1 · Learn3 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

Pick any verse to see what it means and how to use it in your life.

700 verses37 detailed

Or browse by chapter

Chapter

Chapter 3 · Karma-yoga · 43 verses

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

Deep profile← → keys move between verses

How to study this verse, in six steps

1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.

Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›

Mind & yogaChapter 3 · Karma-yoga

3.36 3.38

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 3.37

Lust, anger and mastery over senses

Prakṛti · Material nature

श्री भगवानुवाच

काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भ‍वः ।

महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् ॥ ३७ ॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

kāma eṣa krodha eṣa

rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ

mahāśano mahā-pāpmā

viddhy enam iha vairiṇam

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Lust and Its Transformation

1
The Lord says lust is born from the mode of passion, turns into anger, and is the world's all-devouring sinful enemy.
2
Prabhupāda explains that love for Kṛṣṇa becomes lust through material contact. Unsatisfied lust leads to anger and illusion, keeping us bound to material life.
3
Learn to desire everything for Kṛṣṇa. When used for His satisfaction, lust and anger become friends instead of enemies.

Key points from the purport

Lust is that force which impels one to act sinfully

Characteristics of lust:

Born of mode of passion

Changes into wrath (born of the mode of ignorance)

Forces us to act sinfully

All-devouring greatest enemy of living entity