“Being transcendentally situated, he is above the material modes of nature, but still he is the doer of all work, as he is the original source of all senses.”

Context of the Verse:

            Speaker Lord Krishna says to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Previous Verses 3.40-42 Krishna started with the dominance hierarchy (senses < mind < intellect < Atman) and pointed to desire (Kama) as the ultimate foe. This Verse (3.43) Krishna closes this method: use the wisdom of the Atman to steady the mind and destroy desire.

Key Teachings in This Verse:

• Self-Realisation is the remedy for desire:

1. Atman (Self) is superior to intellect–knowing this is destructive of the strength of desire.
2. In harmony with Vedantic philosophy (“You are not the mind; you are Atman pure.”).

• Two-Step Process:

1. “Sanstabhya Atmanam Atmana” > Withdrawing into the higher Self.
2. “Jahi Satrum“>Slay desire, the “Durasadam” (insurmountable) enemy.

• Practical Yoga:

1. Echoes Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra2 (“Yoga is the calming of the fluctuations of the mind.”).

Relevance to Arjuna:

• Arjuna’s issue was caused by a desire (attachment to kin and fear of sin).
• Krishna’s order (Jahi Satrum!) the war cry–not of external but of the internal enemy (Kama).
• Adapts him for Nishkrama

Explanation:

            Thus, Krishna has described the internal structure. Senses are stronger than dull matter, you have matter under control. To think using higher senses than senses is (Manaha) the Mind. With the mind, you can manage your senses. Above mentation intelligence. Intelligence we can control the senses, and above intelligence is the mind. You choose. I have to use my five senses to comprehend the Bhagavad Gita, you decide. Someone would like to be able to use my intellectual ability to work on resolving that puzzle. You are the controller of your own intelligence. So therefore, Krishna says that you are the supreme. You must attempt to repress this unholy desire by spiritual force. Seek to govern your senses by studying up knowledge of spiritualising, the higher self, spiritual power. You people should pull in your lower sides.

            Now, I suppose though I may know, all right, it is out of my hand, I want my senses to be controlled at the level of the senses. We need to try to control the brain, not outside of the brain. There’s no way we can try and control it by mental practices. Very difficult. If you would like to control the mechanical movement of the wheel by rotating the wheel. So that is the very foolish way of stopping this vehicle, by higher energy I control lower energy, suddenly I switch off the ignition, and then this wheel will also stop, the fan also stop. It is also the advice to control the senses. One must know that Spirit, in turn, sits at the head of this internal hierarchy. Currently, the spirit is terribly weak, we have to make the spirit powerful, and by the spiritual power, the intelligence will remain under control. Intelligence is “next door,” the enemy of spirit, you might say—so intelligence becomes purified when we have spiritual strength. You should rule the mind with uncontaminated intelligence and the sensual culture by the controlled mind. Thus, we can kill the enemy of lust. Take them away from me, my senses, my intellect. So, Krishna has summarised this very crucial chapter of Karma Yoga, by this one, this enemy is identified, all the problems of this life are just because of this enemy called lust. The tendency of sense enjoyment away from Krishna, and the cruder section of it is the sex pleasure, it is the whole system of Varnashrama that takes a man finally from Shudra to Brahmana to ultimately Sanyas, so that he is not disturbed by this propensity. So, let’s not have this attitude, I suffer in life and so on, if I don’t enjoy, no. Anyway. We are not happy with this kind of so-called happiness that is there by fulfilling our lust. This very happiness is the real enemy of all of us. If only, happiness would be here, as the one a Maut insect feels when it sees a flame. That very happiness is the death of the Maut. It leaps into a fire, dies. Again and again, we are facing all the problems only due to the so-called flickering happiness, which is similar to blood, never quenching our thirst. The pleasure we desire is love for God. Because you follow so scientifically, professionally, we have to follow a spiritual life under the direction of a pure devotee, and then desires are transformed into love of Krishna. And then we’ll know why I was craving this thing.

            So, what we should say, is, we will, recommend using a. So, what we should say is, we will recommend using a. Please do not leave work because artificially you become a Sanyasi, that is not our proposition in mind. The thoughts will never forget.  You need to work, if not for yourself to guide mundane masses as you think. But how should you work without getting attached to the results of activity? And all the labour thereof shall be given to me. Tell me, how can these results be offered unto me, and mine be bent on me, how can they ever think of me so? You please fight. “And then when journal, when it tells Krishna ‘Krishna’, I may do things which come into my knowledge that makes me do wrong things. That is called lust. So, Krishna tells Arjuna, yes, in the beginning you control your senses and then. Spiritual strength -how can we obtain spiritual strength? It is just like a leaf and a root. Let this Shastrik illustration cling to your memory.” And the riddles of life will unfold. So, if we feed and are feeding, then we will be getting nourishment, we will be strong, and we will be able to control this lust. And the riddles of life will unfold. So here we end the third chapter, Karma Yoga.