There are three gates leading to this hell-lust, anger, and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul. BG (16.21)
Here we have description of the three gunas of material nature with their destructive forces. Anger is attributed to the material mode of ignorance, lust to the material mode of passion and greed to the material mode of sattva.
This is another way Shri Krishna tells Ajruna that he has to act on the transcendental platform and forget about the material mode of operation.
In the material world the three gunas function simultaneously. In some situations and individuals sattva will prevail, in others rajas or tamas. They all are necessary for the proper function of the material machine.
But when a mode becomes in excess and overpowers the rest of the rest of the gunas then it shows its destructive tendency. Getting out of balance is the door to hell.
Anger comes when there is excessive dissatisfaction with the result of certain activity. Ananta Shesha, the source of all anger, is extremely tolerant of the misdeeds of the conditioned living entities. But there is time when He sees that the purpose of the material world to serve as a platform for spiritual enlightenment is excessively misused and He destroys it. The material creation has to start over… The little jiva also has this tendency to end things which has to be controlled; otherwise he or she has to start over once things are broken. Sometimes it is just a broken object that needs to be repaired, sometimes a person breaks the relationships with others and he is cast in different associations. But it is most often the nagging feeling that a person has that he has not achieved what he planned that destroys the present body and leads to taking another birth trying to fulfill desires in a different way.
Passion comes from the enthusiasm to express one’s idea and to start afresh. After the destruction a person wants to have everything new. He enjoys the new look. This platform is short-lived as thing quickly start deteriorating if there is no maintenance. This is where sattva comes. Lord Vishnu is the sole expression of sattva because only He can provide the ingredients for constant maintenance. Maintenance is the most difficult thing to do as it has to constantly fight with creation and destruction with the desires of expansion and dissatisfaction with the result. This is the material platform of sattva. It is caught between the other two gunas. And the only way it can go on steady is by attachment which is also seen as some end result to the whole endeavor. Extreme attachment makes one unable to make changes. One feels depressed when he has to let go off something or someone.
The spiritual platform is sometimes compared to the mode of sattva and thus it is called suddha sattvabecause of the attribute of attachment one experiences solely to Shri Krishna. But we should understand that this is the only similarity.
A person who is on the transcendental platform does not become angry because he is self-satisfied in his position no matter the external expression of it because he keeps a constant link with Shri Krishna in the heart. When there is satisfaction in one’s position there is no anger. A self-satisfied person is not lusty because he knows that everything he wants is automatically provided by Shri Krishna, he just needs to ask. Where there is a constant satisfaction of one’s desires there is no lust. And finally a self-realized person is attached solely to Shri Krishna. He knows that Shri Krishna is everything and all and there is no chance of losing Him or even loosing the relationships with others who he loves. Everything is eternal, although it may seem changing and expanding due to the personal nature of the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna.
The one that has come to this realization has come to accept his eternity. He can live forever in one situation and not have a want of anything. He is not moved when everything around is changing. He has become druva—fixed. We all know how the pole Star or Druvaloka is actually located in the spiritual world although we can see it with our material eyes. Druva is the only star that does not move but everything else moves around it. He is the pivot for the entire material world. A devotee that becomes fixed is also like a pivot for everyone around him. Through this motion he can pull everything to the spiritual center which is the fixed spiritual platform of existence.
The spiritual world is not a material location it is in everyone’s heart. Try to understand the mechanics of anger, lust and greed and do not succumb to them. Do not go down to hell, climb up to the spiritual platform that will sustain you forever.
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