Key Points

  • The six enemies of the mind — known collectively as the arishadvargas (the “group of six enemies”) — are not external villains. They live within the subtle body and operate through the mind and intelligence, hijacking the living being’s free will and dragging him from one life of suffering to the next
  • They are the generals of Maya’s army. Krishna warns Arjuna about them; the Bhagavatam describes their workings in vivid detail. Until they are subdued, liberation and love of God remain out of reach
  • Kama — Lust: The original enemy and the root from which all others spring. Kama is the desire for sensory gratification — the impulse to use the objects of this world for one’s own pleasure, independent of God. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says lust is like fire: it is never extinguished by feeding it fuel; the more you give it, the bigger it grows. Kama is not limited to sexual desire — it includes the desire for any pleasure for its own sake, disconnected from Krishna. However, when the same longing is redirected toward Krishna — when one longs to please Him, serve Him, be near Him — it transforms into prema (divine love), which is its spiritual counterpart
  • Krodha — Anger: When kama is frustrated — when the desired object is not obtained or is taken away — krodha arises. Anger is the child of thwarted desire. It clouds intelligence, destroys relationships, and leads to terrible decisions. Arjuna saw krodha destroy entire dynasties at Kurukshetra. The devotee practices tolerance (titiksha) as the counterpart of anger — not repressing it, but not acting from it
  • Lobha — Greed: Kama satisfied creates more craving; lobha is the accumulation of that craving. Greed says “more” — more wealth, more recognition, more comfort, more power. It turns a human being into a machine for hoarding. Prabhupada would often point to the mouse trap: the mouse sees a small piece of food and loses its freedom reaching for it. Greed is that trap. The antidote is santosha — contentment in Krishna’s arrangement — and the practice of giving (dana)
  • Moha — Illusion and false attachment: Moha is the confusion of the false self with the real self — identifying with the body, the family, the nation, the possessions, as though they were “I” and “mine.” This illusion is the fundamental disease of conditioned life. From moha spring all the most painful attachments: grief at loss, fear of death, desperate clinging to what is temporary. The Bhagavatam describes Dhritarashtra’s devastating moha for his sons as the cause of the entire Kurukshetra war. Krishna’s teaching to Arjuna in the Gita is essentially a medicine against moha
  • Mada — Pride and intoxication: The puffed-up ego that says “I am great, I am the cause, I deserve this.” Mada can arise from wealth, beauty, education, caste, or even spiritual advancement. It is especially dangerous when it enters the spiritual life — the devotee who begins to think he is superior to others, that he needs no guidance, that rules are for beginners — such a person is dangerously intoxicated. The cure is trinad api sunichena — considering oneself lower than the grass, more tolerant than a tree, giving honor to all without expecting honor in return
  • Matsarya — Envy: The most virulent of the six. Matsarya is the pain one feels at another’s success — wishing to diminish, undermine, or surpass others. It is the original sin of the conditioned soul. The first envious act was the soul’s refusal to acknowledge Krishna as the supreme enjoyer and controller — it wanted to enjoy and control independently. Envy of God became envy of other living beings. In spiritual communities, matsarya is particularly destructive because it creates factions, offenses, and drives devotees away. The antidote is mudita — taking genuine joy in others’ spiritual advancement
  • Kama is the root: all other enemies are either forms of kama (lobha, mada, matsarya) or reactions to kama being frustrated or satisfied (krodha from frustration; moha from attachment to what kama obtained). Therefore Krishna identifies kama as “the all-devouring enemy of the world” (BG 3.37)
  • These enemies are not conquered primarily by willpower. That is the path of yoga and jnana — effective but extraordinarily difficult. The bhakti path conquers them by replacement and redirection: when the heart is genuinely occupied with Krishna, the material enemies find no room. Fire is extinguished not by pushing the flames but by removing the fuel

Sanskrit Terms

  • Arishadvargas — the group of six enemies (ari = enemy, shad = six, varga = group)
  • Kama — lust; desire for sensory gratification independent of God; also, when purified, divine love (as in Kama = Krishna’s name as the ultimate fulfiller of all desires)
  • Krodha — anger; the reaction to thwarted desire
  • Lobha — greed; insatiable desire for more
  • Moha — illusion; false identification with the temporary body and its relationships
  • Mada — false pride, arrogance, intoxication from material possessions or position
  • Matsarya — envy; taking pain in another’s prosperity
  • Prema — pure divine love; the spiritual transformation of kama when redirected to Krishna
  • Titiksha — tolerance; the spiritual counterpart of anger
  • Santosha — contentment; the spiritual counterpart of greed
  • Trinad api sunichena — famous verse of Caitanya Mahaprabhu: “One should be humbler than a blade of grass” — the cure for mada
  • Mudita — sympathetic joy in the happiness of others; the cure for matsarya

Scriptural References

  • Bhagavad-gita 3.37 — “It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world”
  • Bhagavad-gita 3.38-39 — Krishna describes how lust covers the living being like smoke covers fire, like dust covers a mirror, like a womb covers an embryo
  • Bhagavad-gita 16.21 — “There are three gates leading to hell — lust, anger, and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul”
  • Srimad Bhagavatam 5.5.2 — Rishabhadeva’s instructions to his sons: the root cause of bondage is sex desire (kama), and one who conquers it achieves liberation
  • Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.19 — by regularly hearing about Krishna, the knot of the heart (hridaya-granthi) which is the seat of false ego and kama is pierced

References

Practical Takeaway

The next time anger or greed or envy rises in your heart, do not condemn yourself — but do pause and ask: “Which desire is being frustrated? What am I falsely identifying with?” Then, rather than suppressing the energy, redirect it: offer it to Krishna in prayer. “My Lord, this emotion has arisen — I bring it to You.” This is the beginning of genuine inner practice.