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Chapter 3
A Vital Fact
Everyone is independent, qualified, deserving and able to realize God, but it is not so with desire, because these can never be satiated. The Lord, has bestowed upon beings this human body, so that they may attain Him. So they can easily renounce desires, but it is because of their attachment to the worldly persons and objects etc., that it seems difficult to renounce desires.
The Lord, creates unfavourable circumstances, so that man may be warned, not to have desire for favourable circumstances, otherwise these will lead him to suffering. It is a rule that he who has a desire for worldly persons and objects, cannot escape pain. The Lord declares, "The pleasures that are born of contacts (with objects) are only sources, of pain (Gita 5122).
The soul possesses infinite strength. it is because of the power derived from the soul, that intellect, mind and senses, seem powerful. But It forgets Its strength because of Its affinity for the insentient, and regards itself as subordinate to the intellect, mind and senses etc. Therefore, it is necessary to know the Self, and recognize Its power, in order to kill the enemy in the form of desire.Desire, is born out of affinity of the self, for the insentient (Matter) and it resides in it, but seems to reside in the self. If one does not accept affinity for the insentient, desire has no existence. Therefore, when the Lord urges Arjuna, to slay desire, He means to say, that desire has no existence of its own. A desire appears and it automatically disappears. So, if one has no new desires, the old ones automatically disappear.
A man becomes aware of something wanting in himself, only when he regards the worldly objects, such as the body etc., as 'I', 'mine' and 'for me', but he wants to make up for the lack, by worldly materials. So, he has desire to acquire these. But it is impossible to make up that lack, by those materials because he (the self) is imperishable, while these are perishable. Thus, he by desiring transitory objects, gains nothing, but suffering. Therefore, by calling desire an enemy, the Lord urges Arjuna to slay it.
This desire can be easily eliminated through the Discipline of Action, because a striver following the Discipline of Action, performs every major or minor act, for the good of others, rather than to satiate his own desire. All his actions are performed, for the welfare of others without any selfish motive. All his resources, are not his own, but have been acquired and are likely to be lost. So, he uses, them, for the welfare of the world, by regarding these a.s the world's, without any selfish motive. Thus, he gets rid of desires easily, and consequently, attains his aim of God-realization. Then, nothing further remains to be done, to be known, and to be acquired for him.
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