Chapter 3, Verse 37
श्रीभगवानुवाच | काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भवः | महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् ||३-३७||
śrībhagavānuvāca . kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajoguṇasamudbhavaḥ . mahāśano mahāpāpmā viddhyenamiha vairiṇam ||3-37||
Meaning
3.37 The Blessed Lord said It is desire, it is anger both of the ality of Rajas, all-devouring, all-sinful; know this as the foe here (in this world).
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna answers Arjuna's question with piercing directness: the culprit is kama — desire — and its shadow, krodha, anger, both born of rajas, the restless quality of passion. He names this force mahashana, all-devouring, and mahapapma, deeply corrupting, and tells Arjuna to recognize it as the true enemy in this world.
The diagnosis is precise. Desire, when frustrated, turns to anger; together they form an insatiable hunger that consumes peace, judgment, and virtue. This is the unseen 'force' that drives people to act against their own will. By identifying the enemy so clearly, Krishna removes the mystery and the helplessness. The struggle is not against a vague fate but against a known inner force that can be understood and conquered. Naming the adversary is the beginning of victory: the feverish craving within us, not any outer foe, is what must be mastered.
💡 Key Takeaway
The real enemy within is insatiable desire, which sours into anger — name it clearly, for an enemy understood can be conquered.
Related Verses
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.
आवृतं ज्ञानमेतेन ज्ञानिनो नित्यवैरिणा | कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च ||३-३९||
āvṛtaṃ jñānametena jñānino nityavairiṇā . kāmarūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca ||3-39||
3.39 O Arjuna, wisdom is enveloped by this constant enemy of the wise in the form of desire, which is unappeasable as fire.
इन्द्रियाणि मनो बुद्धिरस्याधिष्ठानमुच्यते | एतैर्विमोहयत्येष ज्ञानमावृत्य देहिनम् ||३-४०||
indriyāṇi mano buddhirasyādhiṣṭhānamucyate . etairvimohayatyeṣa jñānamāvṛtya dehinam ||3-40||
3.40 The senses, the mind and the intellect are said to be its seat; through these it deludes the embodied by veiling his wisdom.