कर्शयन्तः शरीरस्थं भूतग्रामम् अचेतसः । मां चैवान्तः शरीरस्थं तान् विद्ध्य् आसुरनिश्चयान् ॥
karśayantaḥ śarīra-sthaṃ bhūta-grāmam acetasaḥ | māṃ caivāntaḥ śarīra-sthaṃ tān viddhy āsura-niścayān ||
They torture their body's elements AND Me who dwell within — know these fools to be of āsurī resolve.
Word by word (3)
- karśayantaḥ śarīra-sthaṃ bhūta-grāmam acetasaḥ
- — tormenting/emaciation (karśayantaḥ) the aggregate of elements (bhūta-grāma) residing in the body (śarīra-stham), these fools (acetasaḥ = without discernment) — the five bodily elements tortured by extreme āsurī tapas
- māṃ caivāntaḥ śarīra-sthaṃ
- — and Me (māṃ ca eva) dwelling within (antaḥ) the body (śarīra-stham) — Krishna declares Himself present inside the very body being tortured; extreme self-mortification harms God
- tān viddhy āsura-niścayān
- — know (viddhi) them (tān) to be of āsurī resolves (āsura-niścayān) — the determination/certainty that drives this practice is āsurī in nature
Tormenting the aggregate of elements in the body — and also Me who reside within the body — these unintelligent people are to be known as beings of demoniac resolve.
A modern analogy
If you know your guest is staying in a particular room and you smash that room's furniture, you are directly acting against your guest — even if you claim you're just 'renovating.' Krishna dwells in every body. Extreme self-mortification, regardless of its spiritual pretense, is acting against the Divine Guest within.
V6 completes the V5-6 pair describing distorted tapas. V5 described the motivations (dambha, ahaṃkāra, kāma, rāga); V6 describes the consequences: the body's elements are tortured AND the indwelling Krishna. The word 'acetasaḥ' (fools, without discernment) is the judgment: their blindness is to V15's great revelation — that God is within the body they are harming. V6-7 together close the āsurī tapas section before pivoting to the three-fold food teaching.
Māṃ ca antaḥ śarīra-stham (and Me who dwell within the body) is one of the Gita's most intimate statements: God inhabits the very body the āsurī torturer is treating as an obstacle to God. This reverses the logic of the āsurī tapas: they think they are purifying themselves toward the divine through bodily punishment — but God is ALREADY within the body they are punishing. The path to God runs through, not away from, this body.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Weakening all the elements in the body — fools they are — and Me who dwell in the body within; know thou these to be of demoniac resolves. [1]
MISSING — V6 not indexed; SH, Ganguli and Telang used as primary. [4]
Tormenting the groups of (five) elements in the body, and also me, who reside within the body — know these unintelligent people to be of demoniacal resolves. [9]
Those persons of no discernment, torturing the groups of organs in their bodies and Me also seated within those bodies, should be known to be of demoniac resolves. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Driven by insatiable kāma, hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, gripping false notions through moha — impure resolves.
Those who practice ghora tapas without śāstric sanction, driven by dambha, ahaṃkāra, kāma and rāga — āsurī tapas.
The ego-monologue: 'I gained this today. I'll get that next. This is mine — and more wealth will be mine too.'
The ego-apex: 'I am rich, well-born — who equals me? I'll sacrifice, give, rejoice.' — all deluded by ajñāna.
Self-complacent, stubborn, wealth-proud — they perform name-only sacrifices, ostentatiously ignoring śāstric ordinance.
Tāmasic tapas: done with foolish delusion, self-torture, or to destroy another — declared tāmasic.