Chapter III · Śloka 39
आवृतं ज्ञानमेतेन ज्ञानिनो नित्यवैरिणा ।
कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च ॥
कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च ॥
āvṛtaṃ jñānam etena jñānino nitya-vairiṇā |
kāma-rūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca ||
kāma-rūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca ||
Knowledge is covered by this eternal enemy of the wise, O Kaunteya, in the form of desire — a fire that is never satisfied.
Desire is called the 'eternal enemy' because it is perpetually at war with discriminative wisdom, and like an unquenchable fire it grows with every satisfaction rather than being extinguished. Its insatiability is the very mechanism by which it maintains dominion over the embodied soul.