यः शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य वर्तते कामकारतः | न स सिद्धिमवाप्नोति न सुखं न परां गतिम् ||१६-२३||
yaḥ śāstravidhimutsṛjya vartate kāmakārataḥ .
na sa siddhimavāpnoti na sukhaṃ na parāṃ gatim ||16-23||
He who, having cast aside the ordinances of the scriptures, acts under the impulse of desire, attains not perfection, nor happiness nor the Supreme Goal.
In simple words
Krishna warns: "But the person who ignores wisdom and acts purely from desire — that person does not find perfection, happiness, or the highest goal."
यःwhoशास्त्रविधिम्the ordinance of the scripturesउत्सृज्यhaving cast asideवर्ततेactsकामकारतःunder the impulse of desireनnotसःheसिद्धिम्perfectionअवाप्नोतिattainsनnotसुखम्happinessनnotपराम्Supremeगतिम्
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Goal
16.23 यः who? शास्त्रविधिम् the ordinance of the scriptures? उत्सृज्य having cast aside? वर्तते acts? कामकारतः under the impulse of desire? न not? सः he? सिद्धिम् perfection? अवाप्नोति attains? न not? सुखम् happiness? न not? पराम् Supreme? गतिम् Goal.Commentary He who does not care for the Self? who gives free rein to these three sins? is a traitor to the Self. He who has renounced the authority of the Vedas which? like a mother? is eally disposed and kind to all? and which? like a beaconlight? points out what is good and what is evil? does not attain perfection nor happiness nor the Supreme Goal. He who pays no attention to prescribed actions and follows the promptings of desire awakened by the senses? does not obtain God.
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.
# BG 16.23 — The Teaching of Lord Krishna
The blessed Lord Krishna's instruction is this: through the abandonment of desire, anger, and other self-destructive vices, one accumulates inner spiritual powers. These powers must be wisely employed for one's own elevation and self-realization. Failure to do so results in a fall from which it becomes exceedingly difficult to rise again. The character of demons like Ravana stands as a striking testimony to this truth. These asuras acquired immense powers through austerity and spiritual practice, yet through their misuse, they brought about their own destruction. Their powers were so formidable and terrible that they shook their own generations and reduced them to dust upon the earth. Humanity requires grave and solemn warning to protect itself and this world from ruin. This very warning is given in these final two verses.
The person who disregards the guidance of sacred scripture and acts according to the whims of his own nature gains no benefit whatsoever. Here, by the word "scripture," we need not understand only the elaborate and complex ritual injunctions that orthodox practitioners emphasize with great fervor. Rather, those texts which expound the knowledge of Brahman and the means to attain it are called scripture here—chiefly the Upanishads and the Vedantic treatises. The Bhagavad Gita itself, having expounded the knowledge of Brahman and the means to its realization, is therefore also scripture.
In this section, the teaching concerns the abandonment of desire, anger, and greed. We have seen that desire is the root cause of both anger and greed. Therefore, Lord Krishna, mentioning desire alone, declares that the person impelled by desire does not attain the supreme goal. Such a person neither achieves perfection, nor happiness, nor the highest state.
What harm comes from not following the Gita's teaching? The answer is this: the person driven by desire, encouraged by greed, and disturbed by anger perpetually experiences only restlessness and a life filled with cruel mental turbulence. Such a person neither attains happiness nor achieves self-realization.
Thus, the conclusion is this: