Speaker: Arjuna
व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे ।
तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम् ॥२॥
vyāmiśreṇeva vākyena
buddhiṁ mohayasīva me
tad ekaṁ vada niścitya
yena śreyo 'ham āpnuyām
Word for word (synonyms)
- vyāmiśreṇa
- by equivocal
- iva
- as
- vākyena
- words
- buddhim
- intelligence
- mohayasi
- bewildering
- iva
- as
- me
- my
- tat
- therefore
- ekam
- only one
- vada
- please tell
- niścitya
- ascertaining
- yena
- by which
- śreyaḥ
- real benefit
- aham
- I
- āpnuyām
- may have it
Translation
My intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively what is most beneficial for me.
Purport
In the previous chapter, as a prelude to the Bhagavad-gītā, many different paths were explained, such as sāṅkhya-yoga, buddhi-yoga, control of the senses by intelligence, work without fruitive desire, and the position of the neophyte. This was all presented unsystematically. A more organized outline of the path would be necessary for action and understanding. Arjuna, therefore, wanted to clear up these apparently confusing matters so that any common man could accept them without misinterpretation. Although Kṛṣṇa had no intention of confusing Arjuna by any jugglery of words, Arjuna could not follow the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness—either by inertia or active service. In other words, by his questions he is clearing the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness for all students who seriously want to understand the mystery of the Bhagavad-gītā.
What this verse teaches
Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa
- Gita for Life
- Confusion and doubt
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 1
- Bhagavad-gītā 3.1-5 1968-12-20 · Los Angeles
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.