we realize and receive that happiness, it is virtually impossible to get rid of worldly desires. Then what to do?
So the scriptures tell us that our only hope is that we divert. We divert our desires from the world to God. That is what we do. So we cannot eliminate, we cannot eradicate until we attain perfection. And in order to attain perfection, we divert. We steer our feelings of love, affection, affinity, and passion. We steer them toward God, Shri Radha Krishna. That is what we do. And when we do that, then gradually we will develop an attachment, and then we will begin to desire Them. And then, in our desire, if our desire is not fulfilled, we will feel restless. And restlessness in spirituality is actually a virtue. It is a virtue. Yes. So that anger and the restlessness and the frustration that we feel in devotion, as in fact, it is a virtue. It is not a defilement. It is a virtue. Yes. Because we are associating our emotions with God. Yes. And if there's fulfillment, then what happens? We become greedier than ever. And this greed, in fact, never ends. It goes on and on and on for all eternity. The greed for God's love, the greed for Godly affection, the greed for Godly love, it is forever, forever. So this is what our scriptures tell us in relation to desires.
So gradually, that inner world, inner subtle world of our attachments will begin to diminish. It will begin to recede. We blame the outer physical world for our problems and our sufferings and our sorrows. It's not like that. The outer world is created by God. How could there be a flaw in it? It is flawless. But it is because of our own ignorance of that world that we have created within us is what's causing us the misery and the suffering and the sorrow. So the scriptures tell us how we can overcome our miserable state, our wretchedness, and how we can transcend our sufferings and miseries. Yes.
So this is what our scriptures tell us, and so I'll leave you with these thoughts
Shreemat Satguru Sarkar ki Jai!
Ladli Lal ki Jai!
Jai Jai Shri Radhey! Jai Jai Shri Radhey! Jai Jai Shri Radhey!
