Bhagavad Gita 2.42
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 42 of 72
यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चितः। वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः॥
yām imāṃ puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ pravadanty avipaścitaḥ / veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha nānyad astīti vādinaḥ
Flowery speech promises heaven and pleasure from ritual — but it is the talk of those who cannot see beyond it.
Word by word (4)
- yām imāṃ puṣpitāṃ vācam
- — this flowery speech · 'Puṣpitā vāc' — literally blossoming speech, full of flowery promises. Beautiful-sounding but lacking depth — like flowers without fruit.
- pravadanty avipaścitaḥ
- — the undiscerning declare
- veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha
- — those devoted to the words of the Vedas, O Partha
- nānyad astīti vādinaḥ
- — saying there is nothing beyond this
'The unwise, who are devoted to the words of the Vedas and say there is nothing beyond them — they speak this flowery speech, O Partha...'
A modern analogy
Any framework — religious, ideological, or cultural — can become a ceiling when its adherents insist there is nothing beyond it. The Gita is not dismissing the Vedas; it is challenging the literalism that mistakes the finger pointing at the moon for the moon itself. The ritual framework is valuable; mistaking it for the whole is the limitation.
Take with you
- 'Puṣpitāṃ vācam' — flowery speech. Beautiful-sounding language that promises rewards but lacks depth.
- This criticism is not of the Vedas but of 'veda-vāda-ratāḥ' — those who are intoxicated with Vedic speech as an end in itself.
- The teaching begins: there is something beyond the ritual framework (reward-seeking action). That something is Karma Yoga.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
O Partha, those who are not wise, those who are addicted to Vedic texts and who say there is nothing other, speak this flowery speech. [4]
Those who follow the letter of the Vedas, saying there is nothing else — their speech is a flowery talk. O Partha! [7]
Undiscerning men who delight in the words of the Vedas, O son of Pritha, saying there is nothing else, and who speak this flowery speech — [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The Vedas deal in the three qualities of nature — go beyond them: free from opposites, self-possessed.
Action done as an offering (yajna) does not bind. All other action creates bondage. Do your work as offering.
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
Arise and win glory! These warriors are already slain by Me — be merely the instrument, O Savyasācin!
Do My work, hold Me supreme, be My devotee, attachment-free, without enmity toward all — such a one comes to Me!
The battlefield erupts into sound — and the point of no return passes.
Verse 42 of 72 · back to Chapter 2