Shankaracharya's commentary, trans. Alladi Mahadeva Sastry (1897)
[1]Wisdom is enveloped by this constant enemy of the wise, O son of Kunti, in the form of desire, insatiable as fire.
BG 3.39
आवृतं ज्ञानमेतेन ज्ञानिनो नित्यवैरिणा । कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च ॥
āvṛtaṃ jñānam etena jñānino nitya-vairiṇā | kāma-rūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca ||
"Desire is the eternal enemy of the wise — insatiable as fire. Feeding it only makes it burn more."
All public-domain translations
5 translations · all pre-1928 or released to public domain · sources
Swami Swarupananda, Srimad Bhagavad Gita (1909)
[4]O son of Kunti, wisdom is enveloped by this constant enemy of the wise, in the form of desire, which is insatiable as a fire.
William Quan Judge, The Bhagavad Gita (1890)
[6]The wisdom of the wise, O son of Kunti, is enveloped by this their constant enemy in the form of desire, an insatiable fire.
Sir Edwin Arnold, The Song Celestial (1885)
[7]This is the enemy, O Son of Kunti! — this The hunger hard to satisfy, the sin That is the foe of wisdom.
K.T. Telang, Sacred Books of the East Vol. 8 (1882)
[9]The wisdom of the wise, O son of Kunti, is enveloped by this constant enemy in the form of desire, which is as insatiable as fire.