Shloka 2.47
Translation: You have the right to act, but not to the fruits of your actions; do your duty without attachment to results.
Common Misinterpretation: Taken to mean one should act without caring about outcomes, implying passivity or indifference to goals.
Actual Interpretation: Perform your duty selflessly with dedication, detaching from emotional dependence on success or failure to maintain inner peace.
Themes: Karma Yoga, Liberation
Shloka 2.62–2.63
Translation: Thinking of sense objects leads to attachment, desire, anger, delusion, loss of wisdom, and destruction.
Common Misinterpretation: Misread as condemning all desires or sensory engagement, suggesting complete renunciation of worldly life.
Actual Interpretation: Uncontrolled attachment to sensory pleasures creates a cycle of negative emotions, so practice mindful detachment to preserve clarity and wisdom.
Themes: Jnana Yoga, Three Gunas, Liberation
Shloka 4.7
Translation: Whenever righteousness declines and unrighteousness rises, I manifest myself.
Common Misinterpretation: Seen as Krishna promising to physically intervene in every crisis, often taken literally as divine intervention in daily life.
Actual Interpretation: Krishna’s incarnations restore cosmic balance and dharma, inspiring individuals to act righteously in their own roles without expecting divine rescue.
Themes: Krishna’s Divine Nature, Liberation
Shloka 9.26
Translation: Whoever offers me a leaf, flower, fruit, or water with devotion, I accept it.
Common Misinterpretation: Interpreted as Krishna endorsing minimal effort or ritualistic offerings without deeper commitment.
Actual Interpretation: Sincere devotion in even the simplest offerings is valued by Krishna, emphasizing purity of intent over material grandeur.
Themes: Bhakti Yoga, Krishna’s Divine Nature
Shloka 11.32
Translation: I am mighty Time, the destroyer of worlds, engaged in destroying all beings.
Common Misinterpretation: Quoted (e.g., by J. Robert Oppenheimer) as a fatalistic view of destruction, implying Krishna endorses violence or doom.
Actual Interpretation: Krishna reveals his cosmic form as Time, emphasizing the inevitability of change and mortality, urging Arjuna to fulfill his duty without attachment to outcomes.
Themes: Krishna’s Divine Nature, Liberation