Chapter 3, Verse 32
ये त्वेतदभ्यसूयन्तो नानुतिष्ठन्ति मे मतम् | सर्वज्ञानविमूढांस्तान्विद्धि नष्टानचेतसः ||३-३२||
ye tvetadabhyasūyanto nānutiṣṭhanti me matam . sarvajñānavimūḍhāṃstānviddhi naṣṭānacetasaḥ ||3-32||
Meaning
3.32 But those who carp at My teaching and do not practise it, deluded of all knowledge, and devoid of discrimination, know them to be doomed to destruction.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna gives the contrasting consequence. Those who abhyasuyanta — find fault with and resent the teaching — and refuse to practise it are sarva-jnana-vimudha, confused in all knowledge, lacking discrimination, and headed for ruin. Their loss is self-inflicted, born of cynical rejection rather than mere lack of opportunity.
The key word is again asuya, the fault-finding, resentful spirit that closes the heart to wisdom. It is not ignorance alone that ruins a person but the arrogant refusal to learn, the cynicism that mocks what it has not tried. Such an attitude bars the door to growth and leaves one mandant in confusion. The verse is not a threat of external punishment but a description of natural consequence: those who reject the very means of their liberation simply remain bound. Receptivity, the opposite of carping, is the doorway through which truth enters a life.
💡 Key Takeaway
Cynical fault-finding closes the door to growth — the refusal to even try wisdom, not lack of opportunity, is what keeps people bound.
Related Verses
उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका न कुर्यां कर्म चेदहम् | सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः ||३-२४||
utsīdeyurime lokā na kuryāṃ karma cedaham . saṅkarasya ca kartā syāmupahanyāmimāḥ prajāḥ ||3-24||
3.24 These worlds would perish if I did not perform action; I should be the author of confusion of castes and destruction of these beings.
प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः | अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते ||३-२७||
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ . ahaṅkāravimūḍhātmā kartāhamiti manyate ||3-27||
3.27 All actions are wrought in all cases by the alities of Nature only. He whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks, "I am the doer."
धूमेनाव्रियते वह्निर्यथादर्शो मलेन च | यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस्तथा तेनेदमावृतम् ||३-३८||
dhūmenāvriyate vahniryathādarśo malena ca . yatholbenāvṛto garbhastathā tenedamāvṛtam ||3-38||
3.38 As fire is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror by dust, and as an embryo by the amnion, so is this enveloped by that.