Desire - the Dynamic Motive Force of Life

Desire – the Dynamic Motive Force of Life
---- Shrikant Vasudeo

We have been flooded with preachings of gurus and scriptures of practically all the religions of the world that ‘desire’ is the enemy of Man and in order to reach God, Liberation, Nirvana, Happiness etc we must cut off ‘desire’ from our mind.

On the other hand, we all know that it is practically impossible to live without desire. It is like living without air, water or food. It is like the car without fuel. This so called religious ordain to abstain from desire contrasted with the real world fact of desire being the principle driving force of man has created a guilt feeling in man. It has made the problem of life more complicated. We feel hopelessly entangled in the net of samsara full of desires with no light at the end of the tunnel.

In this background, it will be both interesting as well as illumining to learn the importance given to desire in Veda. It has boldly proclaimed desire as the dynamism inherent in the whole creation. Desire is put very high on the celestial pedestal by declaring that it is the ‘first seed of mind’. In a way, it is the happy and divine origin of our samsara.

The First Seed of Mind

Manaso retah Atharva Veda XIX, 52
All free translation

1 In the beginning was Desire,
the first seed of mind.
O desire, twin of Desire,
grant wealth to me !
There is original Desire. From this Desire, the desire is borne in man. Therefore the original celestial Desire and the desire in Man is termed as the twin sisters. It is implored to grant wealth. Thus desire is treated as the engine of prosperity.

2 Powerful, unshakable,
shining, companionable,
formidable victor,
grant power to me !
Having asked wealth, not we ask power from this first seed of mind. It is spoken as powerful, firm, glittering, victorious warrior friend.

3 He who traversed a very long distance
to fulfill the pledge
in response to the eternal call
was attended by the regions,
By means of Desire
they generated light.
This hymn has occult meaning in it when it speaks of the ‘regions’. Desire is instrumental in generating light. What it means is that this world is not run mechanically by the Creator. It is a joyful play. Desire was the original motive force for generating light. The region refers to all the levels of our existence and is not limited to the material world.

4 From Desire springs desire,
leaps from Heart to heart,
The mind of my people,
let that mind be mine !
The eternal desire is the mother of the desire in man. When it first originated in the Heart of the eternal, the heart of man resonated with it. The mind of people got this resonance.

5 Now prosper, Desire,
the desires of our hearts,
that we may succeed,
Accept this oblation !
Prosperity and success is prayed from Desire of the Eternal. It means that Desire is treated like a holy source of prosperity. It is equated with God.


We should note that while eulogizing the Desire in human life while terming it as the first seed of mind, a motive force for all our actions, we should not fall into the trap of getting ‘dragged’ by it. We should be Masters of desire. The desire is not abolished, as is the popular conception, but it is mastered. It is like the man riding on the stallion fully in control of it. Stallion is the desire. However, when we are not able to control the horse, we fell down and get dragged by the horse. The same horse can take us faster to our destination or it can cause us to fall and cause injury.