Gita 7.11

Sadhak: "Guruji, I'm confused. I've always been taught that desire is the root of all suffering and must be eliminated. Now Krishna says He IS desire? How can the cause of bondage be divine?"

Guru: "Notice the qualification: 'desire not opposed to dharma.' Krishna doesn't claim all desire—He claims dharmic desire. The desire to breathe, to grow, to know truth, to love—are these bondage? They are life itself. Only desire twisted against dharma creates suffering. The energy is neutral; its direction matters."

Sadhak: "But how do I know which desires are dharmic and which aren't? My mind is clever at justifying what it wants."

Guru: "Excellent awareness! The test is not what the ego wants but what happens after fulfillment. Dharmic desire, when fulfilled, brings peace, expansion, connection. Adharmic desire, even when fulfilled, brings more craving, isolation, contraction. Also notice: does the desire arise from fullness or from lack? Divine desire is overflow; egoic desire is trying to fill a hole."

Sadhak: "What about the strength Krishna mentions—strength free from desire and attachment? Doesn't strength always come with ego?"

Guru: "Think of a mother lifting a car to save her child. In that moment, is she calculating what she'll get? Is she attached to being seen as strong? No—pure strength flows through her, unclaimed by ego. This is 'bala kāma-rāga-vivarjitam.' The strong person is not one who uses strength for personal craving but one through whom strength flows unobstructed toward what needs doing."

Sadhak: "So I shouldn't suppress my desires but examine and redirect them?"

Guru: "Suppression creates shadow; what you push down comes back distorted. Examination and transformation work with the energy rather than against it. A desire for fame might be redirected into genuine service that happens to be visible. A desire for wealth might become a desire to create value that naturally generates abundance. The energy remains; its object shifts."

Sadhak: "This feels dangerous. Couldn't people use this to justify anything? 'My desire is dharmic because I want it to be'?"

Guru: "That's why discernment (viveka) is essential. And discernment is not thinking—it's a felt sense that develops through practice, through honest self-examination, through guidance. The ego can fool thought, but a purified heart has no interest in fooling itself. Also, consequences don't lie—if your 'dharmic desire' leaves a trail of harm, your discernment needs refinement."

Sadhak: "What about desires that seem harmless but keep me tied to worldly life—like wanting a comfortable home or good food?"

Guru: "Is comfort itself opposed to dharma? Krishna never said poverty is spirituality. The question is whether comfort serves life or replaces it. A comfortable home that supports your practice, your relationships, your service—why would that be adharmic? A comfort that becomes obsession, that demands exploitation of others, that replaces inner peace with outer accumulation—that's the distortion."

Sadhak: "This is liberating but also challenging. It would be easier to have a simple rule: 'All desire is bad.'"

Guru: "Easier, perhaps, but false—and ultimately impossible to follow. The desire to be desireless is still desire! Krishna's teaching requires more maturity: engaging with life's energy rather than denying it, constantly discerning rather than following rigid rules. This is the path of wisdom, not the path of rules."

Sadhak: "How do I begin practicing this discernment?"

Guru: "Start by dropping judgment about desires that arise. Just watch them. Notice their quality—contracted or expansive? Fearful or loving? Grasping or flowing? Notice their aftermath—do they leave peace or agitation? Over time, this watching develops into instant discernment. The dharmic desire feels different in your body than the adharmic one. Learn that feeling."