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GĪTĀ, TRANSLATION & COMMENTARY, CHAP. III 933
६ सदृशं चेष्टते स्वस्याः प्रकृतेर्ज्ञानवानपि ।
प्रकृति यान्ति भूतानि निग्रहः किं करिष्यति ॥ ३३॥ इन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे रागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ ।
तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत्तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ ॥ ३४॥ Karma-Yoga, which prescribes Desireless Action, is the best, clearly shows what the doctrine propounded by the Gitā is. In order to supplement this disquisition on the Karma-Yoga, the Blessed Lord now describes the strength of Prakrti (inherent nature), and the control of the senses necessary for resisting that power-]
(33) Even the Jñānin acts according to the natural tendency of his Prakrti; all created beings act according to the inclination of their respective) Prakrtis ; in these circumstances) what can restraint (that is, pressure) do ? (34) The liking and repulsion between the senses and the objects of sense (such as, sound, touch, etc.) are both vyavasthita (that is, fundamentally fixed). One should not become subject to this affection and repulsion, because, they are the highway-robbing) enemies of men.
The word 'nigraha' in the 33rd stanza does not mean mere control', but means 'coercion', or insistence'. The Gītā favours the proper control of the senses. What is meant here is that it is not possible to totally destroy the natural tendencies of the senses by self-coercion or persistence. For instance, so long as the body exists, a man leaves his home to go and beg when he is hungry, however much he may be a Jñānin or wise, because hunger, thirst, etc. are natural tendencies. Therefore, this stanza means that the duty of a wise man lies, not in uselessly determining to totally kill the senses by force, but in keeping them within his control by 'samyamana (concentration), and turning his natural tendencies to universal welfare. Similarly, it is quite clear from the word "vyavasthita' in the 34th stanza that pain and happiness are two independent emotions, and that the one is not the absence of the other" (Gi. Ra. Ch. IV pp. 136 and 182). In the incessant activity of Prakrti, that is, of the
