Suppose we are fighting a war. We will be on guard against those who threaten to destroy us. But suppose someone allures us with pleasure. We may not even consider that they may be covert enemy agents. Honey trapping is a widespread practice in warfare. 

We all are fighting an inner war against the forces of illusion, which often honey-trap us. By dangling various captivating sense objects before us, they lull us into lowering our guard. And then they charge into our consciousness, inciting us with worldly desires and impelling us to indulge far beyond our plans and principles. Eventually, such excessive indulgence rivets our consciousness to the material level and shackles us with worldly attachments that end in immense misery. 

Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita stresses that our biggest enemy lies inside, not outside. Though Arjuna is on a battlefield, facing enemies bent on destroying him, the Gita urges him to guard against lust, which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of the world (03.37). Here, lust signifies not just sensual desire, but also the sinister inner force that impels us to sabotage ourselves (03.36).

If we wish to grow spiritually or even survive ethically, we need to see as potentially dangerous the things that tempt us. For seeing thus, we need to learn to observe the world with the eyes of Gita wisdom, not just with our physical eyes that are so easily deluded by sense objects. And the Gita equips us not just with knowledge of who our threats are, but also how to win against them: by cultivating devotional absorption in the all-attractive supreme reality, Krishna.  

When we thus equip ourselves with Gita wisdom for fighting the inner war, we can gradually progress toward safety and victory. 

 

Think it over:

  • How do the forces of illusion honey-trap us?
  • How can we see the dangerousness of the forces that tempt?
  • What tempts you the most? For facing it, how can you better equip yourself?

 

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03.37 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.

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