Sanskrit
इन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे रागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ । तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत्तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ ॥
indriyasyendriyasyārthe rāgadveṣau vyavasthitau tayor na vaśam āgacchet tau hy asya paripanthinau
Translation
Affection and aversion for the objects of sense abide in the senses; let none come under the dominion of these two; they are obstructors of the path.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The practical answer to verse 33’s determinism problem: since nature can’t be overridden wholesale, the real leverage point is raga and dvesha, attraction and aversion, named here as the obstructors rather than nature itself. It’s a narrower, more achievable target than suppressing prakriti, and it sets up the question Arjuna asks next. Paripanthin — “highwayman, one who lies in wait on the road” — casts the like/dislike reflex as an ambusher, not the whole journey. This is the same surgical target BG 2.64 identified: intervene at the reaction, not at the contact.
Study deeper
Word by word
- indriyasyendriyasyārtheइन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे
- in the object of each sense (indriyasya + indriyasya + arthe)
- rāgadveṣau vyavasthitauरागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ
- attraction and aversion are seated (rāga-dveṣau + vyavasthitau)
- tayor na vaśam āgacchetतयोः न वशं आगच्छेत्
- one should not come under their sway (tayoḥ + na + vaśam + āgacchet)
- tau hy asya paripanthinauतौ ह्य् अस्य परिपन्थिनौ
- for they are one's two waylayers (tau + hi + asya + paripanthinau)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Notice where the verse locates attraction and aversion: not in the object encountered, but “in the senses” themselves — a standing disposition that precedes any particular encounter. That reframes the whole problem. It isn’t that a specific tempting thing has power over you; it’s that you already showed up with a pre-installed lean toward or away from that category of thing, before you ever met this particular instance of it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When something tempts or repels you strongly, remember the pull isn't really coming from that specific thing — it's a standing lean you already carried into the encounter; managing the lean matters more than avoiding any one instance of it.
Professional
- If a particular type of task or meeting reliably triggers your resistance, the problem usually isn't that specific instance — it's a standing aversion you bring to the whole category; address the pattern, not just today's occurrence of it.
Family & Social
- If a certain kind of comment from a family member always sets you off, the trigger isn't really that one remark — you're carrying a standing sensitivity into every conversation of that type; that's the thing worth working on, not the next individual comment.
Ask yourself
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