Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 3 › Verse 37
Bhagavad Gītā 3.37: Desire and anger
काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भवः ।
महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् ॥
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajoguṇasamudbhavaḥ
mahāśano mahāpāpmā viddhyenamiha vairiṇam
Recitation: Smt. Srividya Jaishankar and Sri. Jaishankar Narayanan, Aarsha Vidya Varshini Gurukulam · used with permission, adapted, original recording
Meaning
It is desire; it is anger, born of the guṇa of rajas, all-consuming and greatly sinful; know this to be the enemy here. Kāma and krodha are one force: frustrated desire turns to anger (2.62). Its source in rajas, the restless guṇa, tells us how to weaken it.
For children
Krishna says: “The thing that pushes us to do wrong is wanting too much, and getting angry when we don’t get it. That is our real enemy.”
Kṛṣṇa answers Arjuna’s question of 3.36.
Word by word
काम एष क्रोध एष — It is desire, it is anger
- kāma: desire, craving
- eṣaḥ: this
- krodha: anger
रजोगुणसमुद्भवः — born of restless energy (rajas)
- rajoguṇa: the quality of restless energy
- samudbhava: born of
महाशनो महापाप्मा — never satisfied, the great wrongdoer
- mahāśana: devouring everything, never full
- mahāpāpman: the great wrongdoer
विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् — know this to be the enemy here
- viddhi: know!
- iha: here
- vairin: enemy
Kṛṣṇa speaks this verse. The Sanskrit is checked against four editions; meanings and word notes are simple learning aids written for MahaPrabha Gurukul, awaiting review by a Sanskrit teacher.