3.37 Desire and anger, one thing Krishna speaks
काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भवः
महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम्
kāma eṣha krodha eṣha rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ
mahāśhano mahā-pāpmā viddhyenam iha vairiṇam
It is desire, it is anger, born of the strand of restlessness — all-devouring, deeply harmful. Know this as the enemy here.
Explanation
One thing wearing two faces.
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa — it is desire, it is anger, born of restlessness. All-devouring, deeply harmful. Know this as the enemy.
The two are named as a single subject with one verb. Anger is not a separate problem here; it is what desire looks like when obstructed.
Going further
Word by word
- śhri-bhagavān uvācha
- the Supreme Lord said
- kāmaḥ
- desire
- eṣhaḥ
- this
- krodhaḥ
- wrath
- eṣhaḥ
- this
- rajaḥ-guṇa
- the mode of passion
- samudbhavaḥ
- born of
- mahā-aśhanaḥ
- all-devouring
- mahā-pāpmā
- greatly sinful
- viddhi
- know
- enam
- this
- iha
- in the material world
- vairiṇam
- the enemy
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Arjuna asks what makes a person do wrong against their own will, and the answer is a single thing wearing two faces: desire, and anger when desire is blocked.
Note that Krishna does not answer with a list of vices or an external tempter. The enemy is named as internal, ordinary, and continuous — mahāśhanaḥ, all-devouring.