Verse 2 : Bhagwad Gita : The Relationship between Desires & Habit

Sanjaya uvaacha:
dhristvaa tu paandavaanikam vyoodham duryodhanstadaa
aachaaryamupasangmaya raaja vachanambraveet || 2 ||

Sanjaya (Honest Introspection) said the following:

“Having seen the well organized army of Pandava Forces (positive thoughts and emotions), King Duryodhana (Leader of the  destructive emotions , material passion), approached his teacher,  Drona (Habits) and spoke the following words”

As we have seen in the first verse, the great war is about to begin. On one side are the Pandavas and on the other side are the Kauravas. Sanjaya is telling the blind kind, Dritarashtra, who is the father of Duryodhana, the happenings on the battlefield. Duryodhana represents the Kauravas who have usurped the kingdom of Hastinapura from the Pandavas and now the battle is between the two sets of cousins for the throne.

We have also seen how symbolically, the war is a battle within ourselves. On one side are the positive forces or emotions(Pandavas), which are :

1. What is the righteous thing to be done?
2. What are the unjust things to be avoided?
3. Self control over senses
4. The life principle which connects the inner consciousness to the mind/body/intellect complex
5. Calmness

On the other side are the negative forces consisting of jealousy, anger, pomp, desire to name a few. Obviously the negative characteristics outnumber the positive forces.

Still, as the verse suggests, the negative forces do not have confidence in themselves, especially after seeing the vast army of positive forces. So, what does the root cause of all the negativity do? Before we answer that, let us see what is the root cause of all negative tendencies? It is desire! I desire something I cannot afford and hence am dissatisfied. My friend possesses a beautiful car which I desired and hence I am jealous. My co-worker is a hindrance to a promotion I desire and hence I am angry with him. So, it can be seen that all negative tendencies start with Desire. In the Mahabharata war, Desire is represented by Duryodhana, the son of Dritarashtra and who is leading the Kauravas.

Many times, we listen to a good discourse telling desires are bad and decide to give up some of our desires. It may also happen that we get some information like tobacco smoking kills and hence try to give up desire for smoking. So that terrifies desire. Desire is what resides in us and rules over our internal kingdom.. In the verse, above, Duryodhana approaches his teacher, Drona. Within our mind, Drona represents habits.  Whenever desires are threatened, they turn to habits to save them and allow them to stay entrenched in our mind. Even if every news says tobacco smoking is bad, by force of habit, a smoker will reach for the cigarette pack. Even if one knows, that liquor causes liver disease, a man addicted to drinking will automatically walk into a bar as soon as he sees one. Such is the power of habits. Let us try to understand habits in more detail.


Habits are defined as a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. Habits will create a strong inner urge in such a way that the positive thoughts in us get defeated and we may surrender to the situation and enable negative tendencies to become victorious. Drona, the teacher of  Kaurava and Pandava forces represents in the inner urges or habits in our mind. Derived from the Sanskrit root dru (to melt), the word Drona implies that which remains in a melted state. Any actions we do or thoughts we entertain will leave a footprint in our unconscious mind in a subtle or melted way. These footprints will later manifest as habits or inner urges and influence our thoughts and actions.

There are five primary ways that a new habit can be triggered. If we understand each of them, then we will be able to manage the influence of that habit  (Courtesy: James Clear  (www.jamesclear.com))

Time

This is the most common way to trigger a habit. Time does trigger some good habits. When it is 6 am, I should get up. When I get up, I should brush my teeth. When it is 10 pm, I should go to bed..etc. These are routine habits which by themselves do not seem to trigger any bad desire. But there are several instances where, if a person does not have a smoke in the morning, his daily routine does not start. If a person does not have a drink on weekend, he feels depressed. These are time driven triggers or habits which give rise to and continue to sustain desires. Even if I want to give up smoking, when it turns 6 am, my body clock triggers the habit which leads to a desire to smoke.

Location   

Location (i.e. environment) is one of the most powerful driver of mindless habits. In many cases, our habits and behaviors are simply a response to the environment that surrounds us. One theory is that we mentally assign habits to a particular location. This means that all of the current places that you’re familiar with (your home, your office, etc.) already have behaviors, habits and routines assigned to them. I go into the kitchen. Even if I am not hungry, I reach out for the cookie jar. I am passing by a grocery store where I normally buy cigarette. Even if I don't want, i get off the car, walk in and buy it. So a place has emotions, past actions etc all registered in the mind. So when we encounter a particular location, the combination of a past memory, emotions etc form part of the habit which makes us indulge in desires.

Preceding Event

Many habits are a response to something else that happens in our life . Buzzing of the phone can lead us to many automated activities in me such as Face book, text messages etc.


Other People

People you surround yourself with can play a role on your habits and behaviors. One study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that if your friend becomes obese, then your risk of obesity increases by 57 percent. If I meet a particular friend with whom I always played cards and if I am seeing him after several years, the force of habit creates a desire to play cards.

Emotional State

Emotional state is a common trigger for bad habits. You may default to on line shopping when you feel bored. When I am alone I may light up a cigarette or drink liquor. This trigger is hard to control . Only way to manage this trigger is to develop emotional awareness.

To summarize:

• Destructive emotions and negative thoughts in our mind have a clear strategy to conquer the positive forces such as self-control, calmness etc. The strategy is to make use of our own habits and inner urges and take control of the mind.
• When the material passion, the most powerful negative force in our mind sees the self-control and determination in us, it will try to make use of our habits to get over our determination.
• Though the habit is the originator of good and bad tendencies, usually it take side of the destructive emotions in a crisis.

The second verse in Gita warns us against the influence of habits and inner urges on our mind and the strategy of material passion and other negative forces to take control over mind. 

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