The Three Gates

~11 min

If the divine nature is built quality by quality, what undoes it? Krishna names the forces that drag a person downward with unusual directness — and then points to the freedom of simply refusing them entry.

त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः | कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत् ||१६-२१||

“Krishna names the three gates that lead to self-destruction: "Lust, anger, and greed — these three are the doors to darkness and the destruction of the soul. A person must abandon all three."”

BG 16.21 — View with commentaries→

Lust, anger, and greed — Krishna calls them the three gates of self-destruction. They feed one another: craving unmet becomes anger, and anger and craving together harden into greed. He does not ask us to wage endless war against them, only to recognize them as gates we need not walk through. Much suffering ends the moment we stop feeding these three.

एतैर्विमुक्तः कौन्तेय तमोद्वारैस्त्रिभिर्नरः | आचरत्यात्मनः श्रेयस्ततो याति परां गतिम् ||१६-२२||

“Krishna gives hope: "The person who is freed from these three gates to darkness — lust, anger, and greed — does what is truly good for themselves and reaches the highest goal."”

BG 16.22 — View with commentaries→

'Freed from these three gates to darkness, a person works for their own good and reaches the highest goal.' The promise is gentle and practical: you do not have to become perfect, only to step back from the three doorways that lead downward. Close them, and the path upward opens almost by itself.

Check your understanding

What are the three 'gates' Krishna warns lead to self-destruction?

Reflect

“Of the three gates — craving, anger, and greed — which one has opened most easily in you lately? Without harshness, consider what it would mean to simply not walk through it the next time it swings open.”

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