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Quotes On Overcoming Desires In Hinduism

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The first and the most important step in transcending desires is to become aware of one’s true nature, which is beyond the body and the mind. However, one might argue that the desire to know God or Brahman is also a desire.

However, such a desire is not really a desire, because such a desire becomes the nemesis of all desires. It is a desire to kill the mind, which is the source of all desires.

 

This desire to realize one’s true nature is the beginning of the path to attain a never-ending bliss and the only way to get liberation.

Transcending desires is possible only by abstention from fresh desires and the eradication of old desires. This can be achieved only by a process of continuous introspection and discernment.

Dispassion towards sense-objects and the withdrawal of the senses from such sense-objects would result in a detached attitude in all day-today dealings and this practice would eventually lead to desirelessness.

Source – Prabuddha Bharata magazine July 2017 page 14

In Hinduism, the concept of overcoming desires is central to attaining spiritual growth and liberation (moksha). Here are some significant quotes from various Hindu scriptures and teachings that reflect this theme:

  1. Bhagavad Gita 2:70:

    • "A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires."

  2. Bhagavad Gita 2:55:

    • "When a person completely gives up all desires of the mind and is satisfied in the self by the self, then he is said to be a person of steady wisdom."

  3. 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, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world."

  4. Bhagavad Gita 5:23:

    • "Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well-situated and is happy in this world."

  5. Bhagavad Gita 6:24:

    • "One should engage oneself in the practice of yoga with determination and faith, and not be distracted by anything else. Giving up all material desires, one should control all the senses on all sides by the mind."

  6. 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."

  7. Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.4:

    • "Having realized the Self, which is soundless, intangible, formless, undecaying, and likewise tasteless, eternal, and odourless; having realized that which is without beginning and end, beyond the great, and unchanging—one is freed from the jaws of death."

  8. Katha Upanishad 1.3.14:

    • "When all desires that dwell in the heart are cast away, then a mortal becomes immortal and attains Brahman (the supreme reality)."

  9. Manusmriti 2.94:

    • "The desire to learn scripture, a person’s only wealth in youth, becomes the same desire for wealth and family in his middle age, and that same desire finally becomes the desire for peace when he is old."

  10. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2.3:

    • "The afflictions are ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life. These are overcome through practice and detachment."

These quotes highlight the importance of overcoming desires to attain inner peace, wisdom, and ultimate liberation in Hindu philosophy.