Chapter 3, Verse 34
इन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे रागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ | तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत्तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ ||३-३४||
indriyasyendriyasyārthe rāgadveṣau vyavasthitau . tayorna vaśamāgacchettau hyasya paripanthinau ||3-34||
Meaning
3.34 Attachment and aversion for the objects of the senses abide in the senses; let none come under their sway; for, they are his foes.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna pinpoints the real battleground. For each sense and its object, raga and dvesha — attraction and aversion, liking and disliking — lie naturally seated. These twin pulls are the engines that drive us toward some things and away from others, often before conscious thought intervenes.
The instruction is precise: do not come under their sway, for they are paripanthin, robbers who waylay the traveller on the spiritual path. Krishna does not say we can erase these reactions overnight; rather, we must not let them control us. This is the subtle answer to the previous verse's question about nature. We cannot simply suppress our tendencies by force, but we can refuse to be mastered by the automatic pulls of like and dislike. Freedom lies in that gap — in observing the pull of attraction or aversion and choosing not to be swept away by it.
💡 Key Takeaway
Your liking and disliking arise automatically — the real discipline is refusing to be ruled by them, not pretending they do not exist.
Related Verses
न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते | न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ||३-४||
na karmaṇāmanārambhānnaiṣkarmyaṃ puruṣo.aśnute . na ca saṃnyasanādeva siddhiṃ samadhigacchati ||3-4||
3.4 Not by non-performance of actions does man reach actionlessness; nor by mere renunciation does he attain to perfection.
कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन् | इन्द्रियार्थान्विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचारः स उच्यते ||३-६||
karmendriyāṇi saṃyamya ya āste manasā smaran . indriyārthānvimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate ||3-6||
3.6 He who, restraining the organs of action, sits thinking of the sense-objects in mind, he of deluded understanding is called a hypocrite.
यस्त्विन्द्रियाणि मनसा नियम्यारभतेऽर्जुन | कर्मेन्द्रियैः कर्मयोगमसक्तः स विशिष्यते ||३-७||
yastvindriyāṇi manasā niyamyārabhate.arjuna . karmendriyaiḥ karmayogamasaktaḥ sa viśiṣyate ||3-7||
3.7 But whosoever, controlling the senses by the mind, O Arjuna, engages himself in Karma Yoga with the organs of action, without attachment, he excels.