Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 60

Chapter 18 – Moksha Sanyasa Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

स्वभावजेन कौन्तेय निबद्धः स्वेन कर्मणा ।
कर्तुं नेच्छसि यन्मोहात्करिष्यस्यवशोपि तत् ॥

Transliteration

svabhāvajena kaunteya nibaddhaḥ svena karmaṇā .
kartuṃ necchasi yanmohātkariṣyasyavaśopi tat ॥

Meaning

Bound by your own duty born of your nature, O son of Kunti, what you do not wish to do out of delusion, you will do even against your will.

Word meanings

स्वभावजेन – born of your nature
कौन्तेय – O son of Kunti
निबद्धः – bound
स्वेन – by your own
कर्मणा – duty, action
कर्तुम् – to do
न इच्छसि – you do not wish
यत् – that which
मोहात् – out of delusion
करिष्यसि – you will do
अवशः – helplessly, against your will
अपि – even
तत् – that

Anvaya (word order)

कौन्तेय, स्वभावजेन स्वेन कर्मणा निबद्धः (त्वम्) मोहात् यत् कर्तुं न इच्छसि, तत् अवशः अपि करिष्यसि ।

Explanation

This verse reinforces the point of the previous one. Krishna says: svabhavajena kaunteya nibaddhah svena karmana — you are bound by the duty born of your own nature. This bond is not external but internal. Our past impressions, tendencies and innate capacities together form a current that carries us in a particular direction.

Kartum nechchhasi yan mohat — that which you do not wish to do out of delusion. Here the cause of Arjuna's unwillingness to fight is named plainly as moha, delusion — not discernment, not compassion, but confusion. This delusion, born of attachment to kinsmen and the ego of doership, was the root of his despondency.

Karishyasy avasho 'pi tat — yet you will do it, even helplessly. This is a kind of prediction, and it came true. Hidden in it is a profound message: an action that must be done can be done in two ways — helplessly, with reluctance and inner conflict; or with understanding, willingly and in surrender. In the first case the action binds; in the second it liberates. Krishna wants Arjuna to fight not under compulsion but with knowledge and devotion.

The verse does not teach fatalism. A human being always retains the freedom to choose the spirit in which he performs the work arising from his nature. Ramanuja explains that if Arjuna ignored the Lord's teaching and fought merely because he was enraged by his enemies' insults, it would bind him; but if he fights in accordance with the teaching, the same war becomes a means to liberation.

Context

In the previous verse Krishna said Arjuna's nature would compel him to fight. This verse makes it clearer that, bound by his own nature-born duty, Arjuna will fight even against his will. In the next verse (18.61) Krishna explains that the Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings and turns them as if mounted on a machine.

Life lesson

Do the duty you must do not with reluctance and complaint but with understanding and surrender. The same action can bind or liberate depending on the spirit in which it is done. Recognise reluctance born of delusion through discernment and overcome it.

Key terms

Svabhavaja karma: Action born of one's nature
Nibaddha: Bound
Moha: Delusion that clouds discernment
Avasha: Helpless, against one's will