Why do we say that lust needs to be curbed when it can be channelized towards Krishna as Narottama Das Thakura says?

Answer Podcast

Transcribed by: Geetanjali Nath

Question:  Why  do we say that lust needs to be curbed when Narottam das Thakura says that lust can also be offered to Krishna, kama Krishna karmarpane

Answer: We have to understand that in different context , the word lust can have different meaning. So when Krishna talks about lust in the Bhagavad Gita, He primarily uses it in the sense of attraction between male and female and officially if when that attraction is unregulated, then that can become enemy of the soul. As Krishna tells in the Bhagavad Gita 3:37 kāma eṣa krodha eṣa, rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ, mahāśano mahā-pāpmā, viddhy enam iha vairiṇam,  all devovring singul enemey , as Prabhupada translates it, So in that section Krishna does talk repeatedly about cutrbing lust. So in BG 341 tasmāt tvam indriyāṇy ādau, niyamya bharatarṣabha, pāpmānaṁ prajahi hy enaṁ, jñāna-vijñāna-nāśanam  . fight it curb it, He says, and again in BG 3:43 evaṁ buddheḥ paraṁ buddhvā, saṁstabhyātmānam ātmanā, jahi śatruṁ mahā-bāho, kāma-rūpaṁ durāsadam, conquer over this enemy, so here Krishna talks about fighting about lust, curbing lust, winning against lust. Now when Narottam Das Thakura talks about in his prem bhakti sindhu  he places about it , as to how wean devotail the anarthas into Krishna’s service, so kama Krishna karmatpane, so here he is using the word “kama” in a different more foundational sense, he is not using kama  as a reference to the male and female attraction, it won’t make any logical sense over there to say there that the male and female attraction can be offered to Krishna, Kama Krishna karmapane, So here the work kama refers to the power of desire which we have. So the power of desire means,we have various desires and we are not meant to curb our desires but we are meant to cure our desires, so we use our desires to work for Krishna, So I want to earn a lot of money, yes I can earn a lot of money but then I do it for Krishna. I want to be a musician , I want to be an author, I want to be a singer , I want to be a successful engineer, what ever I do it for Krishna . So this basically talks about doing karma but doing it for Krishna. Kama Krishna karmapane, and using our desire and ambition for Krishna. So Prabhupada translates dharma viruddho …. in the bhagavad Gita when Krishna talks about in seventh chapter he says that sex life that is not contrary to religious principles, I am that Krishna , He says. Now some translators of Gita also give broadr translations and they say that this kama, if you say dharma artha kama and moksha, then kama can refer to general persuits of desires and broad material enjoyument. So one can persue ambition one can persue material enjoyment as long as it does’t  contradict the princip[es of dharms. and the highest dharma is to offer ones life and ones everything to Krishna, so in that sense this principle of kama Krishna karmarpane, if we use the work kama in generic sense, is hinted at  in Gita also. If we use the word kama in generic sense. So kama when used in a specific sense of male and female attraction, then that has to be regulated according to dharma, and gradually that has to be cleansed and given up , but kama in terms of the generic desire that we have that does ‘t have to be supressed, that has to be redirected to Krishna. and that is what Narottam Das Thakura talks about when he says kama Krishna karmarpane.

Thank you

Hare Krishna.