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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 Verse 6

भगवद् गीता अध्याय 17 श्लोक 6

कर्षयन्तः शरीरस्थं भूतग्राममचेतसः।
मां चैवान्तःशरीरस्थं तान्विद्ध्यासुरनिश्चयान्।।17.6।।

English Translation - Swami Gambirananda

17.6 (And who,) being non-discriminating, torture, all the organs in the body as also even Me who reside in the body,-know them as possessed of demoniacal conviction.

English Translation - Swami Sivananda

17.6 Senseless, torturing all the elements in the body and Me also, Who dwell in the body, know thou these to be of demonical resolves.

English Translation - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan

17.6. Who emaciate unintelligently the conglamoration of elements in their physic and emaciate Me too, dwelling within the physic-know them to be of a demoniac resolve.

English Commentary - Swami Sivananda

17.6 कर्षयन्तः torturing? शरीरस्थम् dwelling in the body? भूतग्रामम् all the elements? अचेतसः senseless? माम् Me? च and? एव even? अन्तःशरीरस्थम् who dwells in the body within? तान् them? विद्धि know? आसुरनिश्चयान् to be of demoniac resolves.Commentary Bhutagramam The aggregate of all the elements composing the body.Elements Organs.Mam Me Vaasudeva? the witness of their thoughts and deeds.He who thus tortures Me disregards My teachings entirely.Achetasah Senseless? unintelligent? having no discrimination.

English Translation of Sanskrit Commentary By Sri Shankaracharya's

17.6 (And who,) acetasah, being non-discriminating; karsayantah, torture; bhuta-gramam, all the organs; sarirastham, in the body, ca, as also; torture eva, even; mam, Me; antah-sarira-stham, who reside in the body as the witness of its actions and intellect-non-adherence to My injunctions itself is torturing Me; viddhi, know; tan, them; asura-niscayan, as possessed of demoniacal convictions. Know them so that they may be avoided. This is an instruction. The liking of persons possessing the alities of sattva, rajas and tamas for foods that are divided into three groups, viz succulent, oleaginous, etc., is respectively being shown here so that, by knowing the presence of the alities of sattva, rajas and tamas (in oneself) from the indications of the degree of ones preference for particular foods as are succulent, oleaginous, etc., one may avoid foods having the characteristics of rajas and tamas, and accept food with the characteristics of sattva. Similarly, sacrifices etc. also are being explained here under three categories according to the distinguishing ality of sattva etc. So that one may reject those known to be born of rajas and tamas, and undertake only those born of sattva.

English Translation of Commentary - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan

17.4-6 Yajante etc., upto asura-niscayan. Unintelligently : i.e. due to their lack of discrimination. Emaciating Me too : Because they do not follow the purport of the scriptures. That is why they undertake practising austerities invented by their own intellect and they are rather men of the Tamas (Strand). Like faith, the food also is of three types, differentiated by the Sattva etc., so are the sacrifice, austerity and charity. That is being detailed as :

English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary

17.5 - 17.6 Those men who perform terrible pernances not enjoined by the Sastras - this is illustrative of sacrifices etc., of a similar nature. Those who perform sacrifices, etc., sacrifices which are not enjoined by the Sastras and demand much exertion, those who are possessed of ostentation and conceit and are goaded by sensual desire, attachment and passion - they torture the group of elements such as earth etc., in their bodies. They also torture the individual self which is a part of Myself and is within their bodies. Those who perform such sacrifices etc., know them to be demoniacal in their resolves. The resolve of demons is demoniac resolve. The demons are those who act contrary to My ?ndments. Since they act contrary to My ?ndments, they do not have even a iota of joy, but as stated earlier, they fall a prey to a multitude of calamities. They fall into a foul Naraka (16.16). Now, Sri Krsna, resuming the subject, details the differences according to the Gunas with reference to sacrifice, etc., enjoined by the Sastras. To begin with, he describes three kinds of food, since the growth of Sattva etc., has its source in food, as Srutis declare thus: For my dear, the mind consists of food (Cha. U., 6.5.4) and when the food is pure, the man becomes pure (Cha. U., 7.26.2).

Commentary - Chakravarthi Ji

Rudra Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary

Further incriminations regarding those situated in raja guna and tama guna or the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance respectively are given here. Some jivas or embodied beings who know nothing about the Vedic scriptures are anyway endowed with the divine nature and situated in sattva guna the mode of goodness right from birth. This is due to having been attracted to spiritual activities and righteousness in previous lives. The impressions from those lifetimes gave the impetus towards the divine nature and the opportunity in the present life to attain the association of the devotees of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Others of mediocre nature in raja guna and of inferior nature in tama guna with deluded and depraved faith are extremely unfortunate. They follow pagan, heretical practices and rituals symbolising and involving blood sacrifices. They commit heinous, inerasable sins such as the slaughter of cows for which there is no atonement for. They commit cruel human sacrifices and blood drinking in their diabolical and depraved cravings and lust for power. They execute terrible inhuman deeds that are an aberration to creation. Degrading themselves and the atma or immortal soul existing within their own body and within the bodies of others. Know them to be without a doubt endowed with the demoniac nature. Without any discrimination they masochistically and sadistically execute extreme and painful rituals in their demented desire to surpass mortality. Yet they must perish and die anyway and because they executed such cruel and inhuman deeds which transgressed the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures as well as engaging in prohibitive activities without any compunction they will be forced to suffer the full consequences of their sinful misdeeds and flagrant improprieties in hell.

Brahma Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary

The Anabhimian scripture states that those unfortunate jivas or embodied beings who oppress and chastise the Resplendent Supreme Lord who dwells within as Paramatma the supreme soul which resides within the etheric heart of every living entity in existence are of miniscule consciousness with meager perception. Thus without the vision of perception they oppress Him within their hearts and the hearts of others. The word asura means without light and is in general referred to those of the demoniac nature. Those who are void of light are void of light perception and also void of the light of perceptivity. The Agniveshya scripture states that those endowed with the divine nature are exclusively in sattva guna or the mode of goodness and study the Vedic scriptures and are receptive to Lord Krishna. While those that are of the demoniac nature are a combination of raja guna or mode of passion and tama guna or mode of ignorance and they never study the Vedic scriptures and even if by chance they get an opportunity to hear from them they cannot fathom the values contained therein because they are inimical to the Supreme Lord.

Shri Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary

The word acetasah means indiscriminate. Such indiscriminate jivas or embodied beings torture and afflict their own body and the bodies of others in the pursuit of fulfilling their depraved and macabre rituals for dominion over material existence. The words raga balanvitah means by ostentatious displays of mental control and bodily power in such extremes that even the Supreme Lord feels tormented in His all pervasive form as the atma or immortal soul within all living entities. The words mam eva ca refers specifically to His inner presence. Hence whosoever executes rituals that are contrary to the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures and engages in sacrifices that are prohibited in the Vedic scriptures, or practices penances which cause great pain and suffering upon themselves and others, molest the very elements contained within the body for its welfare to be abused and the atma to be disrespected are verily to be known as possessing the demoniac nature. The demoniac transgress the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures and are known as asuras which means without light denoting without the light of divine consciousness. Due to their bellicose and belligerent disposition of opposing the Supreme Lords commands, the demoniac purposely act contrary in defiance. Because of this they are unable to derive even the most miniscule satisfaction and lasting happiness for their immense efforts. All they derive from their scheming conjures of evil actions is accommodation in the hellish planets direct at the conclusion of their life cycle. By their own demoniac actions and sinful activities they have voluntarily hurled themselves into such a dire predicament without relief. Next Lord Krishna will explain how natures differ according to the qualities of the three gunas or modes of material nature that a jiva is situated in and influenced by. As the three gunas are directly affected by the food a jiva chooses to eat and helps determine their present birth. The threefold nature of foods as they are situated in one of the three gunas of sattva guna, raja guna and tama guna corresponding to the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance will be described first. This is confirmed in the Chandogya Upanisad VI.V.IV beginning anna-mayam hi sommya manah it states: The mind is verily composed of the food that is eaten is further confirmed in verse VII.XXVI.II beginning rahara shudda sattva shuddhi which states: Taking pure food in pure condition after its been first offered to the Supreme Lord. As the purity of the food eaten so is the purity of the mind for pure food enhances the mind with purity.

Kumara Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary

The word acetasah means indiscriminate. Such indiscriminate jivas or embodied beings torture and afflict their own body and the bodies of others in the pursuit of fulfilling their depraved and macabre rituals for dominion over material existence. The words raga balanvitah means by ostentatious displays of mental control and bodily power in such extremes that even the Supreme Lord feels tormented in His all pervasive form as the atma or immortal soul within all living entities. The words mam eva ca refers specifically to His inner presence. Hence whosoever executes rituals that are contrary to the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures and engages in sacrifices that are prohibited in the Vedic scriptures, or practices penances which cause great pain and suffering upon themselves and others, molest the very elements contained within the body for its welfare to be abused and the atma to be disrespected are verily to be known as possessing the demoniac nature. The demoniac transgress the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures and are known as asuras which means without light denoting without the light of divine consciousness. Due to their bellicose and belligerent disposition of opposing the Supreme Lords commands, the demoniac purposely act contrary in defiance. Because of this they are unable to derive even the most miniscule satisfaction and lasting happiness for their immense efforts. All they derive from their scheming conjures of evil actions is accommodation in the hellish planets direct at the conclusion of their life cycle. By their own demoniac actions and sinful activities they have voluntarily hurled themselves into such a dire predicament without relief. Next Lord Krishna will explain how natures differ according to the qualities of the three gunas or modes of material nature that a jiva is situated in and influenced by. As the three gunas are directly affected by the food a jiva chooses to eat and helps determine their present birth. The threefold nature of foods as they are situated in one of the three gunas of sattva guna, raja guna and tama guna corresponding to the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance will be described first. This is confirmed in the Chandogya Upanisad VI.V.IV beginning anna-mayam hi sommya manah it states: The mind is verily composed of the food that is eaten is further confirmed in verse VII.XXVI.II beginning rahara shudda sattva shuddhi which states: Taking pure food in pure condition after its been first offered to the Supreme Lord. As the purity of the food eaten so is the purity of the mind for pure food enhances the mind with purity.

Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 17.6

Karshayantah shareerastham bhootagraamamachetasah; Maam chaivaantahshareerastham taanviddhyaasuranishchayaan.

Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 17.6

aśhāstra-vihitam—not enjoined by the scriptures; ghoram—stern; tapyante—perform; ye—who; tapaḥ—austerities; janāḥ—people; dambha—hypocrisy; ahankāra—egotism; sanyuktāḥ—possessed of; kāma—desire; rāga—attachment; bala—force; anvitāḥ—impelled by; karṣhayantaḥ—torment; śharīra-stham—within the body; bhūta-grāmam—elements of the body; achetasaḥ—senseless; mām—me; cha—and; eva—even; antaḥ—within; śharīra-stham—dwelling in the body; tān—them; viddhi—know; āsura-niśhchayān—of demoniacal resolves