🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 3.36

Chapter 3 · कर्मयोग · Karma-Yoga · "The Yoga of Action" · Verse 36 of 43

अर्जुन उवाच

अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः।

अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजितः।।3.36।।
— Bhagavad-Gītā 3.36 · Devanāgarī root text

🪷 English Translations

5 received English translations are available for this śloka. Each voice is labelled; no single rendering is presented as the Sanskrit itself.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 edition attribution in the received data
3.36 Arjuna asked: My Lord! Tell me, what is it that drives a man to sin, even against his will and as if by compulsion?
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
3.36 Arjuna said But impelled by what does man commit sin, though against his wishes, O Varshneya (Krishna), constrained as it were, by force?
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
3.36 Atha, now then; varsneya, O scion of the Vrsni dynasty; being prayuktah, impelled; kena, by what acting as the cause; as a servant is by a king, does ayam, this; purusah, man; carati, commit; papam, sin, a sinful act; api, even; anicchan, against his wish, though not himself willing; niyojitah, being constrained; balat, by force; iva, as it were-as if by a king, which illustration has already been given? The Lord (Bhaga-van) said: 'You hear about that enemy, the source of all evil, of which you ask-.' 'Bhaga is said to consist of all kinds of majesty, virtue, fame, beauty, detachment as well as Liberation [Liberation stands for its cause, Illumination.], (V.P.6.5.74). That Vasudeva, in whom reside for ever, unimpeded and in their fullness, the six alities of majesty etc. and who has the knowledge of such subjects as creation etc., is called Bhaga-van. 'He is spoken of as Bhaga-van who is aware of creation and dissolution, gain and loss, [Gain and loss stand for future prosperity and adversity.] ignorance and Illumination of all beings' (ibid. 78).
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
3.36 Arjuna said Impelled by what does a man practising Jnana Yoga commit sin in the form of experiencing the objects of the senses, as if constrained by force, even against his own will not to experience the objects of the senses.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
3.36. Arjuna said Then, induced by what, does this person [of the world] commit sin-eventhough he does not desire it-as if instigated by a force, overpowering [him] ?

🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद

Received Hindi rendering attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi rendering · source-data attribution
।।3.36।। अर्जुन बोले - हे वार्ष्णेय ! फिर यह मनुष्य न चाहता हुआ भी जबर्दस्ती लगाये हुएकी तरह किससे प्रेरित होकर पापका आचरण करता है?

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

5 received English commentary layers are available for this śloka. Open only the voice you wish to study.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
3.36 अथ now? केन by which? प्रयुक्तः impelled? अयम् this? पापम् sin? चरति does? पूरुषः man? अनिच्छन् not wishing? अपि even? वार्ष्णेय O Varshneya? बलात् by force? इव as it were? नियोजितः constrained.Commentary Varshneya is one born in the family of the Vrishnis? a name of Krishna.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
3.36 Atha, now then; varsneya, O scion of the Vrsni dynasty; being prayuktah, impelled; kena, by what acting as the cause; as a servant is by a king, does ayam, this; purusah, man; carati, commit; papam, sin, a sinful act; api, even; anicchan, against his wish, though not himself willing; niyojitah, being constrained; balat, by force; iva, as it were-as if by a king, which illustration has already been given? The Lord (Bhaga-van) said: 'You hear about that enemy, the source of all evil, of which you ask-.' 'Bhaga is said to consist of all kinds of majesty, virtue, fame, beauty, detachment as well as Liberation [Liberation stands for its cause, Illumination.], (V.P.6.5.74). That Vasudeva, in whom reside for ever, unimpeded and in their fullness, the six alities of majesty etc. and who has the knowledge of such subjects as creation etc., is called Bhaga-van. 'He is spoken of as Bhaga-van who is aware of creation and dissolution, gain and loss, [Gain and loss stand for future prosperity and adversity.] ignorance and Illumination of all beings' (ibid. 78).
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
3.36 Arjuna said Impelled by what does a man practising Jnana Yoga commit sin in the form of experiencing the objects of the senses, as if constrained by force, even against his own will not to experience the objects of the senses.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
3.36 Atha etc. The estion is this : Eventhough a man knows a sin to be a sin, why does he proceed on it ? The idea in raising this estion is this : If one's own duty cannot be (or should not be) given up, because it does not vanish from one's own heart, then how to account for the sinful acts of these men [of the world] ? This amounts to say : What is one's own duty by which the creature is never deserted ? Eventhough one's own duty rests in one's heart, the confusion (or evil) is created by the interruption (or covering) of an intruder, and it is not created by the absence of that duty-with this purport in mind, an answer to the above estion-
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।3.36।। धर्मशास्त्रों की परम्परा के अनुसार यहाँ अर्जुन विचाराधीन प्रकरण पर एक निश्चित प्रश्न पूछता है। इस प्रश्न से ही ज्ञात होता है कि अर्जुन अपनी प्रारम्भिक उन्माद् की स्थिति से बहुत कुछ बाहर आ गया था और अब उसने आत्मनिरीक्षण भी प्रारम्भ कर दिया था जिसके फलस्वरूप उसे अपने ही मन में कुछ ऐसे गुण अथवा शक्तियाँ कार्य कर रहीं अनुभव हुईं जो उसके उच्च गुणों की अभिव्यक्ति में बाधक बनकर उनके प्रभाव को ही नष्ट कर रहीं थीं। उसका प्रश्न ऐसे परिचित शब्दों में पूछा गया है कि लगता है मानो आज का कोई विद्यार्थी ही इस प्रश्न को पूछ रहा है।कोई भी मनुष्य ऐसा नहीं है जिसे कुछ मात्रा में ही सही अच्छे और बुरे का पुण्य और पाप का ज्ञान न हो। बुद्धि से प्रत्येक व्यक्ति जानता है कि पुण्य क्या है किन्तु जब कर्म करने का समय आता है तब पाप में ही उसकी प्रवृत्ति होती है। यह एक दुर्भाग्य पूर्ण विडम्बना है। स्वयं के आदर्श और वास्तविक आचरण में जो दूरी रहती है वह सभी आत्मनिरीक्षक विचारकों के लिये वास्तव में एक बड़ी समस्या बन जाती है।हमारे हृदय मे स्थित दैवी गुण व्यक्त होकर श्रेष्ठतर उपलब्धि प्राप्त करना चाहते हैं परन्तु पाशविक प्रवृत्तियां हमें प्रलोभित करके श्रेयमार्ग से दूर ले जाती हैं और हम निम्न स्तर के शारीरिक सुखों में ही रमण करते रहते हैं। अधिकांश समय यह सब हमारी अनिच्छा से ही होता रहता है। अर्जुन पूछता है मन में बैठे इस राक्षस का स्वरूप क्या है जो हममें स्थित दैवी गुणों को सुनियोजित ढंग से लूट ले जाता है वृष्णि वंश में जन्म होने से श्रीकृष्ण का नाम वार्ष्णेय था। इस प्रश्न का उत्तर देते हुए

🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या

Received Hindi vyākhyā attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi vyākhyā · source-data attribution
3.36।। व्याख्या--'अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं ৷৷. बलादिव नियोजितः-- यदुकुलमें 'वृष्णि' नामका एक वंश था। उसी वृष्णिवंशमें अवतार लेनेसे भगवान् श्रीकृष्णका एक नाम 'वार्ष्णेय' है। पूर्वश्लोकमें भगवान्ने स्वधर्म-पालनकी प्रशंसा की है। धर्म 'वर्ण' और 'कुल' का होता है; अतः अर्जुन भी कुल-(वंश-) के नामसे भगवान्को सम्बोधित करके प्रश्न करते हैं।विचारवान् पुरुष पाप नहीं करना चाहता; क्योंकि पापका परिणाम दुःख होता है और दुःखको कोई भी प्राणी नहीं चाहता।यहाँ अनिच्छन् पदका तात्पर्य भोग है संग्रहकी इच्छाका त्याग नहीं, प्रत्युत पाप करनेकी इच्छाका त्याग है। कारण कि भोग और संग्रहकी इच्छा ही समस्त पापोंका मूल है, जिसके न रहनेपर पाप होते ही नहीं।विचारशील मनुष्य पाप करना तो नहीं चाहता, पर भीतर सांसारिक भोग और संग्रहकी इच्छा रहनेसे वह करनेयोग्य कर्तव्य कर्म नहीं कर पाता और न करनेयोग्य पाप-कर्म कर बैठता है।अनिच्छन् पदकी प्रबलताको बतानेके लिये अर्जुन बलादिव नियोजितः पदोंको कहते हैं। तात्पर्य यह है कि पापवृत्तिके उत्पन्न होनेपर विचारशील पुरुष उस पापको जानता हुआ उससे सर्वथा दूर रहना चाहता है; फिर भी वह उस पापमें ऐसे लग जाता है, जैसे कोई उसको जबर्दस्ती पापमें लगा रहा हो। इससे ऐसा मालूम होता है कि पापमें लगानेवाला कोई बलवान् कारण है।पापोंमें प्रवृत्तिका मूल कारण है-- 'काम' अर्थात् सांसारिक सुख-भोग और संग्रहकी कामना। परन्तु इस कारणकी ओर दृष्टि न रहनेसे मनुष्यको यह पता नहीं चलता कि पाप करानेवाला कौन है वह यह समझता है कि मैं तो पापको जानता हुआ उससे निवृत्त होना चाहता हूँ पर मेरेको कोई बलपूर्वक पापमें प्रवृत्त करता है; जैसे दुर्योधनने कहा है-- जानामि धर्मं न च मे

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APA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. (n.d.). Bhagavad-Gītā 3.36. Vidhyāmitra. Retrieved 2026-08-17, from https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/3/36
Chicago: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 3.36." Vidhyāmitra. Accessed 2026-08-17. https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/3/36.
MLA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 3.36." Vidhyāmitra, 2026, https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/3/36.
Canonical reading URL: https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/3/36. This citation identifies Vidhyamitra's received digital witness; consult a named scholarly or printed edition when edition-specific authority is required.

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This page is rendered from the pinned 701-address witness documented on the Gītā index. Publication and search-indexing authorization for every bundled translation and commentary layer was confirmed on 4 August 2026; the exact received recension boundary remains disclosed separately.

🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷

सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)