Intelligence boosted by scriptural wisdom is our defense against self-centered desire – it helps us see through desire’s false promises. When desire can’t penetrate our intellectual defenses, it sometimes sends doubt as a Trojan Horse.
When we intelligently reject desire, we often pat ourselves on the back for our cleverness. In such an intellectual self-congratulatory mode, when we study scripture, doubts seem to jump out at us – the intelligence is tickled by the prospect of dealing with them.
But our intelligence alone can’t resolve all doubts. When some scriptural points don’t make sense, the intelligence starts questioning scripture itself. This weakens our conviction about the central scriptural teaching to practice bhakti diligently. When our bhakti becomes half-hearted and hesitant, our inner connection with Krishna, the source of all happiness, gets lost.
Due to the resulting inner void, our innate need for happiness makes us look towards outer pleasure promised by self-centered desire. Our doubtfulness about scripture makes us doubt its warning about the deceptiveness of such desire. So we lower our intellectual guard and succumb to the same desire-induced indulgence that we have repeatedly experienced to be empty and miserable. What began as an intelligent-seeming doubt ends as indulgence in an unintelligent desire. Thus doubt serves as desire’s Trojan Horse .
Of course, not all doubts are desire’s Trojan Horses. Nor can we just neglect all doubts. Valid, sincere questions can and should be clarified by consulting realized spiritual teachers. But irrespective of whether doubts get clarified or not, we shouldn’t let them slacken our bhakti. Why? Because doubts will be ultimately removed only by the practice of bhakti, as the Bhagavad-gita (07.01) indicates.
When we persevere in bhakti, desire can’t delude us through doubt – and eventually bhakti will take us beyond both desires and doubts.
Explanation of article:
“Due to the resulting inner void, our innate need for happiness makes us look towards outer pleasure promised by self-centered desire.”
So true this line is ! As we increase our bhakti , read scriptures then this voidness is removed and we feel content. It never lets us take wrong decision in life..Thank you prabhu for your daily post..
Very nice article.Author has very systematically pointed out how a person can be deluded by doubt if he controls his desires by intelligence.Therefore one reqiuires proper spiritual guidance and practitioner should take the instructions seriously and try to follow them.
Thank you pr for this verse,
Dandavat Pranams Prabhu
The analogy of Trojan Horse vividly captures how desire can masquerade as doubt. Thank you Prabhu. Your analysis further enriches our understanding of BG3.40 – “The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust. Through them lust covers the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.”