Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter3-karmayoga

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32. ye thu ethath abhyasooyanthaH

na anuthishTanthi me matham

sarvajnaanavimooDaan thaan

vidDhi nashtaan achethasaH

 

Those who cavil and do not follow my teachings, Know them to be lost, devoid of all knowledge and insensate.

Men are of two kinds. Those who believe in the scriptural teachings and those who do not. The former may find it difficult to follow the teachings such as karmayoga but believe that it is the right path and may strive towards it. Krishna shows sympathy on such people which is displayed in the next sloka. The latter do not believe and do not want to follow the path for salvation and indulge in sensual pleasures. Such people have lost their reasoning and are no better than animals, overpowered with rajas and thamas. Krishna describes about them in detail in a later chapter. Thus they are lost and proceed downwards in the ladder of evolution and may not try to elevate themselves for many lives until it is time for them to see the error of their ways.

33. sadhrSam cheshtathe svasyaaH prakrthEH jnaanavaan api

prakrthim yaanthi bhoothaani nigrahaH kim karishyathi

Even those who are endowed with knowledge act only according to their nature. All beings follow their natural instincts. What can a restraint do?

This refers to the former kind of people mentioned in the last sloka. They may have the knowledge about karmayoga and also believe in it but may lack the strength to curtail their desires. Krishna shows mercy on them and says that they cannot help acting as they do because the natural behaviour is based on the texture of the gunas and until they learn to transcend the gunas it is impossible to reach the ultimate in karmayoga.

Here the word prakrthi, nature, means the attitude and behaviour formed due to the impressions of past karma.

The word jnaanavan could also be taken to mean a man of wisdom who has no desires and is well established in yoga and to say that he also acts according to his nature, sadhrSam cheshtathe svasyaaH prkrtheH, means, even a man of wisdom though he is freed from karma, goes on acting in the world as mentioned earlier in the chapter, to exhaust his prarabdha, and the manner in which they act will be different according to their individual nature. We see that the realized masters like Ramakrishna, Ramana etc. and also the acharyas like Sankara, though they were all telling the same truth, their way of teaching and their actions in the world were different.

If everyone acts according to nature and restraint cannot be applied how can one evolve himself and what is the use of the scriptures? The way to do this is elucidated in the subsequent slokas.