Chapter 3 · The Yoga of Action

श्रीकृष्णŚrī Kṛṣṇa speaks

Text 3.36

अर्जुन उवाच अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुष: अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजित:

arjuna uvācha atha kena prayukto ’yaṁ pāpaṁ charati pūruṣhaḥ anichchhann api vārṣhṇeya balād iva niyojitaḥ

Recitation · Text 3.36
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Word-for-Word Śabda-Artha (14 words)

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Purport Overview & Key Insights

Arjuna asks the question the whole chapter has been building toward: by what is a person impelled to do wrong, even unwillingly, as though driven by force? He has stopped arguing about duty and started asking about compulsion.

✨ Devotional Takeaway:Arjuna has stopped arguing about duty and started asking the harder question: why we do what we don't even want to do.