Shloka 3.43: “Knowing the self as superior to intellect, O Arjuna, steady the mind with the self and slay the enemy, desire.” Key Teaching: The self, superior to intellect, enables one to slay desire through selfdiscipline. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Krishna concludes Chapter 3 by urging Arjuna to recognize the self’s supremacy […]

Shloka 3.42: “The senses are superior to objects, the mind to senses, the intellect to mind, and the self is superior to intellect.” Key Teaching: The self is superior to intellect, mind, and senses in a hierarchy. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Krishna teaches a hierarchy: senses surpass objects, mind surpasses senses, intellect

Shloka 3.41: “Therefore, O Arjuna, control the senses first, and slay desire, the destroyer of knowledge and realization.” Key Teaching: Controlling senses first destroys desire, preserving knowledge and realization. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Krishna urges Arjuna to control the senses first to slay desire, the destroyer of knowledge and realization, building on

Shloka 3.40: “The senses, mind, and intellect are desire’s seats; through them, it deludes, obscuring knowledge.” Key Teaching: Desire, seated in senses, mind, and intellect, deludes and obscures knowledge. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Krishna teaches that desire resides in the senses, mind, and intellect, deluding the self and obscuring knowledge. This verse,

Shloka 3.39: “Knowledge is covered by this eternal enemy, desire, O Arjuna, an insatiable fire.” Key Teaching: Desire, an insatiable fire, perpetually obscures knowledge. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Krishna describes desire as an eternal, insatiable fire that covers knowledge, reinforcing its role as an enemy (3.37–38). This verse addresses Arjuna’s hesitation (2.9).

Shloka 3.38: “As fire is covered by smoke, a mirror by dust, or an embryo by the womb, so knowledge is covered by desire.” Key Teaching: Desire obscures knowledge, like smoke, dust, or a womb. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Krishna compares desire’s obscuring of knowledge to smoke covering fire, dust on a

Shloka 3.37: “Krishna said: It is desire, born of rajas, later becoming anger, the alldevouring enemy of sin.” Key Teaching: Desire, rooted in rajas, transforms into anger and causes sin. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Krishna answers Arjuna (3.36), identifying desire, born of the rajas guna, which becomes anger, as the alldevouring enemy

Shloka 3.36: “Arjuna said: What impels one to sin, O Krishna, even against their will, as if by force?” Key Teaching: Arjuna questions the force behind unwilling sinful actions. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Arjuna asks Krishna what compels one to sin against their will, as if forced, seeking the root of his

Shloka 3.35: “Better to perform one’s own duty imperfectly than another’s perfectly; death in one’s duty is better than another’s path.” Key Teaching: Performing one’s own duty, even imperfectly, surpasses another’s. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Krishna teaches that performing one’s own duty (swadharma), even imperfectly, is better than another’s perfectly, as death

Shloka 3.34: “Attraction and aversion to sense objects are fixed in the senses; one should not come under their sway, as they are obstacles.” Key Teaching: Attraction and aversion obstruct, and one must resist their control. Theme: Guidance, Dharma, Karma Yoga. 500Word Description: Krishna teaches that attraction and aversion to sense objects are inherent in