karmayogaḥ · 3.34
The Hidden Enemies: Rāga and Dveṣa
इन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे रागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ ।
तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत् तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ ॥
indriyasyendriyasyārthe rāgadveṣau vyavasthitau ।
tayorna vaśamāgacchet tau hyasya paripanthinau ॥
"Likes and dislikes naturally arise toward the objects of every sense organ, but one should not come under their control because they are enemies to spiritual growth."
Tap or click the image to view the full illustration.
Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa now continues from the previous shloka. In 3.33, he said that beings act according to their prakṛti. Now he explains one important expression of prakṛti: rāga and dveṣa.
Rāga means attraction, liking, craving, or pull toward something. Dveṣa means dislike, aversion, hatred, or push away from something. These arise in relation to indriyārtha, sense objects. The eye has forms it likes and dislikes. The ear has sounds it likes and dislikes. The tongue has tastes it likes and dislikes. The skin has touches it likes and dislikes. The nose has smells it likes and dislikes. The mind also has its preferences.
Kṛṣṇa says rāgadveṣau vyavasthitau — they are necessarily present. As long as we have a body-mind shaped by prakṛti, likes and dislikes will arise. We may enter a room and immediately like one thing and dislike another. We may meet people and feel attraction or resistance. We may hear music and enjoy it, while someone else finds the same music unpleasant. The object itself is not the absolute source of happiness or sorrow; our inner rāga-dveṣa gives it that coloring.
Therefore, the verse is realistic. It does not say, “You should never have likes and dislikes.” Their arising is often not fully under our control. They surface because of svabhāva, past impressions, habits, and guṇa-composition.
But Kṛṣṇa gives the essential instruction: tayoḥ na vaśam āgacchet — do not come under their control. A like may arise; we need not obey it. A dislike may arise; we need not be ruled by it. The problem is not the appearance of rāga-dveṣa; the problem is slavery to rāga-dveṣa.
If rāga controls us, we run after objects even when they are adhārmic or harmful. If dveṣa controls us, we avoid duties, react harshly, reject people unfairly, or refuse what is necessary for growth. A student may dislike study but must still study. A patient may dislike medicine but must still take it. A person may like comfort but must still wake up for duty. A devotee may prefer one practice, but still needs discipline.
Kṛṣṇa calls rāga and dveṣa paripanthinau — enemies, robbers, obstructers on the path. They obstruct karma-yoga because karma-yoga requires action guided by dharma, not by personal likes and dislikes. If rāga-dveṣa rule us, we stop asking, “What is right?” and ask only, “What do I like?” or “What do I hate?”
So this shloka gives a subtle discipline: acknowledge likes and dislikes, but do not surrender your discrimination to them. Let dharma, not rāga-dveṣa, govern action.