Bhagavad Gita 3.32

[Paramananda das]

Chapter 3: Karma-yoga

TEXT 32

ye tv etad abhyasuyanto
nanutisthanti me matam
sarva-jnana-vimudhams tan
viddhi nastan acetasah

SYNONYMS

ye—those; tu—however; etat—this; abhyasuyantah—out of envy; na—do not; anutisthanti—regularly perform; me—My; matam—injunction; sarva-jnana—all sorts of knowledge; vimudhan—perfectly befooled; tan—they are; viddhi—know it well; nastan—all ruined; acetasah—without Krsna consciousness.

TRANSLATION

But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not practice them regularly, are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befooled, and doomed to ignorance and bondage.

PURPORT

The flaw of not being Krsna conscious is clearly stated herein. As there is punishment for disobedience to the order of the supreme executive head, so there is certainly punishment for the disobedience of the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A disobedient person, however great he may be, is ignorant of his own self, of the Supreme Brahman, and Paramatma and the Personality of Godhead, due to a vacant heart. Therefore there is no hope of perfection of life for him

Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:

In this verse the Lord speaks of the bad effects of doing the opposite.

Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:

3.32 But those who do not follow this view of Mine, namely, that the self has Me for Its support, is subservient to Me and is actuated by Me only, i.e., those who do not perform all acts contemplating in this way as also those who have no faith in the meaning of the Sastras and calumniate them — know them to be extremely deluded and devoid of reasoning and knowledge and consequently completely lost. For, the function of the mind is the determination of the real nature of things, and in its absence, those mentioned above are devoid of reason, and therefore apostates in knowledge and extremely deluded in all ways. For one united with the Prakrti (body), the sense of agency results from the preponderance of the Gunas of Prakrti. But this agency really rests with the Supreme Person. Contemplating thus, Karma Yoga alone should be practised by both — those who are competent for Karma Yoga only and those who are competent for Jnana Yoga. The implied superiority of Karma Yoga has the following justifications; it is easy to perform, free from liability to lapse, and independent of anything else; it comprises the knowledge of the self also within its scope. On the other hand Jnana Yoga is difficult to practise, is not free from the liability to lapse, leaves one dependent on actions for the sustenance of the body etc. And for a distinguished perosn, this (i.e., Karma Yoga) is especially what ought to be practised. Next, till the end of this chapter, it is explained how Jnana Yoga, being difficult, is liable to lead to lapses.

Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:

Now Lord Krishna gives the defects in not believing and following prescribed Vedic activities. Those who are inimical to the teachings of Bhagavad-Gita and are antagonistic to the injunction of the Vedas that all activities should be performed in yagna or worship for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. Such people should be known as fools and lacking in discrimination and all of their activities contrary to this are doomed to failure.

Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:

In these verses Lord Krishna is speaking about the merits one receives from following the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita. Those who perform prescribed Vedic activities with renunciation gradually achieve moksa or liberation by jnana yoga the path of cultivating Vedic knowledge. Who then can calculate the position of one who has attained atma-tattva or soul realisation. Now karma yoga the path of performing prescribed Vedic actions is not given as another medium of attainment. Renunciation and dedication of one’s actions are solely for the sake of realising the Supreme Being only. For realisation of the Supreme Being, liberation does not depend upon one particular path. In the Narayana Shataksara it is stated that: All paths may or may not award moksa to the dedicated aspirant treading upon them depending upon their level of renunciation in the performance of unattached actions. But renunciation by itself, not being dependent upon anything else is capable of awarding moksa to those who fully perform it. Therefore the contention that jnana yoga and karma yoga alone are sufficient to award moksa is not correct.

Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:

Here Lord Krishna points out that those persons who disrespect and ignore and refuse to follow the edicts and injunctions of the Bhagavad-Gita that are for the benefit of all mankind are fools, bereft of spiritual knowledge and in such a state of ignorance all their activities are fruitless and they hopelessly revolve in the cycle of birth and death, birth and death, birth and death, ad infinitum.