FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 7.27

ఇచ్ఛాద్వేషసముత్థేన ద్వన్ద్వమోహేన భారత । సర్వభూతాని సమ్మోహం సర్గే యాన్తి పరన్తప ॥ ౨౭ ॥
icchā-dveṣa-samutthena
[ichchaa-dvesha-samutthena]
dvandva-mohena bhārata
[dvandva-mohena bhaarata]
sarva-bhūtāni sammohaṁ
[sarva-bhootaani sammoham]
sarge yānti paran-tapa
[sarge yaanti paran-tapa]
Word-for-word
icchā — desire dveṣa — and hate samutthena — arisen from dvandva — of duality mohena — by the illusion bhārata — O scion of Bharata sarva — all bhūtāni — living entities sammoham — into delusion sarge — while taking birth yānti — go param - tapa — O conqueror of enemies .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
icchā-dveṣa-samutthena
icchā
desire
dveṣa
and hate
samutthena
arisen from
dvandva-mohena bhārata
dvandva
of duality
mohena
by the illusion
bhārata
O scion of Bharata
sarva-bhūtāni sammohaṁ
sarva
all
bhūtāni
living entities
sammoham
into delusion
sarge yānti paran-tapa
sarge
while taking birth
yānti
go
param - tapa
O conqueror of enemies .
Important Words
  • icchā — desire
    From √iṣ (to wish). The pulling-toward force. One of the two poles of the duality.
  • dveṣa — hate, aversion
    From √dviṣ (to hate). The pushing-away force. The companion pole. Together with icchā, the magnetic field of conditioned existence.
  • dvandva — duality, pair-of-opposites
    From dvi (two). The technical term for any pair: pleasure-pain, heat-cold, gain-loss, fame-shame. The world is structured by such pairs, and the conditioned mind oscillates between them.
  • sammoham — into delusion
    sam (intense) + moha (delusion). Strong, total bewilderment. Not 'sometimes confused' — born into thorough delusion.
  • sarge — while taking birth
    Locative of sarga (creation, birth). From the moment of being created, of taking birth. The delusion is not acquired through experience; it is the entry condition into embodiment.
O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and hate.
Purport

The real constitutional position of the living entity is that of subordination to the Supreme Lord, who is pure knowledge. When one is deluded into separation from this pure knowledge, he becomes controlled by the illusory energy and cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The illusory energy is manifested in the duality of desire and hate. Due to desire and hate, the ignorant person wants to become one with the Supreme Lord and envies Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Pure devotees, who are not deluded or contaminated by desire and hate, can understand that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa appears by His internal potencies, but those who are deluded by duality and nescience think that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is created by material energies. This is their misfortune. Such deluded persons, symptomatically, dwell in dualities of dishonor and honor, misery and happiness, woman and man, good and bad, pleasure and pain, etc., thinking, “This is my wife; this is my house; I am the master of this house; I am the husband of this wife.” These are the dualities of delusion. Those who are so deluded by dualities are completely foolish and therefore cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
27. Since the beginning of creation, all living beings have been intensely bewildered by the ignorance caused by duality arising from like and dislike.
Commentary

When do the jīvas become bewildered by Your māyā? At the beginning of the creation of this universe (sarge), all the jīvas (sarva-bhūtāni) become bewildered. How? Desire for objects favorable to the senses, and hatred for things which obstruct the pleasure of the senses, arising from previous actions, give rise to illusion of duality—of respect and disrespect, hot and cold, happiness and distress, and woman and man. A person thinks “I am happy, being respected.” “I am sad, being disrespected.” “This is my wife.” “This is my husband.” This duality gives rise to complete ignorance (moha). That in turn gives rise to complete bewilderment (saṁmoham)—extreme attachment to wife and sons. Those who are extremely attached are not qualified for devotion to Me. I will explain this to Uddhava: yadṛcchayā mat-kathādau jāta-śraddhas tu yaḥ pumān | na nirviṇṇo nāti-sakto bhakti-yogo ’sya siddhi-daḥ || If somehow or other by good fortune one develops faith in hearing and chanting My glories, such a person, being neither very disgusted with nor attached to material life, should achieve perfection through the path of loving devotion to Me. SB 11.20.8

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
27. Since the beginning of creation, all living beings have been intensely bewildered by the ignorance caused by duality arising from like and dislikecontinuing from previous life.
Commentary

“Why is it that the one who knows you is very rare?” “From their very creation, all living entities end up in complete bewilderment. Why? They are bewildered by the illusions of dualities of respect and disrespect, happiness and distress, woman and man. “If I am treated well I will be happy. If I am treated with disrespect, I will feel sad. This is my wife. This is my husband.” Absorbed in such illusory conceptions, they become bewildered. What type of illusion is this? The bewilderment arises in this life by impressions of attachment and hatred, which existed in the previous life (icchā dveṣa samutthena). Icchā means attachment or rāga. Since all living beings are bewildered in this way, one who knows Me is very rare.

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

If everybody is born into delusion how some people become devoted?

[ 2 . Becoming free: Pious, pure, intelligent persons are free from the dualities rising from delusion can serve Krsna with determined devotion. (28) ]

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Desire and hatred cause them to be bewildered by dualities

What is the delusion/bewilderment – Controlled by illusory energy, one cannot understand Krishna
Who can overcome delusion – One who
Recognize Krishna’s supremacy and
Become a devotee

Focus of Learning

(a) This verse also solves the question of personalism or impersonalism

If Krishna’s form is material and He changes bodies, then how can he remember past, present and future
e.g. Krishna instructed Visvasvan millions of years ago, but still remembers and recalls

(b) Refutes – “Maya can cover The Supreme Lord”

Because He knows past, present and future
Analogy: Sun covered by the cloud – The covering of the clouds is only apparent to our limited vision; clouds cannot cover the sun, moon and other stars

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF SECTION VI

Living entities are trapped in the material world because of selfish desire, they can become free by cultivation of devotion and surrender to Krishna in full knowledge
The original sinful desire of the living entity is to take Krishna’s position as the Supreme enjoyer
The original hate is towards Krishna because of the living entities envy

LINK BETWEEN TEXTS 7.27 & 7.28: This point mentioned in Text 7.27 further reveals the rarity of the

jnani because, as described in Texts 7.16 – 7.19, jnani’s are beyond being fooled by dualities of happiness

and distress, male and female, and so on...

One may ask, after hearing Text 7.27, whether anyone is, in fact, capable of overcoming illusion and becoming

a devotee.

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
7.27 Iccha-dvesa-samutthena, by what arises from likes and dislikes: iccha, likes, and dvesa, dislikes, are iccha-dvesau; anything arising from them is icchadvesa-samutthah. (Creatures are duluded) by that. By what? When that is thus sought to be known in particular, the Lord answers: dvandva-mohena, by the delusion of duality. Delusion (moha) that originates from duality (advandva) is dvandva-moha. Those very likes and dislikes, which are mutually opposed like heat and cold, which relate to happiness and sorrow and their causes, and which come into association with all beings in due course, are termed as duality (and this deludes all creatures). As regards them, when likes and dislikes arise from the experience of happiness, sorrow and their causes, then, by bringing the wisdom of all beings under their control, they create bewilderment which is the cause of the impediment to the rise of knowledg about the reality of Self, the suprem Truth. Indeed, exact knowledg about objects even in the external world does not arise in one whose mind is overpowered by the defects, viz likes and dislikes. It goes without saying that knowledge of the indwelling Self, beset with many obstacles as it is, does not arise in a completely bewildered person whose intelligence has been overcome by them. Therefore, bharata, O scion of the Bharata dynasty; owing to that delusion of duality arising from likes and dislikes, sarvabhutani, all creatures become deluded. Parantapa, O destroyer of foes; they yanti sammoham, become bewildered, come under delusion; sarge, at the time of their birth, i.e. at the time of their origination. The idea is that all creatures that come into being do so prepossessed by delusion. 'Since this is so, therefore all creatures, being deluded and having their wisdom obstructed by that delusion of duality, do not know Me who am their Self. Hence, they do not adore Me as their Self.' 'Who, again, are those that, becoming free from the delusion of duality, come to know You, and adore You as the Self in accordance with the scriptures?' In order to elaborate the subject enired about, it is being said:
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
7.27 As soon as beings are born they are deluded. This delusion springs from sense experiences described as pairs of opposites like heat and cold. Such reactions spring from desire and hate. The purport is this: Desire and hatred for the pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain, which are constituted of Gunas, have their origin in the Jivas from the past experiences they had in their previous births. The subtle impressions or Vasanas of these previous experiences manifest again as instinctive desire and hatred towards similar objects in every succeeding birth of the Jivas. The delusive force of these impressions make them deluded from the very beginning. It becomes their nature to have love or hatred for such objects, in place of having happiness and misery at union with or separation from Me. The Jnanin, however, feels happiness when he is in union with Me and misery when separated from Me. No other being is born with such a nature as found in the Jnanin.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
7.27 Iccha-etc. [At the time of destruction] he (the personal Soul) is led to expand exceedingly, while he still remains unconcious on account of his desire, aversion, agner, dellusion etc. On account of this, the entire world takes recourse to the sleeping stage while it continues to exist in its entirity within the stomach of the Prakrti (the Prime Casue); and to exist just being (temporarily) not capable of performing its activities. For, as long as there is delusion, the mental impressions are to be experienced, as in the case of the sleeping stage in the night time every day. But on that account no emancipation is gained. For, when the experience of loss of unconsciousness is over (i.e., when consciousness is regained), again the mundane life with its varieties of activites is found.
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
7.27 By the delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion, O Bharata, all beings are subject to delusion at birth, O Parantapa.
Commentary

7.27 इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन arisen from desire and aversion? द्वन्द्वमोहेन by the delusion of the pairs of opposites? भारत O Bharata? सर्वभूतानि all beings? संमोहम् to delusion? सर्गे at birth? यान्ति are subject? परन्तप O Parantapa (scorcher of the foes).Commentary Where there is pleasure there is Raga or attachment where there is pain there is Dvesha or aversion. There is the instinct in man to preserve his body. Man wishes to attain those objects which help the preservation of the body. He wishes to get rid of those objects which give pain to the body and the mind. On account of delusion caused by the pairs of opposites? desire and aversion spring up and man cannot get the knowledge of the things as they are? even of this external universe of senseexperience and it needs no saying that in a man whose intellect is overwhelmed by desire and aversion there cannot arise the transcendental knowledge of the innermost Self.Raga (attraction) and Dvesha (repulsion)? pleasure and pain? heat and cold? happiness and misery? joy and sorrow? success and failure? censure and priase? honour and dishonour are the Dvandvas or the pairs of opposites. Desire and aversion (or attraction and repulsion) induce delusion in all beings and serve as obstacles to the dawn of the knowledge of the Self.He whose intellect is obscured by the delusion caused by the pairs of opposites is not able to realise I am the Self. Therefore he does not adore Me as the Self.He who is a victim of RagaDvesha loses the power of discrimination. He wishes that pleasant objects should last for ever and that disagreeable or unpleasant objects should disappear immediately. How could this be Objects that are conditioned in time? space and causation will perish. That which is agreeable and pleasant now will become disagreeable and unpleasant after some time. The mind is ever fluctuating. It demands variety and gets disgusted with monotony.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
7.27 O scion of the Bharata dynasty, O destroyer of foes, due to the delusion of duality arising from likes and dislikes, all creatures become bewildered at the time of their birth.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
7.27 O brave Arjuna! Man lives in a fairy world, deceived by the glamour of opposite sensations, infatuated by desire and aversion.
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related verses
BG 2.62 BG 3.37 BG 5.22 SB 7.15.25 SB 11.23.46 SB 5.5.8 CC Madhya 22.117 CC Madhya 20.118 CC Ādi 4.165 Īśa Upaniṣad 6 Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.1.2
Concepts
Maya
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
All embodied beings are bewildered from birth by the duality of desire and aversion.
Practical Applications
  • Recognize universal bewilderment — you're not uniquely afflicted.
  • Address the duality, not the symptoms.
  • Use scripture to cut through the dual-current.
Reflection Questions
  • Which duality has the most current in me right now?
  • What scripture cuts through it?
Analogy

A child born into a strong magnetic field cannot feel the field; she feels only the iron filings dragged this way and that. So the soul, born into the field of desire-and-hate, does not feel the field. It feels only its likes pulling forward and dislikes pulling back — and calls this 'choosing.' The bewilderment is structural, not accidental.

Stories
Yudhiṣṭhira's gambling

Yudhiṣṭhira, dharma-rāja, the most righteous of kings, sat down at Śakuni's dice table and lost everything — kingdom, brothers, even Draupadī. The Mahābhārata is at pains to show that this was not greed but icchā–dveṣa: he was unable to stop because the duality had him.

He wanted to win; he hated to seem cowardly by leaving. The two pulls together generated the bewilderment that destroyed everything he had. Sammoham … yānti — they go into bewilderment from birth. Even dharma-rāja, in the field, was not exempt.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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