Why is Desire so powerful?
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2 Verse 44 Explained
Introduction
Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjun. This dialogue begins just before the war of Mahabharata is about to begin. On seeing his family in opposition, Arjun is gripped with fear and confusion and wants to run away, but Krishna convinces him to fight and tells Arjun why he today raise his weapons to kill his brothers and relatives in this war.
Bhagavad Gits teaches us how to live life!
The core message of the Bhagavad Gita is considered very powerful for it can fundamentally transform the way you live your life. Bhagavad Gita is also called a summary of Vendantic Knowledge or simply ancient Knowledge.
Bhagavad Gita is crystallized form of the Hindu thought.
Bhagavad Gita is 700 verses long, spread across 18 chapters. Here we will understand Verses 44 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita.
Verse 2.44
भोगैश्वर्यप्रसक्तानां तयापहृतचेतसाम् |
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धि: समाधौ न विधीयते || 44||
bhogaiswvarya-prasaktanam tayapahrita-chetasam
vyavasayatmika buddhih samadhau na vidhiyate
Translation
The ones who are attached to experiencing sensual pleasures and enjoying the material luxuries of life, the minds of such people become infatuated and operate in a delusion.
They thus lack mental determination and their intellect (Buddhi) lacks stability (peace of mind), as their minds are not in their total control.
Commentary:
Desire makes a man a slave to his mind
Krishna is telling Arjun that to Desire is in the core nature of a man.
A common man is always driven by desires in his life. This attraction towards desire is so strong that such a man behaves like an addict. In that addiction, his mind acts like a slave to this desire.
His behaviour is no different than a man who is madly in love with a woman. Afterall love is also like a strong addiction. He desires nothing else apart from his lover. His mind is completely infatuated with that person. All he wants is to have her in his life for without her, his life seems incomplete!
Now, this is also true for a person whose infatuation is just one-sided. In his mind, he can feel those intense emotions. There is a want so strong, that all his decisions are influenced by this craving of his, while the other person might be completely unaware of this man’s existence on this planet. Such a condition is nothing but a mental delusion, and it is so strong that it clouds his judgment at all levels.
That is why Love, whether mutual or one-sided, is a strong feeling. It overpowers your mind, and your ability to think rationally. A man is driven by desire, and unless his desire is met, he remains restless. In a way, his mind has become the master, and makes him do the things which will bring the mind the pleasure it craves.
While we all understand love and desire, we don’t understand why this happens.
Let’s look at this from the perspective of Science or more specifically Neuro-Science.
Neuro-Chemistry defines the state of mind
The neurochemistry of the brain dictates our actions and defines our state of being.
In simple words, we feel the way we do due to certain chemicals which are secreted in our brains. These chemicals are called Neuro-Chemicals. They are basically neurotransmitters that help connect various parts of the brain and relay information. The study of such chemicals and their effect on our mind is called Neuro-Chemistry.
The three most important Neurochemicals are: Oxytocin, Dopamine, and Serotonin
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is also called the Love Chemical, as this neurotransmitter makes people feel love, trust, empathy, compassion, and that feeling of bonding.
Oxytocin is secreted when there is physical contact between two individuals. That is why when you hug someone, you feel good, without exactly knowing why? That is why when you hang around with friends, you feel good.
Oxytocin secretion increases even more when two people have romantic feelings for each other.
When such people get intimate physically and indulge in sexual behavior, it leads to massive Oyxtonin secretion in the brain. This is the reason why lovers feel an increased sense of bonding when they get physically intimate.
Oxytocin is also secreted during Childbirth, which leads to the feeling of attachment of the mother to the child. Now what love can be greater than the love of a mother for her child?
Also, the feeling of belonging to a certain group, the feeling of being part of a team, the pride of being a citizen of a nation- all stem from oxytocin.
Thus if we look closely, this neurochemical Oxytocin has been responsible for the survival and evolution of us Humans. Without Love, without Friendship, without trust, without compassion, without empathy, we would not be the people were today.
The world would not the place, it is, if there wasn’t Love.
And the world would never become what it can, without Love.
This is the power of this neurochemical Oxytocin.
Dopamine
Dopamine is the neurochemical of Desire!
We all have experienced that when you get what you desire, you feel good. But have you ever noticed that even thinking about Desire makes you feel good?
Well, it is due to Dopamine and the way it controls our minds.
When we achieve something, there is dopamine secretion in our brains. It is like the reward for our achievement.
Similarly, when we fail, we feel low, for the dopamine secretion stops. We feel miserable, we feel uneasy, and while this state of mind can last long, it is this very miserable state of mind which motivates us to get up and work for what we truly desire. We start chasing the reward, we start running behind that Desire.
This very act of desiring makes us take action. Acting towards realizing our goals releases this dopamine in our brains. This is the very basis of our existence. The reward of action is this Dopamine, which makes us feel good.
Interestingly, when we are close to getting success, at that time this dopamine release is the highest. This is because this mind wants to give us that final push toward achieving what we desired.
Remember the time when you were running with a certain target in mind? At first, the run feels difficult, but when you reach closer to the finish line, when the goal is in sight, a strange energy takes over you and you push yourself to run faster. A strange sense of motivation comes into you, and the same person who was finding it hard to raise a single step, now runs fast, giving all that he has.
Thus anticipation of success makes our mind secrete dopamine. It is the final push which we need.
But there is a strange thing that happens. When we reach the finish line, we still feel happy, but the feeling that we felt when we are taking that final lap, isn’t there.
Simply speaking, the feeling of Happiness which we felt just before the goal was reached, seemed more powerful than the feeling of happiness we experience after we have reached the goal!
This happens as the brain releases more dopamine in anticipation of the achievement of a desire, as compared to when we actually achieve that desire!
This is monumental, as this fact means that
we will always feel happier chasing a Desire than actually achieving it.
Think about the time when you fell in love. At that time, just the thought of being together with your lover felt amazing. But when you got married to your love and started living together, the feeling of happiness was still there, but it wasn’t that intense.
The same holds true for Sex- the most fundamental desire of any human being. When you anticipate having sex with someone you find attractive, it arouses you. When this anticipation is going to turn into reality, when you are about to undress that person who you find sexy, this arousal is at its peak, the highest it can be. But once the act of sex has started, from that point, the arousal only goes downhill.
That is why when you imagine someone in your head, they feel more attractive than when you see them in real life.
This is true for every desire!
So the truth is that we feel the maximum passion when we are about to achieve something, rather than we actually achieve it.
This is the secret of Desire. This is how desire controls us.
Even after fulfilling a desire, we feel a sense of incompletion. We don’t feel the same rush we felt when we were chasing that desire. So we start desiring again, for we again want to feel that rush.
Therefore, the HUNT always feels more exciting than the Kill!
Thus, now we know, that it is in the nature of desire to remain unfulfilled. For one desire on completion, gives birth to another desire, and no matter how much we achieve, we just keep on desiring!
That is how Dopamine controls us and makes us a slave to Desires!
Serotonin
Serotonin is called the NeuroChemical of Happiness.
Even Dopamine gives us momentary happiness, but Serotonin is different from Dopamine.
Dopamine secretion makes us crave more Dopamine. That is why Desire always makes us want more. Whatever gives us pleasure, we want more of it.
We now know this because we know the nature of desire is to remain unfulfilled.
Desire is like a bucket which no bottom, which can never fill even if you pour an ocean into it. It is like hunger which never ends, no matter if you eat the entire world. It is the fire which wants to keep burning, even after it has consumed an entire forest.
But Serotonin by nature is an inhibitory neurochemical. It acts completely opposite as Dopamine does. This means that when Serotonin is secreted, it gives you a sense of contentment, a sense of fullness, a sense of completeness.
You are happy, but this happiness seems to last.
If Dopamine was like a burning fire, then Serotonine is like the warmth of ambers.
While dopamine craves you to have more, Serotonin makes you feel that have everything you need.
While Dopamine wants you to run behind your passion with energy, Serotonin allows you to feel the peace within, and be content and grateful for what you have!
While the Happiness you feel due to Dopamine is like a spark of fire, the happiness felt due to Serotinine is like the warmth of a sunny day. It lasts longer, it makes you feel better, and it makes feel complete.
Serotonin is thus released while Meditation, when you have no thoughts in your head, when you feel content with yourself. In that stillness you realise that you have nothing to chase for you ARE everything. That is when you feel peaceful, content, and complete.
This is called Sukh!
Thus serotonin gives you Sukh!
Krishna means we are slaves to Desires
Thus now we know how Neurochemistry affects your state of being. We also know the nature of desire. We now know the key to lasting Happiness.
In light of this knowledge, Krishna’s words make sense. In this verse Krishna is saying the same thing to Arjun but in a different way. He means that a person keeps on running behind desire, like a blind and hungry man. He thinks eating will fulfil his hunger but due to his blindness, he is unable to see that Desire in itself is an illusion.
Desire is Maya, and no matter how much he indulges, his hunger will never go away. He will just keep on craving for different things.
Thus Desire makes man his slave, and takes over his mind. In this blindness, the man keeps on running. He chases material pleasures for his senses, and after one chase, another begins.
So ironically, while he is running so that he can feel peace and rest, but this running never ends, for the achievement of each goal gives birth to one more chase. The desire never dies.
So how can one feel at peace when one never stops running?
Thus to feel true happiness, one needs to drop the title of a slave and become master of his own mind. And one can only do so when he opens his eyes and sees through this cloud of Maya and understands the truth of Desire.
This is Krishna’s message to Arjun
