Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 3 › Verse 38
Bhagavad Gītā 3.38: Smoke, dust and covering
धूमेनाव्रियते वह्निर्यथादर्शो मलेन च ।
यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस्तथा तेनेदमावृतम् ॥
dhūmenāvriyate vahniryathādarśo malena ca
yatholbenāvṛto garbhastathā tenedamāvṛtam
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
As fire is enveloped by smoke, a mirror by dust and an embryo by the amnion, so is this knowledge covered by desire. Traditional readings see three degrees of covering: smoke clears with a breeze, dust needs cleaning, and the womb’s covering lifts only in time.
For children
Krishna says: “Wanting too much is like smoke over a fire or dust on a mirror. It hides how clever and kind we really are.”
Kṛṣṇa describes how desire, the enemy of 3.37, hides wisdom.
Word by word
धूमेनाव्रियते वह्निर् — As fire is covered by smoke
- dhūma: smoke
- āvriyate: is covered
- vahni: fire
यथादर्शो मलेन च — and a mirror by dust
- yathā: as
- ādarśa: mirror
- mala: dust, dirt
यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस् — as an unborn baby is covered by its womb
- ulba: the covering of an unborn baby
- āvṛta: covered
- garbha: unborn baby
तथा तेनेदमावृतम् — so this wisdom is covered by desire
- tathā: so
- tena: by it (desire)
- idam: this (wisdom)
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.