Suppose we have a beloved pet dog. If we discover that it has contagious incurable rabies that could be lethal for us, we would have to drive it away.

Lust is like that pet dog. In the past, we have loved it dearly, imagining it to be the source of life’s greatest pleasure. But when we discover Gita wisdom, we recognize that lust is akin to a rabid dog whose contact makes us spiritually sick – lust perverts our original selfless love for Krishna into a selfish shortsighted craving to enjoy matter. Because this perverted craving traps us in material consciousness and thereby subjects us to the miseries of material existence, we need to drive it away.

Unlike a rabid dog that can be killed easily, lust can't be killed so easily. We may kill a specific lusty desire, but other lusty desires soon appear whenever we see sexually alluring objects. The only solution is to reject lust whenever it appears.

Aptly, the Bhagavad-gita (15.05) urges us to retire from lust irreversibly and non-negotiably (vinivrtta-kamah). If we push the dog away a few times and then in a moment of weak-heartedness fondle it, it will think that we still love it, and even if we reject it later, it will still keep returning. The same applies to lust.

Only when we unwaveringly drive away the dog whenever it comes will it finally get the message that it is always unwanted, and will go away forever. Similarly, only when we unwaveringly retire from entertaining lust will it eventually retire from tempting us.

The way to such unwavering retirement from lust is unflinching engagement in devotional service to Krishna, for then we will connect with a higher happiness that makes us less vulnerable to the lure of lust’s lower pleasures.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 Text 05

Those who are free from false prestige, illusion and false association, who understand the eternal, who are done with material lust, who are freed from the dualities of happiness and distress, and who, unbewildered, know how to surrender unto the Supreme Person attain to that eternal kingdom.