Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 7
कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः
पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसंमूढचेताः।
यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे
शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम्।।
पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसंमूढचेताः।
यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे
शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम्।।
kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ
pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ
yac-cchreyaḥ syānniścitaṁ brūhi tanme
śiṣyaste ’haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam
also searched as "karpanya-doshopahata-svabhavah"
Translation
With my heart stricken by the fault of weak compassion, my mind perplexed about my duty, I implore you to tell me for certain what is good for me. I am your disciple; teach me, who have taken refuge in you.
Vāṇi's rendering
Pity has crippled me and dharma is a fog. I am your disciple; I take refuge. Teach me.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावःkārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ | my very nature struck down by the flaw of pitiable weakness (kārpaṇya + doṣa joined by sandhi) |
| पृच्छामिpṛcchāmi | I ask |
| त्वाम्tvām | you |
| धर्मसंमूढचेताःdharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ | with my thinking mind thoroughly bewildered about dharma |
| यत्yat | which (appears as yac before the following word) |
| श्रेयःśreyaḥ | the better thing, what is truly good |
| स्यात्syāt | may be (the final t assimilates into the next word's n) |
| निश्चितम्niścitam | for certain, decisively |
| ब्रूहिbrūhi | tell, speak |
| तत्tat | that |
| मेme | to me |
| शिष्यःśiṣyaḥ | student, one who is taught |
| तेte | your |
| अहम्aham | I am (the initial a is elided after te) |
| शाधिśādhi | instruct, direct |
| माम्mām | me |
| त्वाम्tvām | in you |
| प्रपन्नम्prapannam | one who has come for refuge, fallen at your feet |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 7 mean?
Arjuna admits two things at once: that his pity has hollowed out his own nature, and that he can no longer tell what dharma asks of him. Then he does the harder thing — he stops asking for agreement and asks to be taught. Śiṣyaste 'ham. I am your student. Instruct me.
What does 'karpanya doshopahata svabhavah' mean in the Gita?
Kārpaṇya is the state of the kṛpaṇa, the miser — small, shrunken, unable to give. Arjuna names his compassion as a kind of poverty that has struck his svabhāva, his own nature, out of shape. It is a startling self-diagnosis: the tenderness feels noble and is actually collapse.
Why does Arjuna suddenly call himself Krishna's disciple?
Because arguing and learning cannot happen in the same breath. Until this verse Arjuna speaks as an equal, a friend, a man with reasons. Krishna answers nothing. The teaching starts only when Arjuna sets down his reasons and says prapannam — I have come to you empty-handed.
Is it weakness to ask someone else what is right?
Arjuna is the finest archer alive and he asks. What he surrenders is not his capacity but his certainty, which had already failed him. Notice the word he uses: niścitam, tell me decisively. He is not asking for comfort. He is asking to be corrected, and that takes more nerve than standing firm.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
The moment Arjuna stops arguing, the Gītā begins. Six verses he has spent building a case — the ruin of families, the sin of killing, the empty kingdom. Here he drops it. Not because Krishna has refuted him; Krishna has barely spoken. He drops it because he has noticed he cannot see. Pity looks like virtue from the inside, and it has taken his nature apart. So he changes his standing: friend becomes student, charioteer becomes teacher. Nothing can be taught to someone who is still presenting evidence. You will not be answered while you are still making your case.