A question · reflective in mood · a little context helps
“Compulsion has a cause, and Arjuna wants to name it.”
Arjuna said: O descendant of the Vrishni clan, what drives a person to commit wrongdoing, even unwillingly, as if forced?
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyArjuna said · then · by what · impelled · this · wrongdoing · does · person · not desiring · even · O descendant of the Vrishni clan · by force · as if
Arjuna asks what makes a person do wrong even when they do not want to, as if some force is pushing them.
Arjuna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Karma Yoga" (The Yoga of Action).
Verse 36 sits in Chapter 3 of the Bhagavad Gita — Karma Yoga, "The Yoga of Action". The chapter has 43 verses in total.
On Diwali night, a man who promised his wife he would skip the card game finds himself at the table again. Arjuna's question fits that night: what pushed him there against his own will?
Did you like this verse?
Arjuna asks what force drives a person to do wrong, even unwillingly, as if pushed.
What this verse means
Arjuna asks what makes a person do wrong even when they do not want to, as if some force is pushing them.
Context & commentary
Arjuna has already been told to rise above attachment and follow his duty. Instead of accepting the teaching, he turns to Krishna with a deeper question: what power makes people act against their own will?
What it looks like today
On Diwali night, a man who promised his wife he would skip the card game finds himself at the table again. Arjuna's question fits that night: what pushed him there against his own will?
“It gives language to the strange moment when you feel split between intention and action.”
Explore related themes: rajas (21 verses)