Karma Yoga - Part 4 - Desire

Chapter 4 Part 4

Desire or Kaama

Desire is the cause for karma. The desire(kaama) from rajo guna causes evil karma. This desire forms from rajo guna and it increases rajo guna. The rajasa-kaama is fulfilled by any crooked means in the aim of acquiring worldly pleasures. Desperation is the result of unfulfilled desire. Moreover it produces anger if anything or anybody create obstacle for desire. Anger leads to do evil actions. However, rajasa-kaama makes one to move away from righteous path. Rajasa kaama cannot be satisfied by enjoying this kaama.

Enemy in the path of self knowledge

Rajasa kaama is the enemy in the path of athma jnana. Kaama obstructs knowledge appearing from within. Kaama becomes an obstacle for experiencing soul. Kaama affects in the levels of budhi, mind and senses. In other words, budhi, mind and senses are the seat of kaama. Such kaama, by obstructing soul experience, allures a person in worldly pleasures.

How kaama works through senses, mind and budhi?

Senses experience sense matters. Then mind gets attached with sense matters in the form of raaga and dwesha. Then budhi decides that the aim of life is to satisfy or fulfill the raaga and dwesha. Thus the kaama, which starts as sense experiencing in the level of senses grows as raaga-dwesha through the level of mind then reaches budhi as aim of life and thus soul is faded away fully.

How to conquer kaama?

Kaama should be conquered from the level of senses. So one has to try to control senses first. (refer an early post on 'how to control senses'). Then conquer kaama at the level of mind. Teach mind the principles of athma jnana by learning. Then teach budhi by athma vichara(thinking about soul principles). So senses becomes free from kaama first, then mind and then budhi.

In the path of finding the ultimate cause, one has to start from visible world. That is the sense matters or worldly matters which comes first. The senses are superior to sense matters (vishaya). Mind is superior to senses and budhi is superior to mind. Then the ultimate cause lies superior to budhi and is called consciousness or or soul or Brahma.

So one has to conquer kaama through this ascending path from sense matters to budhi in order to control senses, mind and budhi. Budhi has to be invoked by thatwa vichara.  Then budhi can persuade senses to withdraw from running after vishayas. When senses turn inward, the mind becomes calm. So budhi can turn towards soul and can feel ananda. If we try to control senses or mind or budhi forcibly, desire cannot be conquered. When we try to control senses,the desire tries to hide in mind or budhi. If we try to control mind the desire hides in senses or budhi. Same thing happens with budhi also. So one has to try to conquer senses, mind and budhi by controlling desire from them all at same time.