Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7, Verse 27

Chapter 7 – Jnana Vijnana Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत ।
सर्वभूतानि सम्मोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप ॥

Transliteration

icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata .
sarvabhūtāni sammohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa ॥

Meaning

O Bharata, scorcher of foes, all beings fall into deep delusion from birth itself, through the delusion of the pairs of opposites that arises from desire and aversion.

Word meanings

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन – arising from desire and aversion
द्वन्द्वमोहेन – by the delusion of the pairs of opposites
भारत – O descendant of Bharata
सर्वभूतानि – all beings
सम्मोहम् – deep delusion
सर्गे – at birth, in creation
यान्ति – fall into
परन्तप – O scorcher of foes

Anvaya (word order)

परन्तप भारत, इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन सर्वभूतानि सर्गे सम्मोहं यान्ति ।

Explanation

In the previous verse Krishna said that no one knows Him. Now He gives the root cause of this ignorance: iccha-dvesha-samutthena dvandva-mohena — the delusion of the pairs of opposites, born of desire and aversion.

In life we divide everything into two compartments — pleasant and unpleasant, favourable and unfavourable. What seems pleasant arouses desire (iccha); what seems unpleasant arouses aversion (dvesha). From these arise the dvandvas, the pairs of opposites such as pleasure and pain, gain and loss, honour and dishonour. They are so powerful that the mind is forever swinging between them — now running after pleasure, now fleeing pain. This entanglement is called dvandva-moha.

Sarva-bhutani sammoham sarge yanti — all beings fall into this deep delusion from birth. Sarge means at the time of birth, or in creation. As soon as it is born, the soul is immersed in this delusion of opposites along with its past impressions. Shankara says that one gripped by desire and aversion does not have true knowledge even of outer objects, let alone knowledge of the Self.

The message is that the cause of not knowing God is not a lack of intelligence but the mind's entanglement in attraction and aversion. As the moon's reflection is not clear in rippling water, the truth does not shine in a mind stirred by desire and aversion. The next verse tells who becomes free of this delusion.

Context

In 7.26 Krishna said that no one knows Him; this verse gives the reason — the delusion of opposites born of desire and aversion. The next verse (7.28) says that those whose sins are ended, freed from this delusion, worship the Lord with firm resolve.

Life lesson

Notice how many times a day you react on the basis of 'I like this, I dislike that'. Likes and dislikes are natural, but do not become their slave. The more the mind rises above these opposites, the clearer and calmer it becomes.

Key terms

Iccha: desire for what is pleasant
Dvesha: aversion to what is unpleasant
Dvandva-moha: delusion born of pairs of opposites such as pleasure and pain
Sarga: birth, creation
Parantapa: scorcher of foes — Arjuna