Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 39

आवृतं ज्ञानमेतेन ज्ञानिनो नित्यवैरिणा । कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च

āvṛtaṃ jñānametena jñānino nityavairiṇā | kāmarūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca

Translation

Covered, O son of Kuntī, is wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise, in the form of desire, which is greedy and insatiable.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

āvṛtam

enveloped

jñānam

wisdom

etena

(by) this

jñāninaḥ

of the wise man

nityavairiṇā

by the constant enemy

kāmarūpeṇa

desire, body, whose, he (by it)

kaunteya

O Kaunteya

duṣpūreṇa

(by) the unfillable

analena

by flame

ca

and

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

The wise man knows even before suffering the consequence, that he has been led by desire to evil ways, and therefore he feels ever miserable. Wherefore desire is a constant enemy of the wise, not of the ignorant. For the latter regards desire as a friend at the time he thirsts for objects, and it is only when suffering results from it that he learns the truth that he has been rendered miserable by desire. It is insatiable and greedy; it never has enough.