Gita Acharan

K rishna says, “Just like fire is enveloped in smoke; a mirror by mal (dust); an embryo by the womb; wisdom is covered by desire which is an insatiable fire and is the constant enemy of the wise” (3.38-3.39). A point to be noted is that even after attaining wisdom we should be aware of the fact that desires are constant enemies. Earlier, Krishna had said that gunas can hypnotise ( sammohit ) us (3.29). Desire, born out of rajo guna does the same. He further elaborated that the senses, mind and intellect are said to be the seat of desires and through these, desires hypnotise our soul by eclipsing its wisdom (3.40). Krishna clarifies that in due course of time he who has perfected the yoga finds the wisdom in the self (4.38). Even if one is the most sinful of sinners, one shall safely cross the sea of sins by the raft of wisdom (4.36). The fire of wisdom reduces all actions to ashes (4.37). The essence is that while wisdom is like fire, desires envelop it like smoke. ...