Devanagari
श्री भगवानुवाच
काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भवः ।
महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् ॥ ३७ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa
rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ
mahāśano mahā-pāpmā
viddhy enam iha vairiṇam
Synonyms
śri-bhagavān uvāca
—
the Personality of Godhead said
;
kāmaḥ
—
lust
;
eṣaḥ
—
this
;
krodhaḥ
—
wrath
;
eṣaḥ
—
this
;
rajaḥ-guṇa
—
the mode of passion
;
samudbhavaḥ
—
born of
;
mahā-aśanaḥ
—
all-devouring
;
mahā-pāpmā
—
greatly sinful
;
viddhi
—
know
;
enam
—
this
;
iha
—
in the material world
;
vairiṇam
—
greatest enemy.
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: 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.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
37. The Lord said: It is lust and then anger, arising from the mode of passion. Know this as the great devourer, the great ferocious one, the enemy.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
37. The Lord said: It is lust and then anger, arising from raja guṇa. Know this as the great devourer, the great sinful one, the enemy.
Purport
When a living entity comes in contact with the material creation, his eternal love for Kṛṣṇa is transformed into lust, in association with the mode of passion. Or, in other words, the sense of love of God becomes transformed into lust, as milk in contact with sour tamarind is transformed into yogurt. Then again, when lust is unsatisfied, it turns into wrath; wrath is transformed into illusion, and illusion continues the material existence. Therefore, lust is the greatest enemy of the living entity, and it is lust only which induces the pure living entity to remain entangled in the material world. Wrath is the manifestation of the mode of ignorance; these modes exhibit themselves as wrath and other corollaries. If, therefore, the mode of passion, instead of being degraded into the mode of ignorance, is elevated to the mode of goodness by the prescribed method of living and acting, then one can be saved from the degradation of wrath by spiritual attachment.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead expanded Himself into many for His ever-increasing spiritual bliss, and the living entities are parts and parcels of this spiritual bliss. They also have partial independence, but by misuse of their independence, when the service attitude is transformed into the propensity for sense enjoyment, they come under the sway of lust. This material creation is created by the Lord to give facility to the conditioned souls to fulfill these lustful propensities, and when completely baffled by prolonged lustful activities, the living entities begin to inquire about their real position.
This inquiry is the beginning of the Vedānta-sūtras, wherein it is said, athāto brahma-jijṣāsā: one should inquire into the Supreme. And the Supreme is defined in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś ca, or, “The origin of everything is the Supreme Brahman.” Therefore the origin of lust is also in the Supreme. If, therefore, lust is transformed into love for the Supreme, or transformed into Kṛṣṇa consciousness – or, in other words, desiring everything for Kṛṣṇa – then both lust and wrath can be spiritualized. Hanumān, the great servitor of Lord Rāma, exhibited his wrath by burning the golden city of Rāvaṇa, but by doing so he became the greatest devotee of the Lord. Here also, in Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord induces Arjuna to engage his wrath upon his enemies for the satisfaction of the Lord. Therefore, lust and wrath, when they are employed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, become our friends instead of our enemies.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Lust, composed of the desire for the sense objects, impels a man to sin. A man, being urged by lust, engages in sin. This lust, appearing in a different form, becomes visible as anger. This means that lust, being obstructed by someone, transforms into anger. Lust arises from the mode of passion, and from lust in mode of passion arises anger in the mode of ignorance.
“But after the fulfillment of desire, the desire should be finished.”
“No, this lust is a great devourer. It is impossible to satisfy the expectations of desire.”
As the smṛti says,
yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiraṇyaṁ paśavaḥ striyaḥ
nālam ekasya tat sarvam iti matvā śamaṁ vrajet
Understanding that all that is available on earth in the form of food, gold, animals and women is not enough for one person, one should go about with peaceful mind. Mahābhārata, Anuśāśana Parvā, Ch.13 [Note: There is a similar verse in Bhāgavatam 9.19.13]
“If it is not possible to make an alliance with lust by giving (dāna), then is it possible to bring under control by sāma and bheda?”
“No, lust is a very great demon (mahā-pāpmā).”
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
The Lord speaks. “Desire (kāma) for sense objects like sound, caused by previous impressions (vāsanā), instigates the jīva to commit sin even though the jīva does not want to do it. Kāma is the instigator.”
“But anger is also seen to be the instigator in such things as cursing. You have said this in verse 34 (raga and dveṣa).”
“True, but anger is not different from kāma. This kāma, when obstructed by some living being, becomes anger, just as milk becomes yogurt by addition of acid culture. The victory of kāma and krodha are one.”
“How would you describe this kāma?”
“It arises from the mode of rajas. This means that with the conquest of rajo guṇa by increase of sattva, kāma can be conquered. One cannot extinguish it by giving it what it wants (dāna): it is most voracious (mahāśanaḥ). The smṛti says:
yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiraṇyaṁ paśavaḥ striyaḥ
nālam ekasya tat sarvam iti matvā śamaṁ vrajet
Understanding that all that is available on earth in the form of food, gold, animals and women is not enough for one person, one should go about with peaceful mind. Mahābhārata, Anuśāśana Parvā, Ch.13
Nor can one control it using kind words (sāma), or by division (bheda), for it is very evil (mahā papmā). Being very powerful, since it forces one to engage even in forbidden acts by making one lose ones sense of discrimination, know that it is an enemy even in giving in to its demands (iha). Because it is impossible to reach conciliation with kāma by the three methods dāna, sāma, and bheda, it should be destroyed by daṇḍa, which will later be described.
The Lord, residing within all actions, sets everything in motion everywhere, similar to the rain falling everywhere, but kāma (arising from vāsanās attached to the jīva) directly causes the actions, and thus is called the personification of sin (pāpmā) in verse 34.
Surrender Unto Me
It interesting to note that lust is subtle, born of the mode of passion, and is not so easily noticeable until it is transformed into the mode of ignorance and turns into ang wrath.
And lust must turn into wrath because it is impossible to satisfy lust. Why? What is the example that Krsna gives? Because it burns like fire. If one has fire and adds fuel to it, the fire will not be satisfied or subdued but will burn even more fiercely.
Since passion breeds lust and lust turns into wrath, into ignorance, we should be meticulous in avoiding this mode of passion because it breeds lust which is "the all‑devouring sinful enemy of this world". It steals away one's intelligence.