BG 3.41 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.41Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Bharatarṣabha · anuṣṭubh

तस्मात् त्वमिन्द्रियाण्यादौ नियम्य भरतर्षभ ।

पाप्मानं प्रजहि ह्येनं ज्ञानविज्ञाननाशनम् ॥

tasmāt tvam indriyāṇy ādau niyamya bharatarṣabha

pāpmānaṃ prajahi hy enaṃ jñāna-vijñāna-nāśanam

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

So first rein in your senses, bull of the Bharatas, then strike down this sinful desire that destroys both knowledge and its living realization.

ekras · bhāṣya

The therefore gathers everything from 3.36 onward into one move. The enemy has been named (kama), the seat has been mapped (indriyas, manas, buddhi), the damage has been measured (insatiable, fire-natured, knowledge-veiling). Now the strategy. The order is precise. Indriyani adau niyamya — first restrain the senses. The senses are the outermost station of the enemy; close that gate first. Once the supply route is cut, the inner stations weaken. Then prajahi — slay — the enemy itself. Two terms qualify what kama destroys. Jnana — the conceptual knowledge of the truth, what the shastra and the teacher have given. Vijnana — the lived realization of that knowledge, the inner unfolding that turns conceptual knowing into direct experience. Kama destroys both.

Madhusudana names the strategic preemption: act before delusion takes hold. The window during which the buddhi can still see what is being lost is narrow; once kama has fully covered jnana, the practitioner cannot even tell that anything has been lost.

Vallabha reads the address bharatarshabha as not merely formal: the bull of the Bharata line is being asked to use the kshatriya capacity for forceful action against an inner enemy. The same warrior-energy that the field requires is the energy the inner battle requires. Same instrument; redirected target.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Bharatarṣabha

preceded by — BG 3.40

The senses, mind, and intellect are said to be desire's seat; through these it covers knowledge and deludes the one who lives in a body.

What's going on

So first rein in your senses, bull of the Bharatas, then strike down this sinful desire that destroys both knowledge and its living realization.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

3.15He refutes by saying na ca.───→here3.41───→6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.41───→5.13Lay down all acts in mind; sit at ease, body free.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

3.8Even keeping the body alive requires action.───→here3.41───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

show all 73

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

3.30Offer all your acts───→here3.41───→6.1Renouncer and yogi together

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.41───→5.13Nine-gated city, all karma laid down

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

3.21'Yad yad acharati shreshthas tat tad evetaro janah.' Whatever the leader does, o───→here3.41───→6.5'Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet.' Lift yourself by yourself, do not l

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

3.27Palm, kartala. Akartritva, non-doership. 'Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani s───→here3.41───→5.18Ring finger. Samadrishti. 'Vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini, shuni ch

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

3.27Karma pillar. The 'ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate' line is where Gaura───→here3.41───→4.7Cyclic time. 'Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati Bharata.' Gaurav uses this l

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm───→here3.41───→5.4'Sankhya-yogau prithag balah pravadanti na panditah.' Only the immature say sank

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

3.3Two paths for two kinds — never combined.───→here3.41───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.41───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldbetween

3.25The wise act as the unwise, but unattached.───→here3.41───→4.18The post-knowledge actor does no action at all.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.41───→4.13The four orders are the Puruṣa's own body.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

3.1Self in chapter two; sādhana opens here.───→here3.41───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.───→here3.41───→4.11Mām is Viṣṇu, not generic absolute.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.───→here3.41───→7.5Parā-prakṛti backed by Pañcarātra.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhabetween

3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.───→here3.41───→7.13Nanu vijñāna-rūpaṁ — canonical shape.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.───→here3.41───→7.5Surrounding clause picks literal Śrī.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

3.17Scope of na vidyate filled by iti śeṣaḥ.───→here3.41───→15.1Tat-prasaṅge alaukikaṁ — iti śeṣaḥ.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningbetween

3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.───→here3.41───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.41───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

3.30Even a seeker not-yet-pure offers, drops fruit-claim.───→here3.41───→5.1Action for the ignorant: purification's only door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.───→here3.41───→6.1The fruit-unattached one is yogi and renouncer.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.41───→4.34Approach a knower; knowing is not earned by action.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.───→here3.41───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.41───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.41───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here3.41───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.41───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.41───→4.11Fruit proportional to the service offered.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaexit

2.11'Ashochyan anvashochas tvam prajna-vadamsh cha bhashase.' You grieve those not t───→here3.41───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.41───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.41───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.41───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.41───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.41───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.41───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.41───→4.39Faith earns knowing; work readies that faith.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerbetween

3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.───→here3.41───→7.21I am the one who steadies your chosen faith.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.───→here3.41───→3.43Use intellect to slay the enemy within.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

3.33Even the wise act by their own nature.───→here3.41───→7.12The modes come from the Lord, not in Him.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.───→here3.41───→4.13The four orders are His own creation.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsbetween

3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.───→here3.41───→7.15The demonic never come near to Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.───→here3.41───→5.8The knower thinks, 'I do nothing at all.'

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.41───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.41───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.41───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.41───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.41───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

3.20Janaka, lokasangraha───→here3.41───→4.18Action in inaction

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionbetween · v2

3.25Wise act as the unwise act───→here3.41───→18.41Duties divided by guṇa

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

3.27Modes act, ego claims───→here3.41───→5.13Nine-gated city

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

3.37Kāma is the enemy───→here3.41───→5.23Endure the urge

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.───→here3.41───→5.1Arjuna asks the wrong question. first.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.41───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.───→here3.41───→7.14Surrender is the only way past the Lord's māyā.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.41───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.41───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.41───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.30Surrender every act.───→here3.41───→4.24Brahman the offering, Brahman the offerer.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.───→here3.41───→7.21Whatever form is worshipped, I steady it.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.41───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.───→here3.41───→4.33Knowledge-rite outranks mere material rites.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)approach

───→here3.41───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.41───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.41───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.41───→4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

3.1Knowing versus acting is the wrong cut.───→here3.41───→7.1Together they cover everything to be known.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.───→here3.41───→5.14The soul rules the inert; the Lord rules the soul.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

3.20Even Janaka acted; the wise still do.───→here3.41───→5.1Renouncing isn't quitting the householder's life.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.41───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.41───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.41───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 14 occurrences)

नियम्य niyam — to restrain, control (verbal root) · conv · also at 3.7, 6.24, 6.26, 12.4, 18.51
त्वम् tvad — you (2nd person pronoun stem) · nominative singular noun · also at 1.1, 2.33, 4.4, 4.35, 6.31, 11.3 +10
प्रजहि pra-√han · present imperative 2nd person singular verb

show all 14

तस्मात् tasmāt — therefore, from that · also at 2.30, 2.68, 3.15, 3.19, 4.15, 4.42 +5
इन्द्रियाणि indriya — sense, sense-organ; the eleven indriyas (5 jñānendriyas + 5 karmendriyas + manas) · accusative neuter plural noun
आदौ ādau — in the beginning (loc. of ādi)
भरत bharata — Bharata (ancestor of the Kurus); a descendant of Bharata · compound
ऋषभ ṛṣabha — bull (often as 'best of'); ṛṣabha · vocative masculine singular noun
पाप्मानम् pāpman — evil, sin · accusative masculine singular noun
हि hi — for, indeed, because (particle)
एनम् enad — this, this here (close demonstrative) · accusative masculine singular noun
ज्ञान jñāna — knowledge, wisdom, cognition · compound · also at 1.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.26, 3.32 +70
विज्ञान vijñāna — discriminative knowledge, realized knowing (vi- + √jñā) · compound · also at 1.1, 6.8, 7.2, 7.6, 9.1, 18.42
नाशनम् nāśana — destruction, destroyer (from √naś) · accusative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If kāma (desire) is the destroyer of both jñāna and vijñāna, does this verse imply that even a person of great scriptural learning can be functionally ignorant — and what does that say about the sufficiency of intellectual study alone?
02Śaṅkara distinguishes indirect scriptural knowledge (jñāna) from direct realization (vijñāna) as two grades of the same capacity — does this hierarchy suggest that most religious instruction operates entirely in the jñāna register, never touching vijñāna?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja's gloss introduces vaimukha — the soul's turning away from its own nature toward objects — as kāma's real damage. Is the war against desire therefore less about morality and more about ontological orientation?
04Madhva's fortress-logic ('deprive the enemy of its seat and it perishes') treats sense-restraint as a military operation, not an ascetic one. Does this reframe the entire project of spiritual discipline as strategic rather than punitive?
05Śrīdhara's second gloss places vijñāna as the fruit of nididhyāsana (sustained meditative absorption). What is the practical difference between a person who knows about liberation and one who has absorbed that knowledge into lived experience — and how does kāma block specifically the second?
06Madhusūdana argues that restraining outer senses automatically subsumes inner-organ restraint (manas, buddhi), because their disorder flows through outer-sense engagement. Does this make sense-restraint a kind of minimal-intervention protocol — fix the upstream point and downstream pathology resolves?
07The verse addresses Arjuna as 'Bharatarṣabha' (bull of the Bharatas), invoking lineage as capacity. Does the tradition suggest that the capacity for sense-restraint is itself a heritable or cultivated faculty — not a universal given?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before engaging any situation that habitually triggers reactive wanting — a coveted outcome, a feared loss — pause at the sense level first: close the eye, step back from the screen, put down the phone. Śaṅkara's verse-logic is: once the sense-gate is closed, the conceptual elaboration (saṃkalpa) that would have escalated desire never forms. Practice this as a daily micro-discipline: one moment of deliberate sensory withdrawal before acting on any strong want, reclaiming the capacity to know rather than to react.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Notice when engagement with an object, person, or outcome produces vaimukha — a subtle turning-away from your own felt sense of well-being, integrity, or presence. Rāmānuja's reading names this inversion as kāma's real damage: not the desire itself but the alienation from self it engineers. When you catch yourself obsessing over what another person thinks of you, or over a goal that has eclipsed your own values, that is vaimukha in action. The application is to reorient — not by suppression but by returning attention to the inner reference point that desire had eclipsed.

show all 6

Dvaita

Madhva's fortress-logic has a direct workplace application: identify which outer access points feed the specific compulsion you want to address. Trying to reduce compulsive social-media use while keeping the apps on your home screen is Madhva's enemy-with-seat-intact scenario. Structure the environment to deny the compulsion its base — app blockers, physical distance from devices during work, meeting agendas that close off the distraction channel — before attempting willpower. Structural deprivation of the seat (adhiṣṭhāna) is more reliable than frontal effort against an entrenched habit.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's orientation reframes the effort of restraint as an act of receiving: rather than 'I must conquer desire,' the Puṣṭi-mārga practitioner asks 'what in Kṛṣṇa's love makes this desire irrelevant?' Practically, this means cultivating an activity or relationship that fills the space desire would have occupied — not as substitution but as prasāda (grace received). When a compulsive craving arises, instead of suppressing it, offer it upward — acknowledge it to the one in whom you take refuge — and let the craving's energy be redirected into the offering itself.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's emphasis on acting 'before delusion (vimoha) sets in' maps directly onto the science of habit interruption: the window for intervention is narrow and early. Once a craving has escalated into full emotional activation (vimoha — confusion of the discriminative faculty), restraint is exponentially harder. The practical instruction is to identify personal precursors — the small environmental cues, the first emotional note, the micro-thought that precedes the full pattern — and intervene there, before the delusion has taken hold. Pre-commitment devices (environmental design, accountability structures, early-stage rules) are the śrāddha equivalent of niyama.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's argument that outer-sense restraint automatically disciplines manas and buddhi suggests a counterintuitive productivity principle: when inner clarity is sought, begin with the outer environment, not the inner state. Trying to concentrate while surrounded by distraction-triggers is fighting downstream. The application: design the physical and digital environment first (seat, notifications, objects in view), and let inner focus arise from that outer ordering. This is not willpower but architecture — Madhusūdana's 'restraining the outer senses as the primary act' made practical.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 3, Verse 41: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga