Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 7, Verse 27
इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत।
सर्वभूतानि संमोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप।।
सर्वभूतानि संमोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप।।
icchā-dveṣa-samutthena dvandva-mohena bhārata
sarva-bhūtāni sammohaṁ sarge yānti parantapa
also searched as "iccha dvesha samutthena dvandva mohena bharata"
Translation
O Arjuna, all beings are deluded as soon as they are born, due to the delusion of the pairs of opposites springing from desire and hate.
Vāṇi's rendering
From wanting and loathing comes the spell of opposites — and into that spell every being is born.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| इच्छा-द्वेष-समुत्थेनicchā-dveṣa-samutthena | by that which rises up out of wanting and hating |
| द्वन्द्व-मोहेनdvandva-mohena | by the bewilderment of the pairs — pleasure and pain, gain and loss |
| भारतbhārata | O descendant of Bharata — Arjuna |
| सर्व-भूतानिsarva-bhūtāni | all beings, everything that has come into existence |
| संमोहम्sammoham | into total confusion; the spell |
| सर्गेsarge | at birth, at the moment of coming forth into creation |
| यान्तिyānti | they go, they fall into |
| परन्तपparantapa | O scorcher of enemies — Arjuna |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 27 mean?
Krishna tells Arjuna that desire and aversion together generate the dvandvas — the pairs of opposites — and that every being enters the world already under their spell. Nobody chooses this confusion. It comes with birth. The verse explains why Krishna, present everywhere, still goes unrecognised: the split gaze cannot see what is whole.
What does the verse beginning 'iccha dvesha samutthena' teach about desire and hatred?
That they are not opposites but partners. Wanting reaches toward, loathing pushes away, and both are the same reflex measuring the world against yourself. From that measuring come all the pairs — honour and insult, comfort and pain. Krishna names the source so you stop fighting the branches.
If everyone is born deluded, is there any way out?
Yes, and the next verse says so. Those whose actions have quieted, freed from this bewilderment of opposites, hold to Krishna with firm resolve. The spell is not permanent, only original. It thins wherever you notice the sorting happening rather than believing its verdicts.
Why does Krishna call Arjuna 'parantapa' here?
Scorcher of enemies. He is naming Arjuna's strength at the exact moment he describes a bondage no strength can break by force. The enemy here is not across the field; it is the reflex that divides the field. Krishna is telling him where to point the fire.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Wanting and loathing look like two things. They are one mechanism running in opposite directions, and between them they cut the world in half — this good, that bad, mine, not mine. Krishna calls the result a spell, and says we are born inside it. Not acquired later. Not a personal failing. Arjuna cannot see the field clearly because he is standing in the split: my people, their people. You know the spell by its symptom — the world arrives already sorted, before you have looked at it. Catch the sorting once, as it happens, and the spell thins.