Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 37

Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

श्रीभगवानुवाच ।
काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भवः ।
महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् ॥

Transliteration

śrībhagavānuvāca .
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajoguṇasamudbhavaḥ .
mahāśano mahāpāpmā viddhyenamiha vairiṇam ॥

Meaning

The Blessed Lord said: It is desire, it is anger, born of the quality of rajas; all-devouring and greatly sinful — know this to be the enemy here.

Word meanings

कामः – desire
एषः – this
क्रोधः – anger
रजोगुणसमुद्भवः – born of the rajo-guna
महाशनः – all-devouring, insatiable
महापाप्मा – the great sinner, mighty evil
विद्धि – know
एनम् – this
इह – here, in this matter
वैरिणम् – enemy

Anvaya (word order)

श्रीभगवान् उवाच — एषः कामः, एषः क्रोधः रजोगुणसमुद्भवः; महाशनः महापाप्मा; इह एनं वैरिणं विद्धि ।

Explanation

Arjuna has asked in 3.36 what drives a person to do wrong even against his will, as if forced by some power. The Lord now names it with extraordinary directness: it is kama, desire, and it is krodha, anger, born of rajoguna, the quality of passion. It is mahashana, a great devourer, never satisfied, and mahapapma, greatly sinful, for it leads to every other fault. "Know this to be the enemy here."

The Lord treats desire and anger as one force with two faces. Desire is the force of wanting; when it is thwarted, it turns into anger. A person who wants a promotion and does not get it feels resentment; a person who craves attention and is ignored becomes bitter. The same energy runs through both. And because it is rajasic, it is restless and impossible to fill. The more we feed it, the more it demands.

Shankara explains that kama, born of passion, when obstructed by someone, turns into anger and drives the person to sinful action, even to the point of making him act as a servant of this enemy; he calls it the great enemy of liberation, hidden within the mind. Ramanuja understands the verse as pointing to the passion produced in the mind by the contact of the senses with objects, which obscures the knowledge of the Self. Madhva adds that this enemy only has power because the soul is unaware of the Lord.

The words "iha vairinam", "the enemy in this matter", are subtle. The enemy is not outside, not the other army, not even the world; it is within. This is the answer to Arjuna's despair: his true battle is not only on the field but in the mind. Notice also that the Lord does not say that energy or aspiration is evil; it is the uncontrolled wanting that is the foe.

For practice, notice the moment before a mistake: a flicker of wanting, a flash of irritation. It is easier to catch the enemy at the gate than in the house. The Gita comes back to this force many times: see 2.62 and 2.63, where the chain from attachment to desire to anger to ruin is traced, and 16.21, where desire, anger and greed are called the three doors of hell.

Context

In 3.36 Arjuna asked why a person commits sin. This answer is the last link of the chapter. Verses 3.38–3.40 describe how the enemy veils and where it dwells, and 3.41–3.43 give the means of conquering it.

Life lesson

Look for the root of your sorrows and mistakes not outside but in uncontrolled desire within. To recognise desire and give it right direction is the greatest practice of life.

Key terms

Kama: desire, craving, longing for enjoyment
Krodha: anger, the surge when desire is thwarted
Rajoguna: the quality of passion and restlessness
Mahashana: insatiable, never satisfied