Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 2
व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे।
तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम्।।
तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम्।।
vyāmiśreṇeva vākyena buddhiṁ mohayasīva me
tad ekaṁ vada niścitya yena śreyo ’ham āpnuyām
also searched as "vyamishreneva vakyena buddhim mohayasiva me"
Translation
You confuse my mind with statements that seem to contradict each other; tell me for certain the one way by which I could reach the highest good.
Vāṇi's rendering
Your words seem to point two ways, and they bewilder me. Tell me the one sure path.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| व्यामिश्रेणvyāmiśreṇa | with mixed, intertwined speech — words pulling in two directions |
| इवiva | as it were, seemingly (joined by sandhi to the previous word) |
| वाक्येनvākyena | by your statement, by what you have said |
| बुद्धिम्buddhiṁ | my understanding, the faculty that decides |
| मोहयसिmohayasi | you bewilder, you cause confusion |
| इवiva | as if — Arjuna softens the charge (sandhi: mohayasi + iva) |
| मेme | my, of mine |
| तत्tat | that, therefore |
| एकम्ekaṁ | the one thing, a single course |
| वदvada | tell, speak |
| निश्चित्यniścitya | having decided for certain, settling it definitively |
| येनyena | by which |
| श्रेयःśreyaḥ | the highest good — what is truly best, not merely what pleases |
| अहम्aham | I (sandhi: śreyaḥ + aham → śreyo 'ham) |
| आप्नुयाम्āpnuyām | I might reach, I could attain |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 2 mean?
Arjuna tells Krishna that his words seem to point two ways at once — toward stillness and toward action — and that this has bewildered his understanding. He asks for one settled path by which he can reach śreyas, the highest good. It is an honest admission of confusion, not an objection, and it opens the whole chapter on action.
What does vyamishreneva vakyena buddhim mohayasiva me mean?
It means: with speech that seems intertwined, you as it were bewilder my understanding. Arjuna uses iva twice — seemingly, as it were. He is careful. He does not say Krishna has contradicted himself; he says it appears so to him. The confusion is named as his own, which is exactly why it can be answered.
Why is Arjuna confused at the start of Chapter 3?
He has heard the mind of steady wisdom praised, and also been told to fight. To him these sound like two different roads, and a man about to act cannot walk two. So he asks Krishna to settle it. Krishna's answer will be that renunciation and action were never rivals.
What is shreyas in this verse?
Śreyas is what is genuinely best, as against preyas, what is merely pleasant. Arjuna does not ask which path will hurt less or end the war sooner. He asks which one reaches the highest good. Ask a smaller question and you will get a smaller answer; the size of his asking shapes everything Krishna says next.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has praised the steady mind that withdraws, and also the work that must be done, and Arjuna hears two roads. He asks for one. Notice what he does not say: he never accuses Krishna of error. He says my understanding is bewildered — he puts the confusion where it lives, in the hearer. And he does not ask for comfort. He asks for śreyas, the good that lasts, not the pleasant thing near at hand. That is the question that earns an answer. When a teaching seems to contradict itself, you quietly keep the half you already liked. Say so out loud instead, and ask again.