Bhagavad Gita -Srila Prabhupada 169

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita As It Is -Shri Shrimad A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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Karma-yoga
Chapter 3: Verse-41

tasmät tvam indriyäny ädau
niyamya bharatarsabha
päpmänam prajahi hy enam
jnäna-vijnäna-näsanam[1]

TRANSLATION

Therefore, O Arjuna, best of the Bhäratas, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin [lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization.


PURPORT

The Lord advised Arjuna to regulate the senses from the very beginning so that he could curb the greatest sinful enemy, lust, which destroys the urge for self-realization and specific knowledge of the self. Jnäna refers to knowledge of self as distinguished from non-self, or in other words, knowledge that the spirit soul is not the body. Vijnäna refers to specific knowledge of the spirit soul’s constitutional position and his relationship to the Supreme Soul. It is explained thus in the [2]

jnänam parama-guhyam me
yad vijnäna-samanvitam
sa-rahasyam tad-angam ca
grhäna gaditam mayä

“The knowledge of the self and Supreme Self is very confidential and mysterious, but such knowledge and specific realization can be understood if explained with their various aspects by the Lord Himself.” Bhagavad-gita gives us that general and specific knowledge of the self. The living entities are parts and parcels of the Lord, and therefore they are simply meant to serve the Lord. This consciousness is called krsna consciousness. So, from the very beginning of life one has to learn this krsna consciousness, and thereby one may become fully krsna conscious and act accordingly.


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References

  1. tasmät=therefore; tvam=you; indriyäni=senses; ädau=in the beginning; niyamya—by regulating; bharata-rsabha=O chief amongst the descendants of Bharata; päpmänam=the great symbol of sin; prajahi=curb; hi=certainly; enam=this; jnäna=of knowledge; vijnäna=and scientific knowledge of the pure soul; näsanam=the destroyer.
  2. Srimad-Bhägavatam 2.9.31

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