For Adi Shankaracharya, lust was not just a moral issue. It was a misunderstanding of who we are.
He believed lust is one of the ego’s strongest tricks. It keeps us identified with the body and makes us forget our real nature. As long as we think I am this body, its desires feel like commands we must obey.
In Bhaja Govindam, Shankara speaks very clearly. Do not get carried away by physical beauty. What we call beauty is only the outer layer of skin, flesh, blood and bone. The attraction exists mainly in the mind’s imagination.
His approach was simple and practical. Look beyond the surface. See the body for what it truly is. When you remove the mental projection, the intensity of lust weakens. It loses its hypnotic pull.
He compared desire to drinking salt water. The more you drink, the thirstier you become. The mind promises peace through gratification, but indulgence only strengthens the habit.
At the same time, Shankara did not teach repression. Forcing thoughts away only makes them stronger. Instead, he taught viveka – the ability to distinguish between the Real and the changing.
You feel lust because you think you are the body. But if you recognize yourself as the Atman, the witnessing awareness, then desire becomes just another passing thought. A wave in the mind. It rises, and it falls.
When a sexual thought appears, the practice is simple. Observe it.
This is a thought in the mind. I am the witness of it.
In that shift, the grip of lust begins to loosen.
For Shankara, mastery over lust comes not from suppression, but from clarity about who you truly are.
Reference Book – Bhaja Govindam
Vedik Mind 