Bhagavad Gita 7.27
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 27 of 30
इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत | सर्वभूतानि संमोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप ||२७||
icchā-dveṣa-samutthena dvandva-mohena bhārata | sarva-bhūtāni saṃmohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa || 27 ||
All beings fall into complete delusion at birth — through the dvandva-moha arising from desire and aversion.
Word by word (3)
- icchā-dveṣa-samutthena dvandva-mohena
- — by the delusion of pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion · icchā = desire, wish (the impulse toward what is attractive). dveṣa = aversion, hatred (the impulse away from what is repellent). samutthena = arising from (sam = together; uttha = arising — samuttha = arising together from both desire and aversion). dvandva = pairs of opposites (dvandva = 'two-two' — the pairs: pleasure-pain, hot-cold, honor-dishonor, success-failure, birth-death). mohena = by delusion (instrumental — by the moha/confusion). The compound: icchā-dveṣa-samuttha-dvandva-moha = the delusion of the pairs of opposites that arises from desire and aversion. The mechanism: desire and aversion generate the experience of the dvandvas (pairs); the dvandvas produce moha (delusion); the moha prevents recognition of the Divine (V26's 'none knows Me'). This is the specific mechanism behind yoga-māyā's veiling effect: not some external mystical force but the very ordinary cognitive-emotional structure of attraction and repulsion that organizes ordinary experience.
- sarva-bhūtāni saṃmoham sarge yānti parantapa
- — all beings go to complete delusion at birth, O scorcher of foes · sarva-bhūtāni = all beings (the universal scope — no being born into embodied existence is exempt). saṃmoham = into complete delusion (sam = completely; moha = delusion — saṃmoha = total delusion, confusion from which ordinary consciousness is extracted only by the practices Ch.7 describes). sarge = at birth (sarga = creation, birth — 'at the moment of creation/birth'). yānti = go to, fall into (the beings fall into complete delusion at the moment of birth). parantapa = O scorcher of foes (parantapa = one who burns enemies — an epithet of Arjuna, the great warrior). The sweep: ALL beings (sarva-bhūtāni) at birth (sarge) fall into complete delusion (saṃmohaṃ yānti). This is the universal condition of embodied existence: birth itself carries the delusion of dvandvas, because the embodied form IS the structure of dvandvas — a form that is attracted to some things and repelled by others, that experiences pleasure and pain, cold and heat, success and failure. The delusion is structural, not accidental.
- icchā-dveṣa as the root of dvandva-moha
- — desire and aversion generate the pairs of opposites that produce the delusion veiling the Divine · V27's mechanism is precise: desire (icchā) and aversion (dveṣa) are the twin roots of dvandva-experience. When consciousness is organized around 'I want this / I don't want that,' it immediately generates the experience of the dvandvas — the pairs of opposing experiences that define ordinary life (pleasure-pain, success-failure, love-hate). This dvandva-structure produces moha (delusion): the practitioner caught in the dvandva drama cannot see the ground (the avyakta, the 'vāsudevaḥ sarvam') because their attention is completely absorbed in the drama of attraction and repulsion. V27 gives the specific mechanism behind V26's 'none knows Me' — the reason is the icchā-dveṣa structure of embodied consciousness.
Through the delusion of the pairs of opposites, born of desire and aversion, all beings fall into confusion at birth, O scorcher of foes.
A modern analogy
The moment you wear red-tinted glasses (representing desire-aversion structure), the entire world appears red-tinted. You don't see the world as it is; you see the world as filtered through the tint. The dvandva-moha of this verse — the delusion of the pairs of opposites — is the red tint: it doesn't add something false, it filters what IS. The path is not destroying the eyes but removing the filter, becoming freed from the delusion of the pairs.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does NOT say that desire and aversion are moral failures. They are structural features of embodied existence — the cognitive-emotional polarity that makes experience possible. The teaching is not 'don't have desires' but 'understand that the dvandva-structure produced by desire and aversion is what veils the Divine.' The path is through the recognition and transcendence of this structure — the freedom from dvandva-delusion that lets one worship with firm resolve, and the deeper knowing of the Divine even at death.
Take with you
- This verse's mechanism (icchā-dveṣa, desire and aversion → dvandva, the pairs of opposites → moha, delusion → none knows Me) is the Gita's psychological explanation of spiritual ignorance. It is not stupidity or sin that prevents recognition of the Divine — it is the ordinary cognitive structure of attraction-repulsion that organizes experience. This is both humbling (it's structural, not individual failure) and empowering (it can be worked with directly).
- This verse identifies the specific work of spiritual practice: not the acquisition of new information but the recognition and loosening of the icchā-dveṣa (desire-aversion) structure. When the practitioner notices desire (icchā) arising — 'I want this to go one way' — and aversion (dveṣa) arising — 'I don't want this' — they are watching this very mechanism in real time. The noticing itself is the beginning of its transcendence.
- This verse's 'at birth' (sarge) means the delusion is not a mistake or a failure — it is the structure of embodied existence. Every human being born into a body with sensations of pleasure and pain, attraction and repulsion, is in this verse's condition. Spiritual practice is the specific work of loosening this structural delusion to make recognition of the ground possible.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
All beings go into delusion at birth, through the delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion, O Bharata. [1]
By the delusion of the pairs of opposites, arising from desire and aversion, O descendant of Bharata, all beings fall into delusion at birth, O scorcher of foes. [4]
Through the delusion of the Pairs of Opposites arising from desire and aversion, O Bharata, all beings walk this universe wholly deluded, O Parantapa. [5]
All creatures are led astray as soon as they are born, by the delusion arising from the influence of the pairs of contraries — desire and aversion, O Bharata. [6]
O Prince of India! all living souls are led astray and dwell in the darkness of illusion, through the play of the pairs of opposites born of desire and hate. [7]
All beings, O descendant of Bharata, are subject to delusion at birth, through the delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion, O slayer of foes. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
I know all beings — past, present, and future, O Arjuna — but Me, none knows.
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
The self-conquered yogi finds the Supreme Self equally present through cold, heat, joy, pain, honour and dishonour.
Sattva begets wisdom; rajas begets greed; tamas begets heedlessness, delusion, and ignorance.
Darkness, inertness, heedlessness, and delusion arise — know that tamas is predominant.
Many thoughts, moha-net covering them, addicted to kāma-enjoyments — they fall into impure naraka.
Verse 27 of 30 · back to Chapter 7