(Image Courtesy Mahanidhiswami)

Desires for Material Enjoyment Are the Cause of Sin

श्रीभगवानुवाच |

काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भव: ||
महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् || 3.37||

shrī bhagavān uvācha

kāma eṣha krodha eṣha rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ
mahāśhano mahā-pāpmā viddhyenam iha vairiṇam|| 3.37||

Shloka Translation
BG – Ch. 3- Ver. 37:

Shree Bhagavaan said: It is desire, it is rage, born of rajas, It’s a huge sinner and a voracious eater. Recognize it as a foe (here in this world).

Explanation

Desire makes you do things you don’t want to do. Desire is the mind’s approach for filling a fictitious emptiness. As a result, desire stems from a lack of awareness of your complete potential. Desire is an internal enemy that undermines your happiness and causes you to fail. When your desires aren’t met, you become furious.
Anger is a desire that has gone wrong. Rajas is the source of desire. Restless activity, passion, yearning, lust, and avarice are all manifestations of uncontrollable desire. You are consumed with want. Fill one, and another will come up to take its place. Trying to satisfy desire with the object of want is akin to putting out a fire with fuel. Desire grows greater the more you give in to it.

The mind is agitated by unfulfilled desire. Unfulfilled desire causes stress, which is a psychological disorder. The term kama, or lust, is used to describe not only sexual impulses, but also all drives for material pleasure based on the physiological idea of self. As a result, lust manifests itself in a variety of ways.

The passion mode deludes the soul into believing that worldly items would satisfy it, leading to the creation of cravings to get them. When a want is fulfilled, it gives rise to greed; when it isn’t fulfilled, it gives rise to anger. Under the influence of the three—lust, greed, and anger—one commits sins. Greed is simply heightened want, whereas anger is a frustrated urge. As a result, Shree Krishna declares lust, or desire, to be the source of all evil.
Verse & what we can learn

Desire is the root cause of all evil.

To regulate the desires and have wisdom to make the right choices in life that will lead to material and spiritual progress one needs to have a balanced state of mind. Teachings of Krishna give right direction to life and Daily practice of meditation helps us by giving us the inner strength to follow the path that Krishna has shown us.
There are various types of meditation like Buddhist meditation, heartfulness meditation, mindfulness meditation, meditation for stress, and each meditation benefits are countless. There are also numerous meditation techniques for beginners which help in practicing daily meditation so go ahead and start your journey towards a peaceful and balanced life.

In the Next verse, Shri Krishna tells Arjuna more about desires.

Let’s learn to live with “The Gita” via Meditation Affinity…