Srimad BhagavadGita

So far, the four significant phases in the practice for a jñāna yogi were discussed. In the following three ślokas, Kṛṣṇa acknowledges that all the four phases are difficult to achieve and discusses the means to achieve them. Of them, the first two ślokas discuss the difficulty in achieving them and the third śloka discusses the means to achieve perfection in jñāna yoga.  

Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna, "The sense objects turn away from the jīva who has diverted his senses from them. But the taste for sense objects does not go away. This taste goes away only after the essential nature of the soul is seen i.e soul is realised."

nirāhārasya (One without āhāram/food) Going forward, in the 6th chapter of the Bhagawad Gītā, in the ślokas na caikāntam anaśnataḥ B.G 6.16 (one does not progress towards achieving yogaṃ by total abstinence from eating) and yuktāhāra-vihārasya B.G 6.17 (one who practises moderation in food and recreation achieves perfection in yogaṃ), Kṛṣṇa is going to impose the rule that a seeker must accept as much food as is necessary for the maintenance of his body. In the upaniṣad statement, atyāśanādatīpānāt Taittirīya Nārāyanānuvākaḥ 1.34 too, excess of food and drink are forbidden. From all of the above statements it can be understood that 'nirāhārasya' (the food to be abstained from) talked about in this śloka is not about the food we eat alone. Moreover, depriving the tongue alone from food items does not lead to getting rid of all the sense objects in the world. Therefore, in line with the present context, food here refers to all the sense objects.

dasaitān īṃdriyoktāni dvārāṇ āhārasiddhaye Mahābhārata Mokṣa Parva (These ten called as indriyas (senses) are the doors for accepting the objects of nature which are their food) Here in this śloka too, all the objects of the ten senses are addressed as their 'āhāram' (food). 'nirāhārasya' is therefore the process of pulling back the senses from their objects as described earlier.

viṣayā rasa-varjaṃ vinivartante For such a person who pulls back his senses from their objects with great efforts, the objects get removed and the taste for objects called viṣaya rāgam alone remains.

Q: Why does the taste still remain? This is answered next.

A: dehinaḥ is the answer. Due to association with the deha (body) since beginning less time, this taste which is its result has also been there in him since very long. It is not easy for this taste to be removed by the efforts of a jīva who is associated with bodies (which are a collection of flesh and bones made up of the five material elements) since time immemorial, as a result of his karmas.

Q: Then how can one get rid of this taste for sense objects? This is answered next.

A: asya rasaḥ api paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (The attachment also goes away when it sees the soul which is much more superior) To say that the attachment (taste for sense objects) sees the soul, is a metaphorical usage (aupacārika prayogam). In reality it is the soul which has a vision of itself and as a result the attachment goes away. Another way to understand the meaning is to append the word 'sthitasya' to the sentence making it paraṃ dṛṣṭvā sthitasya asya rasaḥ api nivartate (after seeing the great soul even his attachment for the objects of the senses goes away)

     paraṃ The happiness of the soul is far greater than that of any object of the world which is known to            give happiness. Hence the soul which is by nature blissful is referred to as 'paraṃ' here.

     dṛṣṭvā nivartate As soon as one sees the soul, his interest in objects of the world also gets removed, just

as the experience of greater joy causes loss of interest in smaller joys. 

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Summary:

In this śloka Kṛṣṇa declares that the taste for sense objects does not go away unless and until the vision of the soul is obtained.