Chapter 18: Moksha-sannyasa-yoga:: Verse 60
स्वभावजेन कौन्तेय निबद्ध: स्वेन कर्मणा ।
कर्तुं नेच्छसि यन्मोहात्करिष्यस्यवशोऽपि तत् ॥
svabhāvajena kaunteya nibaddha: svena karmaṇā
kartuṃ necchasi yanmohāt-kariṣyasy-avaśo’pi tat – 18.60
O Kunti’s son (Arjuna), that which you are unwilling to undertake due to delusion, you will still perform irresistibly, bound by karma born of your own nature.
Chapter 18: Moksha-sannyasa-yoga: - Verse 60
Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Krishna explains why Arjuna’s resistance in the matter of fighting will be of no avail. Every one, he says, is held by his own inner constitution, born of and compelled by his birth and consequent growth. As are the bodily features inherited at birth by each, so too are the basic psycho-intellectual factors imbibed from birth and acquired thereafter. Mind and intelligence have a measure of freedom; but it is not absolute. So, one will not be able to shirk the inheritance altogether. Propelled by it, each will be forced to be active in his own field.
‘I shall not fight nor be active’ is at best a feeling or wish expressed than a possible course. It results more from delusion, than from any worthy evaluation. Thus Arjuna cannot escape the kshatriya spirit and involvement.
To imbue varied tendencies and inspirations to individuals, holding them firmly, is the intricate task of Nature, meant to preserve and promote the world order. To think of interfering in its sublimity is not desirable.
