Chapter 17, Verse 6
कर्षयन्तः शरीरस्थं भूतग्राममचेतसः | मां चैवान्तःशरीरस्थं तान्विद्ध्यासुरनिश्चयान् ||१७-६||
karṣayantaḥ śarīrasthaṃ bhūtagrāmamacetasaḥ . māṃ caivāntaḥśarīrasthaṃ tānviddhyāsuraniścayān ||17-6||
Meaning
17.6 Senseless, torturing all the elements in the body and Me also, Who dwell in the body, know thou these to be of demonical resolves.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Completing the thought from the previous verse, Krishna names the gravest fault of misguided austerity: in torturing the body, these acetasah ('senseless') people torment the very elements that compose them — and, more strikingly, they torment Krishna himself, for the Divine dwells antah-shariram, within the body, as the indwelling Self. To violate the body in arrogance is to disrespect the sacred presence it houses.
This is a striking teaching for anyone who imagines that punishing the body is automatically holy. The body is not the enemy of the spirit but its temple. Krishna calls such resolve asura — demonic — not because effort is bad, but because effort severed from reverence becomes self-violence. Genuine spiritual practice honours the divine spark within, treating body and mind as instruments to be refined, never weapons to be abused.
💡 Key Takeaway
The Divine dwells within your body, so honour it as a temple — punishing yourself is not piety but a kind of self-violence.
Related Verses
अशास्त्रविहितं घोरं तप्यन्ते ये तपो जनाः | दम्भाहंकारसंयुक्ताः कामरागबलान्विताः ||१७-५||
aśāstravihitaṃ ghoraṃ tapyante ye tapo janāḥ . dambhāhaṃkārasaṃyuktāḥ kāmarāgabalānvitāḥ ||17-5||
17.5 Those men who practise terrific austerities not enjoined by the scriptures, given to hypocrisy and egoism, impelled by the force of lust and attachment.
अभिसन्धाय तु फलं दम्भार्थमपि चैव यत् | इज्यते भरतश्रेष्ठ तं यज्ञं विद्धि राजसम् ||१७-१२||
abhisandhāya tu phalaṃ dambhārthamapi caiva yat . ijyate bharataśreṣṭha taṃ yajñaṃ viddhi rājasam ||17-12||
17.12 The sacrifice which is offered, O Arjuna, seeking a reward and for ostentation, know thou that to be a Rajasic Yajna.
देवद्विजगुरुप्राज्ञपूजनं शौचमार्जवम् | ब्रह्मचर्यमहिंसा च शारीरं तप उच्यते ||१७-१४||
devadvijaguruprājñapūjanaṃ śaucamārjavam . brahmacaryamahiṃsā ca śārīraṃ tapa ucyate ||17-14||
17.14 Worship of the gods, the twice-born, the teachers and the wise, purity, straightforwardness, celibacy and non-injury are called the austerities of the body.