BG3.39

Swami Manavala Mamunigal says Sri Andal became the only successor to all the Alwars. She tells in Her hymn that She will not live if She has to marry any mortal being of this world. Long before Sri Andal, in Dwapara yuga and in Gokulam in the North, the Gopikas observed a ritual called Kathyayani Vratham in the month of Margazhi, and prayed for marrying Sri Krishna. Sri Andal living un Kali yuga and in the deep southern part of the country observed the same ritual in Her imagination and this is called Anukaram. She was granted union with the Lord in Srirangam. It is said that anyone who devotedly sings Thiruppavai of Sri Andal will get the blessings of the Lord Sri Vata Pathra Sayee of Sri Villiputhur. The Raja Gopuram [main tower] of this temple is the official emblem of Tamilnadu Government. We will see further in the 3rd Chapter of Gita. In the last sloka we saw how atman is covered by kamam. Now the 39th sloka:

avrtam jnanam etenajnanino nitya-vairinakama-rupena kaunteyaduspurenanalena ca
"Thus the wise living entity’s pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust for the impossible and which is never satisfied like fire."

Jnanam = the Gyana of, jnanina = person who has started the Gyana yoga, avrtam = is covered. We have already seen that for a person trying to practice Gyana yoga, his intellect or Gyana should be fully involved in atman pursuit. But kamam covers the Gyana of the person and so the mind and other sensual organs drift to earthly pleasures. So the intellect is prevented from meditating on atman. Here Arjuna doubted how the powerful Gyana of the atman could be covered by mere kamam? Sri Krishna replies this point. Nithya vairina = permanent or eternal enemy, kama rupena = that is kamam, dushpurena = desires those which it can never achieve [like for example one wanting to become a millionaire next day, or wanting to rule the entire world even though that person might not be having any capacity], analena = or, desires which would never be satisfied [no one says enough after enjoying, just as fire can never be satisfied with ghee and other inflammable materials and that is why anala means fire]. We never get satisfied with what we enjoy. If we eat a tasty food today, we crave for it next day also. This type of kama does not exist when worshiping God. If someone is asked did he visit Srivilliputhur festival this year, he might reply that he had already visited previous year and might refuse to visit next year also. Where we should have unsatisfied desire we seem to be not having; but in worldly pleasures our desires are never contented. Our atman's gyana is covered by the kamam which has been associated with atman in all our births. So there are two types of kamam ; desiring for the impossible and desiring without a satisfaction. This is an eternal enemy. Swami Desika, explains this sloka in an eloquent way. The Gyani mentioned here is not the one who has succeeded in Gyana yoga as that person would have already vanquished this enemy and got atman sakshatkaram. But here it is that person who is in thje initial stages of Gyana yoga or the one who is starting to practice Gyana yoga. Also even for this Gyani in the initial stage of Gyana yoga, his knowledge of all matters is full and there is nothing hidden. He is able to recognise all things and persons in the world. This is worldly knowledge and it remains in tact. But his knowledge about atman is hidden or covered. So the purpose of kamam is to prevent atman knowledge from understanding the atman. Why should it do that? It is because over the millions of births it is used to pull atman towards earthly pleasures only. Whereas the gyani is with difficulty trying to pull his senses and mind in atman gyana. This is similar to the tug-of-war between the crocodile and elephant in the Gajendra episode. The Gyana of atman is pulled between the worldly knowledge and atman knowledge. Swami Desika explains another aspect also. We have seen that kamam and krodha are two manifestations of Gyana. So, how a transformed Gyana hides another Gyana? Can one light hide another light? We have seen warning notices against drinking and smoking displayed prominantly and even on the bottle or the packet. This is knowledge and we all know it. But, when we want to drink or smoke, which desire also is a transformation of our knowledge, it overtakes the knowledge that we should not drink or smoke as they are injurious to our health. This is a practical situation and so one knowledge can cover another knowledge in the same person. In our Gyana the worldly knowledge is predominant while the atman knowledge is subdued. In a deaddication camp, the affected person is given all treatments and when sent home the relatives are all told not to bring to notice the materials which made him an addict nor to mention anything about those materials so that the person does not get any sort of urge to go in that line again. After a time when he fully forgets and recovers, even if the materials are brought he does not go after them. We can win this enemy kamam by another kamam that is the desire to be in the service of God, also known as Sri Krishna kamam.