When a man desires money, his mind is attached to it. But when it is acquired, the mind renounces this attachment and so he feels happy. Had the money provided him joy, he would have never felt sad so long as he had money. But he feels sad, even after possessing that money. When a man desires anything, he becomes dependent on it. Suppose a man has a desire to buy a watch, he feels sad, without it; this is dependence upon it. He thinks that if he acquires money, he can buy a watch i.e. he feels independent if he has money, and dependent without money. But this is a wrong notion. If he acquires money and buys a watch he, instead of having dependence on the watch, has dependence on money, because money is also different from, the self.
When a man’s discrimination is hid by desire, he realizes his dependence on objects, but he does not realize his dependence on money. He thinks that he has become independent, because of money. It is very difficult to renounce such a dependence, which disguises itself as independence.
The world is transitory. All the worldly objects such as the body, wealth, property. etc. are perishing every moment, and are separating from us. But while enjoying these, we forget that they are temporary. We regard them as eternal and permanent. What to say about the ordinary people, even a striver gets entangled in pleasures by considering these as ever lasting. It so happens, because his power of discrimination is enveloped by desire.
The Lord declares, that desire is the constant enemy of the wise, so that a man may save himself from it and may attain bliss, desire being the root of all sins and sufferings.
Once a man was looking for his wife. People asked him, ‘What is the name of your wife?’ He replied, ‘Disgrace’. They again asked, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘Evil.’ People said, ‘Don’t be agitated, she is a very chaste and faithful wife, she will come to you, because disgrace ever accompanies the evil.’ Similarly suffering automatically accompanies the man who hankers after perishable pleasures. A man wants to avoid suffering, but he does not renounce desire, which is the root cause of suffering.
In the Ramcharitmanas it is declared, ‘A man can’t attain bliss, even in a dream, so long as he does not renounce desire’ (Manasa 7/90/1). The Lord by the terms ‘Analena’ and ‘Dushpoorena’, wants to explain that desire for enjoyment of worldly objects is never satiated. The more he enjoys them, the more the desire for these is strengthened. In order to satiate it, he is inclined to sinful acts. When he has desire for money, he wants to earn it by fair or foul means. Then, at the second stage the desire engages him in theft and robberies, while in the third stage it leads him to commit violence and even murder. Thus the desire for pleasure, makes life miserable, here as well as, hereafter.
The main obstacle to the practice of spiritual discipline is the desire for pleasure which is born by the contact of senses with sense objects. This obstacle lingers for a long time. Wherever a striver indulges in pleasure, there his spiritual progress is arrested. As much as even the pleasure (joy) from trance, hinders his progress. Even the desire of ‘Sattvika’ happiness and attachment to it arrest his spiritual progress. ‘Sukhasangena badhnaati (Gita 14/6). Therefore the Lord declared that desire is the constant enemy of a wise (discriminating) striver – ‘na teshu ramate budhah’ (Gita 5/22) and ‘Dukhameva sarvam vivekinah’ (Yogadarshana 2/15).
From Kalyan Kalpatru September 2014 Issue by Swami Ramsukhdasji
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