Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 63
क्रोधाद्भवति संमोहः संमोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः।
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति।।
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति।।
krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥ
smṛti-bhranśād buddhi-nāśo buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati
also searched as "krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smriti vibhramah"
Translation
Anger leads to delusion, which causes the loss of memory; the loss of memory leads to the destruction of discrimination, and with the destruction of discrimination, one is lost.
Vāṇi's rendering
Anger clouds judgment; clouded, you forget yourself; forgetting, understanding collapses — and with it, you fall.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| क्रोधात्krodhāt | from anger (the final t softens to d before bhavati) |
| भवतिbhavati | comes, arises |
| संमोहःsammohaḥ | delusion, a clouding over |
| संमोहात्sammohāt | from that clouding |
| स्मृति-विभ्रमःsmṛti-vibhramaḥ | memory goes astray; you lose hold of what you knew |
| स्मृति-भ्रंशात्smṛti-bhranśāt | from the collapse of memory (final t softens to d before buddhi) |
| बुद्धि-नाशःbuddhi-nāśaḥ | the ruin of understanding, the faculty that discerns (appears as nāśo by sandhi) |
| बुद्धि-नाशात्buddhi-nāśāt | from the ruin of understanding |
| प्रणश्यतिpraṇaśyati | he is lost, he goes under |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 63 mean?
It maps a fall in five stages. Anger clouds you; clouded, you forget what you know; forgetting, your power to discern collapses; and with that gone, you go. Krishna is not condemning anger. He is showing Arjuna how quickly a small heat becomes a ruined life if nothing interrupts it.
What does krodhad bhavati sammohah teach about handling anger?
That anger works by taking your sight, not your strength. You are never more certain than when you are furious, and never less able to see. So the practice is not suppression but interruption — catching the heat before it becomes fog. Once the fog is here, argument is useless; only time and stillness clear it.
Why does the Gita say loss of memory destroys a person?
Smṛti here is not recall of facts. It is remembering who you are and what you had decided when you were clear. Anger does not delete information; it deletes your standing agreement with yourself. Without that, buddhi has nothing to work from, and you act from impulse and call it decision.
How is verse 2.63 connected to the verse before it?
The previous verse begins the chain — dwelling on objects breeds attachment, attachment breeds desire, desire breeds anger. This verse finishes it. Read together they form one unbroken slope from an idle thought to a lost life. Krishna shows the whole slide so that you learn to step off it at the top.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Count the steps. Anger is not the ruin; it is the first domino. Krishna traces the fall link by link — anger, then the fog, then forgetting who you are, then the collapse of the faculty that could have told you. By the time you are lost, the anger is long past; you cannot even remember what it was about. This is why the Gītā spends its attention on desire and its small beginnings rather than on the wreckage. The chain is not broken at the end. It is broken early, at the moment you notice heat rising and do not feed it.