Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 59
यदहङ्कारमाश्रित्य न योत्स्य इति मन्यसे।मिथ्यैष व्यवसायस्ते प्रकृतिस्त्वां नियोक्ष्यति।।
yad ahankāram āśritya na yotsya iti manyase
mithyaiṣa vyavasāyas te prakṛtis tvāṁ niyokṣyati
also searched as "yad ahankaram ashritya na yotsya iti manyase"
Translation
If, in your self-conceit, you think, 'I will not fight,' your resolve is futile. Nature will compel you.
Vāṇi's rendering
You lean on pride and say 'I will not fight.' The resolve is hollow — your own nature will force your hand.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यत्yad | if; that (course) which |
| अहङ्कारम्ahaṅkāram | pride; the insistent sense of 'I' |
| आश्रित्यāśritya | having leaned on, taken shelter in |
| नna | not |
| योत्स्येyotsye | I will fight (final vowel merges with the following iti) |
| इतिiti | thus, saying so |
| मन्यसेmanyase | you think, you hold as settled |
| मिथ्याmithyā | false, hollow, of no effect (joined by sandhi to eṣa) |
| एषeṣa | this |
| व्यवसायःvyavasāyaḥ | resolve, firm decision (final s stays before te) |
| तेte | your |
| प्रकृतिःprakṛtiḥ | your own nature, the way you are made (final s stays before tvām) |
| त्वाम्tvām | you |
| नियोक्ष्यतिniyokṣyati | will harness, will compel to the task |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 59 mean?
Krishna tells Arjuna that his refusal to fight rests on ahaṅkāra — pride wearing the mask of principle. Such a resolve is hollow because it contradicts what he already is. Prakṛti, his own formed nature, will move him into action anyway. The refusal delays the deed; it does not cancel it.
What does 'yad ahankaram ashritya na yotsya iti manyase' teach?
It names the hidden support beneath a noble-sounding refusal. Arjuna believes he is withdrawing out of conscience; Krishna sees him leaning on pride, on the idea of a self that can stand apart and decide. Remove that support and the whole decision collapses. Look at what your own refusals are leaning on.
Is Krishna saying we have no free will here?
No. He is saying your nature will act — that much is settled. What remains open is whether you act blindly, dragged by prakṛti, or act knowingly, offering the work and releasing the fruit. Freedom is not exemption from action. It is clarity within the action that was coming anyway.
Why does Krishna call Arjuna's decision proud rather than compassionate?
Because it assumes he controls the outcome. Genuine compassion is not a claim of authorship. Arjuna's grief has quietly become a stance — I will not, I refuse — and the I stands at its centre. Krishna does not attack the feeling. He removes the pedestal it has been standing on.
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Commentary
Krishna calls the refusal what it is. Not compassion, not conscience — pride: the small self insisting it can stand outside the field. And then he says something stranger than a rebuke. The refusal will not hold. A warrior's nature will move his arms whether or not he has consented; the vow of silence breaks by the second day. You have made such resolutions. Not to speak, not to want, not to act — and watched your own nature walk you back to the thing. Krishna does not shame you for that. He says the act is coming regardless — only its manner is still yours.