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Study a Verse
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Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 17.19
मूढग्राहेणात्मनो यत्पीडया क्रियते तप: ।
परस्योत्सादनार्थं वा तत्तामसमुदाहृतम् ॥ १९ ॥
mūḍha-grāheṇātmano yat
pīḍayā kriyate tapaḥ
parasyotsādanārthaṁ vā
tat tāmasam udāhṛtam
Penance performed out of foolishness, with self-torture or to destroy or injure others, is said to be in the mode of ignorance.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
Foolish penance involving self-torture or harm to others is in the mode of ignorance.
Hiraṇyakaśipu performed penance to become immortal, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead ultimately killed him.
Avoid penance meant to harm yourself or others, or to achieve something impossible.
Austerity in ignorance
Out of foolishness
With self-torture
Or to destroy or injure others
e.g. Hiranyakashipu praying to Brahma for immortality
Austerities can be of the body, speech and mind
Each of these can be performed in goodness, passion and ignorance
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Key ideas: daivī-sampat, dharma.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What does BG 17.19 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to character & ethics?
Choose one virtue to practice consciously today.
Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.