3.24 I would be the cause of chaos Krishna speaks
उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका न कुर्यां कर्म चेदहम्
सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः
utsīdeyur ime lokā na kuryāṁ karma ched aham
sankarasya cha kartā syām upahanyām imāḥ prajāḥ
and these worlds would fall to ruin. I would be the cause of chaos, and I would destroy these beings.
Explanation
And the consequence, stated at full scale.
These worlds would fall to ruin; I would be the cause of chaos, and I would destroy these beings.
The first-person is startling. Whatever the Gita means by divine action, it is here described as something with stakes for the actor — a claim it makes nowhere else so plainly.
Word by word
- utsīdeyuḥ
- would perish
- ime
- all these
- lokāḥ
- worlds
- na
- not
- kuryām
- I perform
- karma
- prescribed duties
- chet
- if
- aham
- I
- sankarasya
- of uncultured population
- cha
- and
- kartā
- responsible
- syām
- would be
- upahanyām
- would destroy
- imāḥ
- all these
- prajāḥ
- living entities
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