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Hindu Scriptures on How to Control Desires

Quotes and teachings on how to control desires from the Hindu scriptures.

To obstruct thoughts that are inimical to yoga, contrary thoughts should be brought in. (Yoga Sutra)

O Desire, I know your roots, you rise from imagination; I will not imagine and hence shall destroy you with your root. (Mahabharata)

Salutations to the gods. Desire performed the act. Desire did the act. Desire is
doing the act, not I. Desire is the agent, not I. Desire causes the doer to act, not I. O Desire, fascinating in form, let this oblation be offered to thee. Svaha! (Mahanarayana Upanishad)

Desire can be overcome by meditation on the heart that has given up all attachment to sense-objects. (Yoga Sutra)

When all desires clinging to one’s heart fall of, then a mortal becomes immortal (and) attains Brahman here. (Katha Upanishad)

When a man gives up all desires which arise in the mind and is content in the Self alone, then he is said to be steady in wisdom. (Bhagavad Gita 2:55)

As the waters of different rivers enter the ocean, which, though full on all sides, remains undisturbed, likewise he in whom all desires are merged attains peace; not he who longs for desires. (Bhagavad Gita 2:70)

Bhagavad Gita 3:37: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath; know this as the sinful, all-devouring enemy in the world.

Bhagavad Gita 3:41: Therefore, O Arjuna, best of the Bharatas, first curb this great symbol of sin (lust) by controlling the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and realization.

Bhagavad Gita 5:23: He who is able to endure here on earth, before casting off this body, the urges of desire and anger, is a yogi, and he is a happy man.

Bhagavad Gita 6:24: Abandoning without reserve all the desires born of the imagination, by the mind curbing the entire group of the senses on every side.

Bhagavad Gita 16:21: There are three gates leading to hell—lust, anger, and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul.

Kathopanishad 2:1:1: The Self-existent Lord inflicted an injury upon the senses to turn them outward. Therefore, a man sees the outside things and not the inner Self. A rare discriminating man, desiring immortality, turns his eyes inward and sees the Self within.

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:4: He who knows that highest Brahman becomes even Brahman. In his family, no one who knows not the Brahman will be born. He crosses over sorrow, he crosses over sin, and being free from the knots of the heart, he becomes immortal.

Chandogya Upanishad 8:12:1: The Infinite is bliss. There is no bliss in anything finite. Only the Infinite is bliss. One must desire to understand the Infinite.

Yajurveda 40:8: He who perceives all beings as not distinct from his own self and his own self as the Self of all beings, does not by virtue of that perception, hate anyone.

Manu Smriti 2:1: Let the twice-born student, after having studied the Veda and duly completed his studentship, dwell in the house of his teacher, controlling his senses.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1:15: When the mind loses all desires for objects seen or heard, it acquires a state of utter desirelessness which is called non-attachment.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2:7: Attachment is that which follows identification with pleasurable experiences.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2:30: Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (celibacy), and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness) are the Yamas.

Bhagavad Gita 6:5: One must elevate, not degrade, oneself by one's own mind. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.

Bhagavad Gita 6:6: For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.

Bhagavad Gita 6:10: A transcendentalist should always try to concentrate his mind on the Supreme Self; he should live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his mind. He should be free from desires and feelings of possessiveness.

Bhagavad Gita 6:16: There is no possibility of one's becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much, or does not sleep enough.

Bhagavad Gita 6:17: He who is temperate in his habits of eating, sleeping, working, and recreation can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.

Bhagavad Gita 18:53: Having abandoned egoism, power, arrogance, desire, anger, and proprietorship, free from the notion of 'mine', and tranquil, he is fit for becoming Brahman.