या दुस्त्यजा दुर्मतिभिर्जीर्यतो या न जीर्यते ।
तां तृष्णां दु:खनिवहां शर्मकामो द्रुतं त्यजेत् ॥
yā dustyajā durmatibhir jīryato yā na jīryati |
tāṁ tṛṣṇāṁ duḥkha-nivahāṁ śarma-kāmo drutaṁ tyajet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.16)
“One who has an interest in well-being should swiftly shun that constant [alt., extreme, or, invariable] bearer of miseries—desire—which is difficult to shun for the ill-minded and which does not age as a result of aging.”
Commentary
sarva-saṁhartā kālo’pi kāmanāyāḥ saṁhāre na hetur ity āha—yeti |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Even the destroyer of everything, Time, is not a cause of destruction of desire. Thus, he speaks this verse (yā …).”
Śrī Giridhara Lāla Gosvāmī in his Bāla-prabodhinī adds that ‘for the ill-minded’ (durmatibhiḥ) means for those devoid of discernment (avivekibhiḥ). Thus the implied senses is that desire does not wane over time or with age and cannot be overcome without discernment (viveka).