This is a lecture given on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 verse 40 on the evening of June 16, 2011 in Timisoara, Romania.
asyadhishthanam ucyate
etair vimohayaty esha
TRANSLATION
The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust. Through them lust covers the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.
PURPORT
The enemy has captured different strategic positions in the body of the conditioned soul, and therefore Lord Krishna is giving hints of those places, so that one who wants to conquer the enemy may know where he can be found. Mind is the center of all the activities of the senses, and thus when we hear about sense objects the mind generally becomes a reservoir of all ideas of sense gratification; and, as a result, the mind and the senses become the repositories of lust. Next, the intelligence department becomes the capital of such lustful propensities. Intelligence is the immediate next-door neighbor of the spirit soul. Lusty intelligence influences the spirit soul to acquire the false ego and identify itself with matter, and thus with the mind and senses. The spirit soul becomes addicted to enjoying the material senses and mistakes this as true happiness. This false identification of the spirit soul is very nicely explained in the Srimad–Bhagavatam(10.84.13):
yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri–dhatuke
sva–dhih kalatradishu bhauma ijya–dhih
yat–tirtha–buddhih salile na karhicij
janeshv abhijneshu sa eva go-kharah
“A human being who identifies this body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of birth worshipable, and who goes to the place of pilgrimage simply to take a bath rather than meet men of transcendental knowledge there, is to be considered like an ass or a cow.
BG 03.40 Get Your Deluxe Carrot 2011-06-16
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