Chapter 3, Verse 43
evaṁ buddheḥ paraṁ buddhvā
saṁstabhyātmānam ātmanā
jahi śatruṁ mahā-bāho
kāma-rūpaṁ durāsadam
Thus, knowing that which is greater than the intellect and fixing the mind with the help of the intellect in Karma Yoga, O Arjuna, slay this enemy in the form of desire, which is difficult to overcome.
Krishna says, “Remove desire! Slay it! Cut it out!” Something which is apart from you, is not you. If it is fully under control, you can get rid of it, you can eradicate it completely from yourself. Make your mind become single-pointed towards God through meditation.
Realise that you have the Supreme Divine Narayana inside of you. Then the desire for the outside will be removed and transformed. Realise that the soul is far greater than these things. The Truth about the soul is deeply mysterious because it cannot be known by the mind. It is only a few who have a controlled mind, who are centred in the Lord, who are fully dedicated to the spiritual path, who receive the Grace of Realisation. Krishna says that everybody is called, but only a few are chosen. Many people practice meditation, but only a few really attain Realisation. And who are these few? The ones who are completely surrendered.
In Karma Yoga, if you do everything in this world with an attitude of surrender, you will attain Him. Krishna says to Arjuna, “Without controlling the senses, it will not be possible. If you give in, you will bring about your own damnation. But with control, you will free yourself. It is in your hands!” God will help you when you start helping yourself. Once you take your first step, He will give you courage; He will give you support; He will bring you to where you have to be.
In the last part of this chapter, Krishna sees that Arjuna is very capable of destroying these desires: “There can be no doubt that one can vanquish and kill desire. However difficult it may appear, desires can be transformed.”
Chapters 1 to 7 of the Gita are about the Self and how to transform. Krishna will teach Arjuna gradually, in different phases, in different steps – He will remind Arjuna, “Awake! Don’t sleep!” Be wise! Don’t go into your weakness. You always have a choice: be weak or be wise! You have a human body, and in this human body, God has given you the power to find Him! This means that He has great hope for you! He has great hope that you can do it! He is waiting for you. If you let yourself be weak, He can’t help you. But if you make yourself strong, He will carry you.
Here ends the third chapter of the Bhagavad Gita on the power of action.
Bhagavad Gita
