Desire, and what it costs

1 · Chapter 2 · Shloka 62

Man, musing on the objects of sense, conceiveth an attachment to these; from attachment ariseth desire; from desire anger cometh forth;

It starts quietly: dwell on a thing and attachment to it forms on its own.

2 · Chapter 2 · Shloka 63

From anger proceedeth delusion; from delusion confused memory; from confused memory the destruction of Reason; from destruction of Reason he perishes.

Blocked attachment turns to anger; anger clouds memory and judgement, and you act worse than you know.

3 · Chapter 3 · Shloka 37

It is desire, it is wrath, begotten by the quality of motion; all-consuming, all-polluting, know thou this as our foe here on earth.

Krishna names the force directly — desire and its underside, anger, born of rajas — as the one enemy here.

4 · Chapter 3 · Shloka 39

Enveloped is wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise in the form of desire, which is insatiable as a flame.

It covers discernment the way smoke covers fire: always there, never satisfied.

5 · Chapter 3 · Shloka 43

Thus understanding Him as greater than the Reason, restraining the self by the Self, slay thou, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire, difficult to overcome.

The exit isn't suppression but seeing — steady the self by the self, let the higher hold the lower.

6 · Chapter 16 · Shloka 21

Triple is the gate of this hell, destructive of the self—lust, wrath, and greed; therefore let man renounce these three.

The verdict, stated plainly: desire, anger, greed are three gates, and a life spent walking through them narrows to nothing.