Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 36

Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

अर्जुन उवाच ।
अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः ।
अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजितः ॥

Transliteration

arjuna uvāca .
atha kena prayukto.ayaṃ pāpaṃ carati pūruṣaḥ .
anicchannapi vārṣṇeya balādiva niyojitaḥ ॥

Meaning

Arjuna said: O Varshneya, impelled by what does this person commit sin, even unwillingly, as though driven by force?

Word meanings

अथ – then
केन – by what
प्रयुक्तः – impelled
अयम् – this
पापम् – sin
चरति – commits
पूरुषः – person
अनिच्छन् – not wishing
अपि – even
वार्ष्णेय – O descendant of Vrishni
बलात् – by force
इव – as if
नियोजितः – engaged, compelled

Anvaya (word order)

अर्जुनः उवाच — वार्ष्णेय, अथ अयं पूरुषः अनिच्छन् अपि बलात् इव नियोजितः केन प्रयुक्तः पापं चरति ।

Explanation

The Lord has just said that attraction and aversion are enemies and that observing one's svadharma is best. Arjuna's natural question arises, rooted in his own experience too. A person knows what is wrong and still does it. He does not want it, yet some unseen power thrusts him that way. What is that power?

‘Baladiva niyojitah’ — as though yoked by force. The phrase captures the helplessness we all feel at times: saying something in anger, doing something out of greed, and repenting later. Arjuna also wants to know whether some external power, like fate or God, is behind it.

Shankara explains that since engagement and withdrawal are being discussed, one must know the cause that engages a person in sin. Ramanuja links it to the question of how much freedom the soul has when the gunas are so powerful.

With this question the final part of Chapter 3 begins, where the Lord will name desire and anger as man's enemy. Arjuna's honesty in asking it is admirable.

Context

After the glory of svadharma in 3.35, this question of Arjuna opens the last part of the chapter. The Lord answers from 3.37.

Life lesson

Asking honest questions about our own compulsions and inner weaknesses is the first step of reform. To understand why I do wrong is the understanding that comes before not doing wrong.

Key terms

Varshneya: Krishna, born in the Vrishni line
Anichchhan: not wishing, unwilling
Niyojita: impelled, engaged as if by force