Transforming Lust into Lo\ “Lust is the craving for salt by a man who is dying of thirst.” —Frederick Buechner (American poet, writer and theologian) by Vraja Bihari Dasa On June 1, 2001, the Crown Prince of Nepal, Dipendra, stumbled into the royal dining hall, ina drunken state. In a frenzy, he gunned down the king and the queen, his other siblings, and a total of eight members of the noble family. He then shot himself in the head. In the wake of this horrific tragedy many conspiracy theories floated. The ‘most accepted version amongst the traumatized citizens points out the Prince's fallout with his: parents. They refused to let him marry the woman he loved. Since the lady the Prince desired wasn't from the aristocracy, they disallowed the union, and in a fit of madness, Dipendra shot all of them dead. his incident is often quoted by Krsna conscious teachers to explain the damaging power of unfulfilled desire. The Vedic scriptures term this extreme hankering as lust. Lust is defined as an intense craving for something or someone and is usually referred to in the context of unbridled sexual desire. I's an example of heightened longing, and yet in common parlance, is 24 Back 10.GooueaD_» February 2022 ‘Scanned with CamScannerdistinguished from passion. Passion could encourage humans to achieve healthy ge the other hand is destructive. lust on LUST LEADS TO ANGER Lust is subtle and can also be masked by one's gracious dealings, And since many of us are not mind readers, it could be hidden behind the fa il nice person’s heart could be an infernal hell, and it’s his anger that could easily expose the conflagration of lust in the heart. le of ci Lust leads to rage in two ways. Firstly, if one strongly covets an object and doesn’t acquire it, he gets frustrated, and as a result wrathful. Secondly, if he does fulfil his desire, he'd soon realize that it’s not as satisfying as he expected. Disillusioned, he could then succumb to an angry emotional outburst. ‘THE INFLUENCE OF THREE MODES When lust overwhelms us we give up everything to satisfy it. Ravana gave up all his broth sons, relatives and best friends, in vain attempt to get Sita. F lust blinded him to lose all near and dear ones. Lust is born of rajas, the mode of passion, and it leads to tamas, the mode of ignorance. When lust attacks a sidhaka (spiritual practitioner), he raises himself from rajas to sattva, the mode of ilar goodness. In a pai environment, «litte yoghurt put in milk would convert it to curd. Similarly, it's the atmosphere of rajas that gives birth to lust Recognizing the influence of the external conditions and the internal surroundings, a sadhaka is ever alert, and at the slight provocation upgrades his consciousness to sattva, and cheeks its downslide to tamas. MAHABHARATA AND BHAGAVAD-GITA’S WISDOM ON LUST In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna offers an incisive and penetrating analysis on lust. “While contemplating the | objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger s. From anger, complete delusion ind from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildei is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the intelligence falling down, he gets stuck on the branch of a tree within the well and a huge crocodile below — vith its jaws wide open, stares on | the king, waiting for him tito death, Meanwhile, a dead ake hanging on the well slither | closer to the king, while two rats | are slowly but surely eating away the branch, In desperation the king hopes to get out of the well only to find the tigress outside waiting with her three cubs. Te looks down and sees sure death staring at him from all sides. Just then a swarm of bees sting him repeatedly, for his fall had | disturbed a bee hive. However, once in a while, x drop of the honey from the broken beehive Is on his outstretched tongue and that is his source of greatest pleasure. He eagerly waits for the Lust is subtle and can also be masked by one’s gracious dealings. And since many of us are not mind readers, it could be hidden behind the facade of civil niceties. material pool.” (2.62-63) ‘This explains the inner trauma of Dipendra ~ the three modes and lust dragged the hapless Prince to a maniac slaughter of his own family Krona further instructs Arjuna that Intelligence is covered by lust as fire is covered by smoke, mirror by dust or embryo by the womb; lust overwhelms our intelligence in one of the three ways. (3.38) Tn the Mahabharata (Vdyoga- parva), Vidura describes to Dhnaristra the plight of a king chased by a tigress. In fear he - nuns and falls into a well. While | next drop to fall on his parched | throat, and prefers to forget the | Painful misery is plaguing. him, and the inevitable d that is awaiting him. ‘The story is narrated 10 graphically drive home the plight of a conditioned soul in this world, We are chased by the gress of lust accompanied by her three cubs of anger, greed and illusion. The well is compared to the dark, suffering material world while the deadly crocodile represents death. 1 aster serpent is Time and the two rats are the day and night that a ‘Scanned with CamScannereating away our life. As the bee sting like various miseries harass us daily, a little of the sex pleasure keeps a person going in the material world. This, nificant pleasure makes him jous to the painful sufferings and death, For the litle honey of sex pleasure, one is willing to pay a huge price of uninterrupted miseries. A foolish person thinks its after all a good deal; the pleasure of sex is worth all the agony and sufferings of this obl aural tradition of India describes adeva, who whi tating instructions to his disciple, also a renowned sage, chanted a verse, | “Lust is so deadly that even the | most learned men are agitated.” The disciple considered himself intelligent and wondered how his spiritual master could chant such a verse. He took liberty in editing | the verse and rewrote it as s deadly and only the most intelligent are unaffected.” While making these changes, the sage ust Many people fear giving up lust because they worry about how one could become happy without sense gratification. Therefore we need to seek the association of advanced devotees who have given up lusty pursuits and are still happy in this world. material world. This is called illusion and therefore the material world is considered to be a very special prison which has no walls, yet all of its inmates are imprisoned within it. The unseen chains of this prison of material world that are holding us are our insatiable lusty desires. PURPOSE OF HUMAN LIFE The purpose of human life is to enquire about and practice spiritual life seriously. Amongst all the species, a human being alone can use his intelligence to go back home, back to Godhead. ‘A human being can understand that there is no real pleasure in this material world. If, however, as humans we don’t use our intelligence for this purpose, then our intelligence is sai covered by lust A well-known story in the 26 February 2022 | thought he had saved his spiritual master from a future embarrassment because the most intelligent people could not be bewildered by lust; i's after all only foolish who are victimised by this force. Meanwhile, Vyasadeva, by his divine powers, understood his student's faulty thinking, Soon after, one day when the disciple was a rained heavily outside. Suddenly there was a desperate knock on the door and he saw a young, beautiful woman dressed scantily and drenched fully, seeking his shelter. He invited her in and provided her with the warmth of the hut. Seeing her gorgeous form, the disciple of Vyasadeva | was overwhelmed by desires and | couldn't take his eyes off her. He went closer and appealed to her to fulfil his carnal desires. She said that being a chaste lady, she | couldn't enjoy with him unless. | they were married. He insisted that they marry then so that he could immediately enjoy her. She insisted that hi residence wasn't the proper place and they should be married only in a nearby temple. ‘The sage urged they immediately leave for the temple, but the woman placed a condition. She would accompany him only if he crawled with her seated on his back. Blinded by the desire to possess her, the sage agreed and knelt low like a horse and she stepped on his back. Hurriedly, he waded through the waters with the lady on his back, even as heavy rains lashed on his body. He struggled and trudged on his knees; he desperately | hurried. All of a sudden, he heard | the lady chant the same verse he had edited a few days ago, “Lust | is deadly and only the most | intelligent are unaffected.” | Stunned, he looked up, and, lo and behold, the lady turned into Vyasadeva, The spiritual master smiled and revealed that he had put on this disguise to teach him a | lesson. He then asked his student if he was right in editing the verse. Humbled and embarrassed, the disciple confessed that lust is indeed an overwhelming force, and even the most powerful can. fall under its sway. The incident was a sobering reminder of this truth. ht there | COPING WITH LUST | The story underscores the | necessity to be careful in our | social dealings and also to become serious in our spiritual ‘Scanned with CamScannerpractises When there is a forest fire, smaller animals like deer and rabbits get scorched by the heat. But the elephant escapes by diving into a lake. His large body helps him stay afloat while the fire doesn’t enter the water. The scriptures liken this to the fire of lust. The elephantlike devotees avoid it by diving into the cooling river of the holy names of Krsna. Although the ravaging desires could incinerate anyone, the devotees find succour in Krsna conscious practices. Many people fear giving up lust because they worry about how one could become happy without sense gratification. Therefore we need to seek the association of advanced devotees who have given up lusty pursuits and are still happy in this world. Their happiness springs from rendering pure devotional service to Krsna, also known as Hrsikesa, the master and controller of our senses. The ultimate solution is to call out to Krsna helplessly. We have to beg Him for mercy and shelter because lust can be controlled only by the transcendental cupid, Krsna, who is the God of love. Our main protection is our humble, prayerful attitude to Krsna. The great devotee khara prays, andhasya me hyta-viveka-maha- dhanasya cauraih prabho balibhir indriya- namadheyaih mohandha-ktipa-kuhare vinipatitasya devesa dehi krpanasya karavalambam “O Lord, the powerful thieves ‘of my senses have blinded me by stealing my most precious poss n, my discrimination, and they have thrown me deep into the pitch-dark well of delusion. Please, O Lord of lords, extend Your hand and save this wretched soul.” Kulasekhara acknowledges | that only by the Lord's intervention we can be saved from this deadly enemy. The taste of sex pleasure is very strong; it is after all a perverted reflection of the highest spiritual pleasure, called the ddi-rasa. Only when we experience satisfaction in Krsna consciousness can we give up the pursuit of the mundane inclinations of sense gratification. For this we need the causeless mercy of Krsna; only by His grace we can be released from the clutches of sex and enter into the What makes this incident tounding is Kala Krsnadasa was not only simple, cultured and clean in his its; he was also personally serving Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is none other than Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. While describing the pastime, Stila Prabhupada writes a sobering purport, “Unless one is very conscientious, the influence of maya can drag one away, even though he be the personal assistant of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, And what to speak of others? This is factual evidence showing that it is possible at any time to fall down from the Lord's association. One need only misuse his little independence. Once fallen and separated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead'’s association, one | becomes a candidate for suffering in the material world.” The taste of sex pleasure is very strong; it is after all a perverted reflection of the highest spiritual pleasure, called the ddi-rasa. Only when we experience satisfaction in Krsna consciousness can we give up the pursuit of sense gratification. bhakti-rasa, the happiness of devotional service. POWER OF KRSNA- CENTRED COMMUNITY gipsies called Bhattatharis, with women and wealth as their bait, lured Kala Kysnadasa to their cult. The episode recounted in the $ Caitanya-caritamsta happened over five-hundred fifty years ago when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu travelled the land of South India. Caitanya Mahaprabhu confronted the gang and saved Kala Krgnadas. However, on his retumn to Jagannatha Puri, the Lord told His associates that He had rejected His servant because of his wayward behaviour. Kali Krsnadasa sincerely repented and the devotees also fervently appealed to the Lord to pardon the young man for his misadventure. Yet the Lord was unmoved. Finally, the four intimate February 2022 10 Got ‘Scanned with CamScanneriates of the Lord — Nityananda, Jagacinanda, Mukunda and Damodara — held a meeting and devised a plan to help assuage Kala Krsna D: aggrieved heart. They realized that a large number of devotees of Caitanya Mahaprabhu who resided in Navadvipa, Bengal, would have known that after four years, the Lord has finally returned from South India to Jagannatha Puri. ‘They would be anxious to know about the various incidents and lessons the Lord taught through His pastimes during this journey. The devotees in Puri reasoned that if Kala Krsnadasa visits them, they'd get enlivened. They presented their plan to the Lord, who didn’t object to it. Kala Krsnadasa was then entrusted with a special service. He carried lots of prasada for the associates of Lord Caitanya in Bengal. When they heard from him about the intimate pastimes of the Lord, they were blissful. Everyone gathered at Advaita Acirya’s house, the senior-most member of the devotee community in Navadvipa. ‘And to honor the Lord’s return, they held a five-day festival of hearing and chanting of the Lord’s names and pastimes. This incident reveals the great blessing a community provides to a struggling spiritual practitioner. Since Kala Krsnadasa took shelter of genuine devotees, he was protected. Besides, he also found a tangible opportunity for service and made a meaningful contribution —he brought all devotees together for a festival of the Lord’s glorification. la Prabhupada comments in this section, “Even though a | person is rejected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the devotees of the Lord do not reject him; therefore the Lord's devotees are more merciful than the Lord ' Himself. The Lord Himself may | sometimes be very hard, but the devotees are always kind." As we struggle in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy called Kali- yuga, we are tempted with many distractions that threaten to take us away from our loving relationship with Krsna. But there is hope. If we stay connected to compassionate devotees, who are true well-wishers of all living entities, we could navigate through the troubles that lust, greed, anger, and other unhealthy habits hurl us into. Kala Krsnadasa example drives home this point emphatically. @ Vraja Bihari Dasa holds a post- graduate degree in International Finance and an MBA from Mumbai University. He is a resi- | dent monk at ISKCON Chowpatty | and an active teacher of bhakti- yoga. Visit his website: www .yogaformodernage.com ‘Scanned with CamScanner