Sanskrit
व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे । तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम् ॥
vyāmiśreṇeva vākyena buddhiṃ mohayasīva me tad ekaṃ vada niścitya yena śreyo'ham āpnuyām
Translation
With these perplexing words Thou only confusest my understanding; therefore tell me with certainty the one way by which I may reach bliss.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Arjuna presses harder, accusing Krishna of muddying rather than clarifying — not entirely unfair, since 2.11-38 argued from duty and 2.39-53 argued from the discipline of action, and Arjuna hasn’t been told which one to actually follow. His demand for “the one way” sets up the irony of what’s coming: Krishna’s answer in verse 3 won’t give him one path, it’ll name two, and spend the rest of the chapter arguing they aren’t really in conflict. “Tell me the one thing, decisively” — Arjuna wants a single instruction he can act on. What he gets instead is a distinction (jñāna-yoga and karma-yoga) whose whole point is that, for someone in his position, they converge — a claim BG 5.4–BG 5.5 states outright.
Study deeper
Word by word
- vyāmiśreṇevaव्यामिश्रेणेव
- as if with contradictory [speech] (vyāmiśreṇa + iva)
- vākyenaवाक्येन
- with [your] words
- buddhiṃबुद्धिं
- my understanding
- mohayasīvaमोहयसीव
- you seem to bewilder (mohayasi + iva)
- meमे
- my
- tad ekaṃ vadaतद् एकं वद
- tell [me] that one thing (tat + ekam + vada)
- niścityaनिश्चित्य
- having determined
- yenaयेन
- by which
- śreyo'hamश्रेयोऽहं
- I [may reach] the good (śreyaḥ + aham)
- āpnuyāmआप्नुयां
- I may attain
Commentary
Site Commentary
Arjuna’s demand is oriented entirely inward — tell me the one way “by which I may reach bliss” — but the chapter that answers him spends its second half redirecting action away from personal śreyas and toward lokasaṅgraha, the world’s welfare. The irony is quiet: he asks how to help himself and is eventually told to stop centering himself in the question at all.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you ask 'what should I do to get what I need,' notice if the eventual answer reframes the question entirely — sometimes the right move isn't a better path to your own goal but a shift in whose benefit you're acting for in the first place.
Professional
- When you push a manager for 'just tell me the one right approach,' be open to an answer that redefines success away from your individual output toward team or organizational impact — the clarity you asked for may arrive as a reframe, not a single instruction.
Family & Social
- When you ask a parent or partner for one clear answer to ease your own confusion, stay open to their response reframing what you should actually be optimizing for — sometimes clarity means realizing the question was about you when it should have been about others.
Ask yourself
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