A declaration · reflective in mood · a little context helps
“Rejecting clear guidance leaves the mind stranded.”
But those who, finding fault with this teaching, do not follow it—know them to be deluded in all knowledge and ruined in understanding.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallythose · but · this · finding fault with · not · follow · my · teaching · deluded in all knowledge · them · know · ruined · without understanding
People who reject this teaching out of fault-finding lose clear understanding and become confused. The problem is not the teaching; it is the closed mind that refuses to practise it.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Karma Yoga" (The Yoga of Action).
Verse 32 sits in Chapter 3 of the Bhagavad Gita — Karma Yoga, "The Yoga of Action". The chapter has 43 verses in total.
A colleague suggests a simpler way to plan the week, and a senior manager dismisses it before hearing it out. Months later he is still drowning in the same mess, his reflex to sneer intact.
Did you like this verse?
Fault-finders who refuse this teaching, Krishna warns, end up confused about everything they know.
What this verse means
People who reject this teaching out of fault-finding lose clear understanding and become confused. The problem is not the teaching; it is the closed mind that refuses to practise it.
Context & commentary
Arjuna still hesitates, and Krishna keeps pressing the case for action without attachment. After promising freedom to those who follow this discipline, Krishna warns that scoffing at it leaves a person mentally lost and unable to see clearly.
What it looks like today
A colleague suggests a simpler way to plan the week, and a senior manager dismisses it before hearing it out. Months later he is still drowning in the same mess, his reflex to sneer intact.
“Resistance can feel clever, but it quietly cuts you off from clarity.”
Explore related themes: karma yoga (55 verses), shraddha (34 verses), discipline (14 verses)