Suppose we are being chased by thieves. While fleeing from them, those who we take shelter of turn out to be kidnappers. The thieves would have emptied our wallet, but the kidnappers will empty our whole bank account – they won’t let us go till they take in ransom all we have.
Life’s problems are like thieves that steal our peace and joy. In fleeing from those problems, we often take shelter of some easy indulgences. For example, alcoholics drink, shopaholics buy, and sexoholics seek relief in some sexual indulgence.
In seeking relief through such indulgences, we unwittingly become addicted to them. And the addiction plunders our time, energy, dignity, morality and spirituality – our everything. The Bhagavad-gita (03.36-37) refers to self-defeating desire generically as lust. If we take shelter of lust, it becomes insatiable (16.10) and binds us to hundreds of desires (16.11). Whereas the problem would have stayed only temporarily, the addiction stays permanently. Lust turns out to be like the all-plundering kidnappers.
Our predicament is graver still. Addictions don’t just stay – they become stronger with each indulgence. Lust is an eternal enemy that torments lifetime after lifetime (03.39). It is like a kidnapper who keeps taking ransom but never releases.
To free ourselves from lust’s clutches, we need to take shelter of something much bigger. The biggest reality is Krishna, the source of the supreme peace and joy. We are souls who are his eternal parts. We can take shelter of him by practicing bhakti-yoga steadily.
Through our bhakti practice, when we conscientiously train ourselves to take shelter of Krishna amidst problems, we can break our habit of seeking relief in destructive indulgences. By persistent bhakti practice, we become attached to Krishna, thereby gaining the ultimate relief of eternal ecstatic absorption in him.
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lust is the main impediment for BHAKTI