Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 34
इन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे रागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ।
तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत्तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ।।
तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत्तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ।।
indriyasyendriyasyārthe rāga-dveṣau vyavasthitau
tayor na vaśam āgacchet tau hyasya paripanthinau
also searched as "indriyasyendriyasyarthe ragadveshau vyavasthitau"
Translation
Each sense has a fixed attachment to and aversion for its corresponding object, but one should not come under their sway, for they are enemies.
Vāṇi's rendering
In every sense lurk pull and push toward its object. Do not obey them — they ambush your road.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| इन्द्रियस्यindriyasya | of each sense |
| इन्द्रियस्यindriyasya | of each sense — the word is repeated to mean sense by sense, one at a time |
| अर्थेarthe | toward its own object (sandhi: indriyasya + arthe) |
| राग-द्वेषौrāga-dveṣau | the pull and the push, liking and recoiling — a pair |
| व्यवस्थितौvyavasthitau | are seated there, stationed, already in place |
| तयोःtayoḥ | of those two |
| नna | not |
| वशम्vaśam | under the sway of, into obedience to |
| आगच्छेत्āgacchet | one should come |
| तौtau | those two |
| हिhi | for, indeed (sandhi: hi + asya) |
| अस्यasya | of this one, of the person walking the road |
| परिपन्थिनौparipanthinau | the two who lie in wait along the way — robbers, ambushers |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 34 mean?
Krishna says every sense comes with a built-in pair — attraction toward what it likes, aversion from what it dislikes. These are already stationed there; you did not install them. The instruction is not to erase them but to refuse their command. They wait along your road like robbers, and obedience is what they are counting on.
What does 'indriyasyendriyasyarthe ragadveshau vyavasthitau' mean?
Sense by sense — the word indriyasya is spoken twice, deliberately — rāga and dveṣa sit fixed toward their objects. Vyavasthitau means stationed, established, already in position. Krishna is describing the terrain, not blaming you for it. The pull toward the sweet and the flinch from the bitter are there before any choosing begins.
If attraction and aversion are natural, how can I ever be free of them?
Freedom here is not their absence. Krishna never promises a person who feels no pull. He says: do not come under their sway. The gap between feeling the tug and following it is small, and it is entirely yours. Practice widens it. That widening is the whole discipline.
Why does Krishna call raga and dvesha enemies?
Because they do not confront you; they waylay you. Paripanthin means one who lurks beside the path. An enemy in the open can be met. These two work by seeming to be your own preference, your own good sense. You feel you are deciding when you are merely being pulled. Naming them is the first defence.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna is not asking you to destroy the senses. He is telling you where the trap is set — not in the object, but in the pair that lives inside the sense itself. The eye does not merely see; it leans toward, or recoils. That leaning was there before you chose. Arjuna wants a rule for the battlefield; he is given a map of the ambush points. Paripanthin is the word for the robber who waits along the road — not a wall, but a hand out of the roadside. You cannot clear the road. You can decline to obey the tug when you feel it rise.