This verse and the next form the famous 'Ladder of Fall' in the Gita. Krishna details the exact sequence of psychological self-destruction. It begins harmlessly: a person merely contemplates or thinks about (dhyāyato) sense objects (viṣayān). From this repeated contemplation, an attachment or affinity (saṅgas) is born. From attachment, a deep craving or lust (kāmaḥ) develops to possess the object. When this lust is inevitably frustrated or delayed, anger (krodho) violently arises.