Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 29
प्रकृतेर्गुणसम्मूढाः सज्जन्ते गुणकर्मसु।
तानकृत्स्नविदो मन्दान्कृत्स्नविन्न विचालयेत्।।
तानकृत्स्नविदो मन्दान्कृत्स्नविन्न विचालयेत्।।
prakṛter guṇa-sammūḍhāḥ sajjante guṇa-karmasu
tān akṛtsna-vido mandān kṛtsna-vin na vicālayet
also searched as "prakriter guna sammudhah sajjante guna karmasu"
Translation
Those who are deluded by the Gunas of Prakrti are attached to the works of the Gunas. But he who knows the whole truth should not disturb the ignorant who do not know the whole truth.
Vāṇi's rendering
The deluded cling to what nature does through them. The wise should steady such people, not shake them.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| प्रकृतेःprakṛter | of nature — the material world that does the doing (sandhi form of prakṛteḥ before the following g) |
| गुणसम्मूढाःguṇa-sammūḍhāḥ | thoroughly bewildered by nature's three strands |
| सज्जन्तेsajjante | they cling, they get stuck fast |
| गुणकर्मसुguṇa-karmasu | in the doings of those strands |
| तान्tān | them, those people |
| अकृत्स्नविदःakṛtsna-vidaḥ | who do not see the whole of it |
| मन्दान्mandān | slow, dull-witted |
| कृत्स्नवित्kṛtsna-vit | the one who sees the whole |
| नna | not |
| विचालयेत्vicālayet | should shake loose, should unsettle |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 29 mean?
Those caught in nature's three strands believe they are the authors of what moves through them, and they cling to that belief. Krishna tells the one who sees further not to tear it away. Knowledge is not a weapon for dismantling other people's footing. Let them act; let them steady.
What does prakriter guna sammudhah sajjante guna karmasu teach?
It names a bewilderment, not a crime. To be guṇa-sammūḍha is simply to mistake nature's motion for your own initiative — nearly everyone does. The verse spends its second half not on the deluded but on the wise, and what it asks of them is restraint.
Why does Krishna say not to disturb the ignorant?
Because half-transferred knowledge paralyses. A person acting sincerely from a partial view still acts; the same person told their agency is illusory, before they can hold it, often stops acting altogether. Krishna protects the doing. Steadiness first, then seeing — never the reverse.
Does this verse mean I should never share spiritual understanding?
It means watch what your sharing does. If your words leave someone lighter in their work, speak. If they leave someone unmoored from the duty that was carrying them, you have unsettled rather than served. The measure is in the listener, not in your clarity.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just said the self does nothing — the guṇas act upon the guṇas. Then, immediately, a restraint. Do not go and tell everyone. The person still convinced their hands are their own is holding something together with that conviction: their work, their people, their reason to get up. Pull it out and you leave rubble, not freedom. Arjuna is being trained in a knowledge that needs no audience. The test of what you understand is not how many people you can unsettle with it. It is whether the ones near you stand steadier for your having it.