Sri Sadgurubhyoh Namah
The Three Gates to Suffering: A Teaching of Sri Krishna and Gautama Buddha
The Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16, Verse 21, clearly identifies three destructive tendencies that lead a person towards suffering.
Sri Krishna says:
त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः ।
कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत् ॥ २१ ॥
Translation:
“Desire, anger, and greed are the three gates to hell, destructive of the self. Therefore, one should abandon these three.”
The key words are:
Kāmaḥ — Desire, craving, or passion
Krodhaḥ — Anger
Lobhaḥ — Greed
Sri Krishna's teaching is simple: desire, anger, and greed disturb our inner peace and lead us towards suffering. We must learn to recognise and overcome them.
A similar insight is at the heart of Gautama Buddha's teaching.
The Buddha's First Noble Truth
The Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths:
Life involves suffering (Dukkha).
Craving (Tanha) is a cause of suffering.
The cessation of craving brings the cessation of suffering.
There is a path that leads to the cessation of suffering.
The Buddha's message is not that we must abandon life itself, but that we must understand the nature of craving and free ourselves from its hold.
Yet, how difficult is it for us to accept this simple truth!
Why Is It So Difficult to Let Go?
Ordinary people often live as though they were blind, intoxicated monkeys, wandering under a scorching sun on a bed of burning charcoal and thorns.
They continue to chase one desire after another, becoming entangled in disappointment, frustration, jealousy, anger, and greed. Even when their desires bring them pain, they cling to them, hoping that the next fulfilment will finally make them happy.
Tell someone to let go of their desires, and they may think you have gone mad!
Why? Because most of us have never seriously questioned whether the very desires we pursue in the hope of finding happiness might also be the source of much of our suffering.
We assume that our desires are natural, our ambitions are necessary, and our anger is justified. We seek relief from suffering without examining the attachments and cravings that repeatedly give rise to it.
To understand the simple statement “Life involves suffering” requires profound intelligence, honest observation, and the courage to examine our own lives.
The Buddha expressed this truth in a few simple words. Yet, understanding it deeply is difficult because it requires us to question the very way we live.
People may respect the Buddha, bow before his image, and admire his wisdom, yet continue to live exactly as before, without practising his teaching.
The same is true of the Bhagavad Gita.
People may worship Sri Krishna, perform puja, recite His name, and celebrate His life. Yet, when it comes to putting His teaching into practice, they may continue to be driven by desire, anger, and greed.
We worship Sri Krishna, but do we follow His teaching?
We revere the Buddha, but do we practise His wisdom?
The real question is not whether we respect these great teachers. It is whether we are willing to understand what they taught and transform the way we live.
Spirituality begins not merely with worship, prayer, or reverence, but with self-understanding and the sincere effort to put wisdom into practice.
Sri Krishna asks us to abandon desire, anger, and greed. The Buddha asks us to understand craving and the way it gives rise to suffering.
Both teachings invite us to look within, examine our attachments, and discover whether lasting peace can be found by endlessly satisfying our desires—or by understanding and freeing ourselves from their hold.
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