Desire: The Root of Ignorance — Why the Male Bird Was “Intoxicated by Passion”

Question

Sister, in this story you explained that the male bird symbolizes the soul, and that the hunter killed it. But there’s one more word added there—it says the bird was “intoxicated with desire.” Could you please clarify this part a little more?

Answer

Yes, of course. See, when we slip into body-consciousness, we forget our true nature. My real identity is that I am the conscious soul—the divine power of awareness—but I start believing “I am this body.” How does that happen gradually? It happens as desires, cravings, passions, and expectations accumulate within us. Step by step, these desires enter and grow, until one day we become completely absorbed in body-consciousness.

So “intoxicated with desire” means our awareness has become clouded by longing—desires have entered our being. That is precisely what the transition from Satya Yuga to Kali Yuga signifies.

When consciousness descends from Satya Yuga to Kali Yuga, it’s because desires, cravings, and attachments keep increasing. As they grow, we keep forgetting our real Self. There’s no other cause.

Even in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says (in Chapter 3, or in another context in Chapter 2) that desire is the great enemy. When Arjuna asks, “What is it that compels a person toward wrongdoing?” Krishna replies, “It is desire—it is anger, born of passion.” (Kāma eṣa krodha eṣa).

So desire is the root cause—the reason we forget our true Self. Because of desire, we identify with what is not truly ours—the body, which is merely a temporary instrument that will one day turn back to dust.

The same theme appears in the Biblical story too, where it’s said, “Do not eat this fruit,” but the wish arose: “Let’s eat it.” Even there, the cause was desire.

And if we look at our daily lives, we’ll see that the reason for both our fall and our loss of understanding is always desire.
So wherever the word kāma (lust or passion) appears, understand it as kāmana—the desire that includes wish, craving, and longing, all together.

Question

And what about when we read words like curse (śāpa) or boon (vardān) in stories—how should we take those?

Answer

Yes, very good point. Wherever you find the words curse or boon in any story, understand them not as emotional reactions but as inevitable outcomes. Both mean: “This shall certainly happen.”

For example, when Valmiki gave the śāpa—the curse—to the nishada that he would not gain honor, it means this will surely happen: that in Kali Yuga, ignorance will rise and be respected, while in Satya Yuga, knowledge will be honored.

And between these two extremes—between complete light and complete darkness—there’s a gradual transition. Nothing ever shifts instantly from black to white. It moves slowly, step by step.

So the ages—Treta and Dvapara—are like stages between. Think of it as color blending: a little less black, then lighter still, then paler, then bright white. The journey of consciousness always unfolds gradually.

Question

That makes sense. But once the world reaches Kali Yuga—the darkest phase—how does it return to Satya Yuga again? There’s such a huge contrast between them.

Answer

Yes! That’s a very deep question—one that used to puzzle even us about twenty years ago when we studied this. We used to ask: “Alright, it’s clear that gradually the ages darken until Kali Yuga comes. But how can it suddenly turn back to Satya Yuga again?”

And then we learned: between Kali Yuga and Satya Yuga there is a transitional period called the Sangam Yuga—the “Confluence Age.”

In this Sangam Yuga, the darkness of Kali Yuga begins to slowly fade. The black starts lightening, bit by bit. Right now, people say we’re living in that very Sangam Yuga.

It means that not everyone is in ignorance anymore. Some are still in darkness, but many others have started moving toward light—toward knowledge. Half of humanity is still caught in ignorance, and the other half has begun the journey out of it. That’s what the Confluence Age means.

Those who keep walking toward knowledge, step by step, become lighter and lighter within—and thus Satya Yuga, the Age of Truth, gradually dawns again.