Chapter 17 · Verse 19 · Sraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
Bhagavad Gita 17.19
Sanskrit
मूढग्राहेणात्मनो यत्पीडया क्रियते तपः।परस्योत्सादनार्थं वा तत्तामसमुदाहृतम्।।17.19।।
Transliteration
mūḍha-grāheṇātmano yat pīḍayā kriyate tapaḥ parasyotsādanārthaṁ vā tat tāmasam udāhṛitam
In plain words
You may be hurting yourself right now — through harsh self-judgment, through punishing your body with neglect, through discipline that feels like shame instead of love. Krishna says: if your spiritual practice comes from confusion or cruelty toward yourself, it is not lifting you up, it is dragging you deeper into darkness. Real strength builds you; it doesn't destroy you.
Word by Word
Krishna teaches us that austerity rooted in delusion—self-harm disguised as discipline, or the desire to wound another—belongs entirely to the mode of ignorance. True tapasya flows from wisdom and love, never from confusion or cruelty.
When you notice yourself punishing your body out of shame, or practicing discipline to prove something to others, pause and ask: Am I honoring the sacred temple of this body, or desecrating it? Real austerity uplifts both self and world.
Listen
Bhagavad Gita 17.19 — BG 17.19
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