BG 3.40 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.40Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

इन्द्रियाणि मनो बुद्धिरस्याधिष्ठानमुच्यते ।

एतैर् विमोहयत्येष ज्ञानमावृत्य देहिनम् ॥

indriyāṇi mano buddhir asyādhiṣṭhānam ucyate

etair vimohayaty eṣa jñānam āvṛtya dehinam

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

The senses, mind, and intellect are said to be desire's seat; through these it covers knowledge and deludes the one who lives in a body.

ekras · bhāṣya

The verse names where the enemy is encamped. "The indriyas, the manas, the buddhi — these are said to be its adhishthana. Through these, kama deludes the dehin, having veiled jnana." Three concentric stations. Outermost: the indriyas — the senses. Middle: the manas — the inner instrument that processes sense-data. Innermost: the buddhi — the discriminating intellect. Kama occupies all three. From the indriyas it sends out the seeking-toward-objects; in the manas it generates samkalpa, the volition that pictures the object as desirable; in the buddhi it produces adhyavasaya, the conviction that this object will satisfy. Each layer reinforces the others.

Madhva gives the military reading: knowing the enemy's adhishthana — its garrison — is the prerequisite for hritadhishthana, dislodging the enemy from that base. Once kama is dislodged from the buddhi, it cannot reach the manas; once dislodged from the manas, it cannot reach the indriyas; once dislodged from the indriyas, the practitioner walks unobstructed.

Madhusudana gives the most granular anatomy: indriyas include both jnanendriyas (eye, ear, etc., apprehending sound, touch, form, taste, smell) and karma-indriyas (speech, hands, feet, excretory organs). The covering is total when all three layers are seized. The verb vimohayati — deludes — names the result. The dehin is not destroyed by kama; he is moh-ed, fogged, made unable to see what he otherwise could see. The verse is a mapping of the territory before the strategy. The next verse names how to begin the dislodgement.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 3.39

Desire veils knowledge like smoke conceals fire, Krishna tells Arjuna; it is your eternal enemy, insatiable and ever-burning.

What's going on

The senses, mind, and intellect are said to be desire's seat; through these it covers knowledge and deludes the one who lives in a body.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

3.15He refutes by saying na ca.───→here3.40───→6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.40───→5.13Lay down all acts in mind; sit at ease, body free.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

3.8Even keeping the body alive requires action.───→here3.40───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

show all 73

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

3.30Offer all your acts───→here3.40───→6.1Renouncer and yogi together

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.40───→5.13Nine-gated city, all karma laid down

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

3.21'Yad yad acharati shreshthas tat tad evetaro janah.' Whatever the leader does, o───→here3.40───→6.5'Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet.' Lift yourself by yourself, do not l

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

3.27Palm, kartala. Akartritva, non-doership. 'Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani s───→here3.40───→5.18Ring finger. Samadrishti. 'Vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini, shuni ch

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

3.27Karma pillar. The 'ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate' line is where Gaura───→here3.40───→4.7Cyclic time. 'Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati Bharata.' Gaurav uses this l

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm───→here3.40───→5.4'Sankhya-yogau prithag balah pravadanti na panditah.' Only the immature say sank

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

3.3Two paths for two kinds — never combined.───→here3.40───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.40───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldbetween

3.25The wise act as the unwise, but unattached.───→here3.40───→4.18The post-knowledge actor does no action at all.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.40───→4.13The four orders are the Puruṣa's own body.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

3.1Self in chapter two; sādhana opens here.───→here3.40───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.───→here3.40───→4.11Mām is Viṣṇu, not generic absolute.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.───→here3.40───→7.5Parā-prakṛti backed by Pañcarātra.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhabetween

3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.───→here3.40───→7.13Nanu vijñāna-rūpaṁ — canonical shape.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.───→here3.40───→7.5Surrounding clause picks literal Śrī.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

3.17Scope of na vidyate filled by iti śeṣaḥ.───→here3.40───→15.1Tat-prasaṅge alaukikaṁ — iti śeṣaḥ.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningbetween

3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.───→here3.40───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.40───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

3.30Even a seeker not-yet-pure offers, drops fruit-claim.───→here3.40───→5.1Action for the ignorant: purification's only door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.───→here3.40───→6.1The fruit-unattached one is yogi and renouncer.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.40───→4.34Approach a knower; knowing is not earned by action.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.───→here3.40───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.40───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.40───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here3.40───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.40───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.40───→4.11Fruit proportional to the service offered.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaexit

2.11'Ashochyan anvashochas tvam prajna-vadamsh cha bhashase.' You grieve those not t───→here3.40───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.40───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.40───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.40───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.40───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.40───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.40───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.40───→4.39Faith earns knowing; work readies that faith.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerbetween

3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.───→here3.40───→7.21I am the one who steadies your chosen faith.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.───→here3.40───→3.43Use intellect to slay the enemy within.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

3.33Even the wise act by their own nature.───→here3.40───→7.12The modes come from the Lord, not in Him.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.───→here3.40───→4.13The four orders are His own creation.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsbetween

3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.───→here3.40───→7.15The demonic never come near to Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.───→here3.40───→5.8The knower thinks, 'I do nothing at all.'

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.40───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.40───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.40───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.40───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.40───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

3.20Janaka, lokasangraha───→here3.40───→4.18Action in inaction

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionbetween · v2

3.25Wise act as the unwise act───→here3.40───→18.41Duties divided by guṇa

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

3.27Modes act, ego claims───→here3.40───→5.13Nine-gated city

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

3.37Kāma is the enemy───→here3.40───→5.23Endure the urge

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.───→here3.40───→5.1Arjuna asks the wrong question. first.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.40───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.───→here3.40───→7.14Surrender is the only way past the Lord's māyā.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.40───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.40───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.40───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.30Surrender every act.───→here3.40───→4.24Brahman the offering, Brahman the offerer.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.───→here3.40───→7.21Whatever form is worshipped, I steady it.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.40───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.───→here3.40───→4.33Knowledge-rite outranks mere material rites.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)approach

───→here3.40───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.40───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.40───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.40───→4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

3.1Knowing versus acting is the wrong cut.───→here3.40───→7.1Together they cover everything to be known.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.───→here3.40───→5.14The soul rules the inert; the Lord rules the soul.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

3.20Even Janaka acted; the wise still do.───→here3.40───→5.1Renouncing isn't quitting the householder's life.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.40───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.40───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.40───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (23 unique · 25 occurrences)

इन्द्रियाणि indriya — sense, sense-organ; the eleven indriyas (5 jñānendriyas + 5 karmendriyas + manas) · nominative neuter plural noun · also at 2.60, 3.7, 3.42, 5.8, 5.9, 13.5
ज्ञाते √jñā — to know (verbal root) · locative neuter singular participle noun
सुखेन sukhena — happily, with ease (instr. of sukha)

show all 23

अधिष्ठानः·अधिष्ठाने adhiṣṭhāna ×2 — basis, support, seat (adhi- + √sthā 'stand') · nominative masculine singular noun / locative neuter singular noun
इति iti ×2 — thus (quotative particle)
किम् ka — who? what? (interrogative) · nominative neuter singular noun
पुनर् punar — again, once more
कामः kāma — desire, lust, sensual pleasure · nominative masculine singular noun
ज्ञानस्य jñāna — knowledge, wisdom, cognition · genitive neuter singular noun
आवरण āvaraṇa — covering, veil (ā- + √vṛ) · compound
त्वेन tva — you-ness; abstract suffix making 'X-ness' from X · instrumental neuter singular noun
वैरी vairin — enemy (from vaira 'enmity' + -in) · nominative masculine singular noun
सर्वस्य sarva — all, entire · genitive masculine singular noun · also at 2.30, 5.15, 7.25, 8.9, 10.8, 13.17 +3
लोकस्य loka — world, realm; people · genitive masculine singular noun
अपेक्षायाम् apekṣā — regard, expectation (apa- + √īkṣ) · locative feminine singular noun
आह √ah — to say, declare (defective verbal root) · past indicative 3rd person singular verb
हि hi — for, indeed, because (particle)
शत्रोः śatru — enemy · genitive masculine singular noun
निबर्हणम् nibarhaṇa — destruction, slaying (ni- + √barh) · nominative neuter singular noun
कर्तुम् kṛ — to do, make (verbal root) · infinitive
शक्यते √śak — to be able, can (verbal root) · present indicative pass 3rd person singular verb
मनः manas — mind (lower mind), the inner organ of perception · nominative neuter singular noun
बुद्धिः buddhi — intellect, intelligence, discriminating faculty · nominative feminine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If kāma inhabits buddhi (intellect) as well as the senses, can purely intellectual study of Vedānta itself become a site of subtle kāma — the desire for the prestige of knowing?
02Śrīdhara distinguishes viṣaya-darśana, saṃkalpa, and adhyavasāya as three sequential thresholds; at which threshold does restraint become most leverage-efficient?

show all 7

03Madhusūdana enumerates ten indriyāṇi (five jñāna, five karma); does this imply that action-organs (karmendriyas) are as much a seat of kāma as perception-organs — and what does that mean for a karma-yogī?
04Rāmānuja calls these faculties 'viṣaya-prone' (viṣayapraṇava) by conditioning, not by essence; what is the practical difference between conditioning-level kāma and essence-level kāma for sādhana design?
05Madhva's hṛtādhiṣṭhāna framing treats this as a military problem; does the verse imply that partial dislodgment (controlling senses but not buddhi) leaves the enemy with a fallback position?
06All six schools agree that kāma covers jñāna (ज्ञानम् आवृत्य, 'having covered knowledge'); does this mean the uncovering of jñāna is sufficient to end kāma, or does kāma have an independent momentum even after jñāna arises?
07Vallabha's economy of commentary on the seat and his emphasis on jayopāya (means of victory) in the paired verse suggests diagnosis is less important than the cure; is that a Puṣṭi-mārga epistemological claim about the limits of analysis?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before meditation, run a brief pratyāhāra (withdrawal of senses) scan in reverse order — buddhi first, then manas, then indriyāṇi — asking at each stratum: 'Is there a hidden want operating here?' The Advaita move is that this detection itself begins dismantling kāma's hold, because kāma depends on avidyā (non-recognition) at each level.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

When a desire arises through a sense-organ, deliberately re-route the same sensory faculty toward Bhagavān: the eye that craves a pleasant sight is turned to the mūrti (icon); the ear that craves praise is turned to nāma-saṃkīrtana (chanting of names). This is not repression but redirection — the same praṇava (orientation) that kāma exploits becomes the bhakta's instrument of sevā.

show all 6

Dvaita

Morning prayer explicitly names each occupied stratum: 'Lord, this eye, this mind, this determination — all are viṣayaga (turned toward objects) without Your anugraha; restore their proper direction.' The Dvaita practitioner does not trust self-effort alone to reclaim any of the three seats; the daily act of surrender is the hṛtādhiṣṭhāna (dislodgment) that Madhva identifies.

Śuddhādvaita

In Puṣṭi-mārga practice, the householder performs smaraṇa (remembrance) of Kṛṣṇa's līlā precisely through the sense-faculties kāma would otherwise occupy: hearing the śṛṅgāra (beauty) of Kṛṣṇa's form through kīrtana, tasting prasāda, seeing the decorated mūrti. The faculties do not need to be emptied; they need to be gifted back to the one who lent them.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's three-threshold model gives a concrete rule: catch desire at viṣaya-darśana (the moment of seeing/hearing the object) before it becomes saṃkalpa (volition), and catch saṃkalpa before it hardens into adhyavasāya (resolve). The practical application is a three-second pause between perception and intention in any high-craving situation — a gap just wide enough for viveka-jñāna to arise.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's ten-faculty map makes it possible to track which indriya is most colonized on a given day — the speech-organ in competitive conversation, the hands in acquisitive behavior, the eye in comparison and envy. The synthesis practice: name the faculty, offer it explicitly to Kṛṣṇa as the one who can purify it, then re-engage the activity. This is neither pure suppression (Advaita alone) nor pure redirection (bhakti alone), but consecrated action.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 3, Verse 40: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga