18.60 You will do it unwillingly Krishna speaks
स्वभावजेन कौन्तेय निबद्धः स्वेन कर्मणा
कर्तुं नेच्छसि यन्मोहात्करिष्यस्यवशोऽपि तत्
swbhāva-jena kaunteya nibaddhaḥ svena karmaṇā
kartuṁ nechchhasi yan mohāt kariṣhyasy avaśho ’pi tat
Bound by your own nature and by the work born of it, son of Kunti, you will do the very thing you do not wish to do, unwillingly.
Explanation
You will do it unwillingly.
Bound by your own nature and the work born of it, you will do the very thing you do not wish to do.
It is the coldest verse in the chapter and it is not a threat. It is 3.33's observation — nature acts, and suppression achieves nothing — applied to the decision in front of him.
Word by word
- swabhāva-jena
- born of one’s own material nature
- kaunteya
- Arjun, the son of Kunti
- nibaddhaḥ
- bound
- svena
- by your own
- karmaṇā
- actions
- kartum
- to do
- na
- not
- ichchhasi
- you wish
- yat
- which
- mohāt
- out of delusion
- kariṣhyasi
- you will do
- avaśhaḥ
- helplessly
- api
- even though
- tat
- that
Long-press or right-click the image to copy it. Nothing is uploaded — it is drawn here, on your device.