अर्जुन उवाच ।अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः ।अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजितः ॥
arjuna uvāca |atha kena prayukto 'yaṃ pāpaṃ carati pūruṣaḥ |anicchann api vārṣṇeya balād iva niyojitaḥ ||
- अर्जुन · arjuna
- Arjuna
- उवाच · uvāca
- said
- अथ · atha
- then, now
- केन · kena
- by what
- प्रयुक्तः · prayuktaḥ
- impelled, urged
- अयम् · ayam
- this
- पापम् · pāpam
- evil, sin
- चरति · carati
- commits, does
- पूरुषः · pūruṣaḥ
- a person
- अनिच्छन् · anicchan
- though unwilling
- अपि · api
- even
- वार्ष्णेय · vārṣṇeya
- O descendant of Vrishni (Krishna)
- बलात् · balāt
- by force
- इव · iva
- as if
- नियोजितः · niyojitaḥ
- compelled, harnessed
“Arjuna said: Then by what is a person impelled to commit evil, even unwillingly, O Varshneya, as if compelled by force?”
— Original plain-language translation
Arjuna's last question of the chapter names the universal experience of being dragged into wrongdoing against one's better judgment. The highway robbers of verse 34 now get their true name. Krishna's diagnosis — desire — follows in the famous closing passage.
— Reader's notes (original)