The Vedas state that there are six enemies of a person — kama, krodha, lobha, mada, moha and matsarya — or lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion and envy. Having come into this material world, we are covered by a gross and a subtle body. The gross body is made of senses while the subtle body consists of the mind, intelligence and false ego. The mind is the master of the senses and the senses follow it’s dictation. The six enemies always accompany the mind and keep the living entity under their control.
The first enemy, kama or lust, is defined as the desire to gratify one’s senses. As long as we are not in knowledge of our actual position to be servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna, we identify ourselves with our body and mind. Lust develops through one’s identification with the material body due to ignorance. This is described by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita as follows: “dhyayatho vishayan pumsah sangas theshupajayathe, sangath sanjaythe kamah — While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops”.
By nature, the senses seek engagement. One may artificially repress the senses or try to be inactive in so called meditation for some time, but eventually, the senses become active and seek some engagement for satisfaction. Thus the senses are always seeking out the objects of the senses for gratification. The body comprises five knowledge acquiring senses - the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. Corresponding to these, the objects of the senses are form, sound, smell, taste and touch. The senses are always hankering after seeing a beautiful form, hearing pleasing music, smelling pleasant fragrances, tasting good food and touching soft objects.
Lust begins with contemplation of the mind on a certain sense object. As one goes on contemplating on the sense object, one develops attachment for it. As the attachment becomes stronger, it turns into lust. Lust is nothing but an intense and insatiable desire to gratify one’s senses by bringing the senses in contact with the sense objects. Driven by lust, man commits many sinful and abominable activities. Hence Lord Krishna describes lust as an all devouring enemy in the Bhagavad Gita and He advises Arjuna to conquer this enemy with the knowledge of the soul.
The origin of lust is our forgotten love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami differentiates lust from love in the Chaitanya Charitamrita thus: “atmendriya priti vancha thare bali kama, krishnendriya priti iccha dhare prema nama — The desire to gratify one’s own senses is kama [lust], but the desire to please the senses of Lord Krishna is prema [love].” Whatever desire one may possess to enjoy in this material world independent of Krishna is actually lust. So called love between man and woman within this material world is also only lust, since both man and woman in such a relationship desire their own sense gratification. A man becomes attracted to a beautiful woman because he thinks that he can enjoy in her company, and vice versa.
However, love for Krishna, as demonstrated by His devotees, surpasses all desires for one’s own enjoyment. In this connection, Srila Prabhupada narrated an incident. Once Narada Muni wanted to know why the gopis of Vrindavan were considered the Lord’s topmost devotees. When he enquired thus from Lord Krishna in Dwaraka, Krishna asked him to approach some learned brahmana scholars and inform them that Krishna was suffering from headache and some dust from their feet would cure Him if it were applied to His forehead. Narada approached many such renowned scholars and sages but all of them refused, saying that if such a thing happened, they would all be condemned to go to hell. Not finding success, Narada returned to Dwaraka. Next, Krishna asked Narada to approach all the devathas. Narada then approached all the demigods, right from Lord Brahma and Shiva to Indra, Surya etc. However, all of them refused, saying they were all Lord Krishna’s servants and if the dust from their feet were to be applied on the forehead of Krishna, they would have to reside eternally in hell. When Narada returned, disappointed, Krishna finally asked him to approach the gopis in Vrindavan. When the gopis saw Narada, they asked him whether he had seen Lord Krishna and how He was keeping.
Narada replied that indeed he had met Lord Krishna, but He was suffering from headache. The gopis became distressed upon hearing this and asked if there could be something they could do to mitigate Krishna’s pain. Narada replied that if some of the dust from their feet were applied on Krishna’s forehead, He would be cured. Immediately, the gopis removed the dust from their feet and happily gave it to Narada and requested him to proceed to Dwaraka quickly with the dust and relieve the Lord’s pain.
Astonished at this, Narada inquired from them whether they were not afraid of going to hell on account of the dust from their feet touching the Lord’s head. The gopis replied that they were ready to go to hell if it would relieve the Lord’s pain. Realising the gopis’ unlimited and completely selfless love for Krishna, even at the cost of personal comforts and pleasures, Narada could understand why they are celebrated as the Lord’s topmost devotees. Their hearts were simply filled with love for Krishna.
We too, as part and parcels of Krishna, are meant to render loving devotional service to Krishna. Having forgotten our original relationship with him, we identify ourselves with this body and mind. Thus, our dormant love gets transformed into lust within this material world. This lust can again be converted back to the original love for Krishna by simply engaging all our senses in devotional service to Him, beginning with chanting His holy name.