Aashaapaashashatairbaddhaah

आशापाषशतैर्बद्धा:
(Bound by hundreds of nooses of desires)

Man is bound by hundreds of nooses of desires, says the Lord in the Geetaa. Early in Chapter 2, He gives the eight stages of the havoc played by desires in a man's life - from birth to final end in misery i.e. death of happiness in man's life.

Buddha takes desires as root cause of all evils in man's life. Root out desires, he advises.

We will see how Desire raises its head and how to crush it to death then and there.

Likes and dislikes give rise to desires. We must resist the pulls of likes and desires - to restrain or eliminate both likes (which entail activity to acquire desired things) and dislikes (which cause activity to dispose or avoid disliked things). Get over the Siamese twins i.e. dwandwa. Narasee Mehta sings - samadruShTee ne tRuShnaa tyaagi - look on both as same and discard both. You cannot kill a hen, eating half and keep another half to lay eggs, says Shankaraachaarya. Both likes and dislikes should go.

(Dwandwateeta, i.e., transcending dwandwas, will be discussed separately. So also guNaateeta, i.e., getting past the guNaas. Indriyaateeta is already discussed).

A Parable on Desire, by Buddha
A person chased by a tiger reached cliiff. He caught hold of a creeper and jumped over the cliff. The tiger sat growling and finally left. Loking down, the person saw another tiger at the bottom of the cliff waiting for him to fall down, and a mouse started gnawing at the creeper. Then he spotted two red cherries on a plant on the side of the cliff. Holding on to the creeper with one hand, he stretched his other hand to get at the cherries. Desire follows you even to death.

The Episode of Trishanku
Trishanku was an ancestor of Raama. Peaceful and prosperous kingdom. One moonlit night, he was on the palace terrace with the queen. A desire suddenly rose in his mind that he should ascend to heaven in his present body. It was sleepless all night. Early the next morning, he dashed to Guru VashiShTa and asked for his desire to be fulfilled. The Guru discouraged him saying it was not in accordance with the law of nature. Thereupon, he went to the Guru's son, with the same request. "You are not listening to my father's advice. Since you are so very infatuated with your body, I curse you that your body be charred like a brinjal cast on burning charcoal," the son thundered. Sure enough, Trishanku's body turned black and the skin tore here and there. The desire persisted and he went to Vishwaamitra who accepted the challenge to prove himself better than VashiShTa. Yajnas were performed and Trishanku began ascending to heaven in his body. The gods pushed him back and he started hurtling down to earth with head downwards,. He cried for help. "Stop there," Vishwamitra said and created a new heaven for him.

Well, Trishanku is in heaven dangling head downwards and body disfigured. All because he could not suppress a desire.

Bliss is absolute - no dwandwa here. Happiness and sorrow, pleasure and pain etc are in pairs. Bliss has no nothing to oppose. There is no 0pposite to bliss, such as non-bliss. Light and darkness are in oppositon but darkness cannot be defined on its own. Similarly, there is no stand-alone definition of non-bliss.

Bliss is your nature. You need do nothing to be to taste bliss. Remain untouched by likes and dislikes. That is all.

Ramana says - "Under the tree it is shade. You are pulled out to the sun by your likes and dislikes. When you get what you like or get rid of what you dislike, the satisfied mind returns to the shade and feels cool and peaceful. It is foolish to run out.
NOTE: Let not your mind follow your eyes. (nor allow thoughts to risev and run riot.) You may nee things but never give a further thought to it. Suppose a car goes at high speed. Do not start thinking- He will kill somebody. Rash. A man is beaten- Dont say he deserved to be beaten. Nothing is your business. Thoughts bind you down as they strenghten the bonds of likes and dislikes.