7.20 Turning to other gods Krishna speaks
कामैस्तैस्तैर्हृतज्ञानाः प्रपद्यन्तेऽन्यदेवताः
तं तं नियममास्थाय प्रकृत्या नियताः स्वया
kāmais tais tair hṛita-jñānāḥ prapadyante ’nya-devatāḥ
taṁ taṁ niyamam āsthāya prakṛityā niyatāḥ svayā
Those whose knowledge is carried off by this or that desire turn to other gods, following the practice their own nature sets.
Explanation
Those who go elsewhere, and why.
Knowledge carried off by this or that desire, they turn to other gods, following the practice their own nature sets.
No condemnation in the verse. It reads as an account of how appetite selects its object — and the next two verses are far more surprising than any rebuke would have been.
Word by word
- kāmaiḥ
- by material desires
- taiḥ taiḥ
- by various
- hṛita-jñānāḥ
- whose knowledge has been carried away
- prapadyante
- surrender
- anya
- to other
- devatāḥ
- celestial gods
- tam tam
- the various
- niyamam
- rules and regulations
- āsthāya
- following
- prakṛityā
- by nature
- niyatāḥ
- controlled
- svayā
- by their own
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