[Chaturamnaya] Jagadguru Speaks: Curb Craving, Cultivate Contentment

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Around the beginning of the month, a nugget of Wisdom from the Jagadguru may be posted
on the Chaturamnaya list : http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/chaturamnaya )
 
 
The srutis that expound our sanatana dharma show man the
path of sreyas. Next in importance to the srutis are the smritis,
itihasas and puranas. There are a number of useful precepts and
morals that man has to know through them. 
 
One of them is curbing excess desires. “An avaricious man
with endless desires comes to ruin” is the message often
conveyed either directly or indirectly through many
illustrations and anecdotes in our scriptures.
 
Man can never be happy by submitting himself to the 
demands of his throbbing desires. As the fields of sense 
gratification and desires are inexhaustible, fulfilling each of 
them and then attaining satisfaction is impossible. 
 
A desire fulfilled gives rise to a host of new ones. Thus, a 
man will always be tormented by the insatiable list, and 
peace would elude him till the end. Our scriptures advise 
thus: 
 
या दुस्त्यजा दुर्मतिभिर्जीर्यतो या न जीर्यते |
तां तृष्णां दुःखनिवहां शर्मकामो द्रुतं त्यजेत्‌ |
 
The wise man seeking peace should give up, at the earliest, 
those desires which a dissolute person would find it hard to 
abandon, and those which do not abate even in the face of
infirmity and thus become insatiable by their very nature.
It is the essence of prudence to understand the traps in
the form of desires before one succumbs to them.
May everyone understand this well and lead a peaceful
and purposeful life.