Bhagavad Gita 3.36 meaningWhy action matters
In simple wordsSo simple a child gets it
Arjuna asks: “Why do we do bad things, even when we don’t want to?”
What it means
Arjuna asks: “Then what pushes a person to do wrong, even against their will, as if forced?”
The original Sanskrit
अर्जुन उवाच । अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः । अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजितः ॥
arjuna uvāca atha kena prayukto.ayaṃ pāpaṃ carati pūruṣaḥ anicchannapi vārṣṇeya balādiva niyojitaḥ
Translations
Literal translation
Arjuna said: Now then, O scion of the Vrsni dynasty (Krsna), impelled by what does this man commit sin even against his wish, being constrained by force, as it were?
Swami Gambhirananda
हिंदी अनुवाद
अर्जुन ने कहा -- हे वार्ष्णेय ! फिर यह पुरुष बलपूर्वक बाध्य किये हुये के समान अनिच्छा होते हुये भी किसके द ्वारा प्रेरित होकर पाप का आचरण करता है?
Swami Tejomayananda
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Commentaries
How great teachers across 1,200 years have explained this verse.
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Keep reading · 3.37Krishna answers: “It is desire, and the anger that grows from it, born of restless energy. It is endlessly hungry and destructive. Know it as your real enemy.”