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Chapter 3 · Karma-yoga · 43 verses

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Questions & crisisChapter 3 · Karma-yoga
3.353.37

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 3.36

Arjuna asks the cause of sinful action

अर्जुन उवाच

अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः ।

अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजितः ॥ ३६ ॥

arjuna uvāca

atha kena prayukto ’yaṁ

pāpaṁ carati pūruṣaḥ

anicchann api vārṣṇeya

balād iva niyojitaḥ

Translation

Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

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

What Drives Sinful Actions?

  1. 1Arjuna asks what forces a person to act sinfully, even against their will.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that the soul is originally pure and part of the Supreme, but contact with material nature leads to sinful acts.
  3. 3The Supersoul does not cause sinful actions. The Lord explains their cause in the next verse.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 3, Karma-yoga: arjuna asks the cause of sinful action.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Honest questions open the way to wisdom.

2

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: saṁśaya, viṣāda.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 3.36 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to questions & crisis?

Practice

Write down the real question behind your current dilemma.

4

The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 3 ›
5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 1.28Compassion entangled with attachmentBG 1.46The bow falls

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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Ask about BG 3.36 — get a simple answer linked to related ideas and verses.

Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.