Bhagavad Gita 3.32: meaning and translation

Chapter 3: Karma Yoga. Krishna says

But those who find fault with this teaching and do not follow it, Krishna says, are confused about all knowledge, lack discernment, and are lost.

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Bhagavad Gita 3.32

ये त्वेतदभ्यसूयन्तो नानुतिष्ठन्ति मे मतम् ।सर्वज्ञानविमूढांस्तान्विद्धि नष्टानचेतसः ॥

Ye tvetadabhyasuyanto nanutishthanti me matamSarvajnanavimudhanstanviddhi nashtanachetasah

ye tvetadabhyasūyanto nānutiṣṭhanti me matam |sarvajñānavimūḍhāṃstānviddhi naṣṭānacetasaḥ ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation But those who find fault with this teaching and do not follow it, Krishna says, are confused about all knowledge, lack discernment, and are lost.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि जो इस उपदेश में दोष निकालते हैं और इसका पालन नहीं करते, वे सब ज्ञान के विषय में भ्रमित हैं, विवेकहीन हैं और नष्ट (पथ से भटके) हैं।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

  1. ये ye · who (pronoun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  2. तु tu · but (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. tu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 449, col. 3 “but”
  3. एतत् etat · this (pronoun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: etad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 231, col. 2 “this, this here, here”
  4. अभ्यसूयन्तः abhyasūyantaḥ · finding fault with (present participle (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: abhi, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 61, col. 1 “to, towards, into, over, upon”; 1. asūya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 121, col. 3 “to murmur at, be displeased or discontented with”
  5. न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “not, no, nor, neither”
  6. अनुतिष्ठन्ति anutiṣṭhanti · follow (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: anu-ṣṭhā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 40, col. 1 “to carry out, attend to; to perform, do, practise”
  7. मे me · "my" (pronoun, genitive singular) Dictionary: 1. mad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 777, col. 2 “base of the first pers. pron. in the sg. number”
  8. मतम् matam · teaching (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: mata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 783, col. 1 “a thought, idea, opinion, sentiment, view, belief, doctrine”
  9. सर्वज्ञानविमूढान् sarvajñānavimūḍhān · confused about all knowledge (compound (masculine), accusative plural) Dictionary: sarva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1184, col. 3 “whole, entire, all, every”; jñāna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 426, col. 1 “knowing, becoming acquainted with, knowledge”; vi-mūḍha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 980, col. 3; vi-mugdha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 980, col. 3 “confused, bewildered, infatuated”
  10. तान् tān · them (pronoun (masculine), accusative plural) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  11. विद्धि viddhi · know (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 1. vid, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 963, col. 2 “to know, understand, perceive, learn”
  12. नष्टान् naṣṭān · lost (past participle (masculine), accusative plural) Dictionary: naṣṭa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 532, col. 1 “lost, disappeared, perished, destroyed”
  13. अचेतसः acetasaḥ · without discernment (adjective (masculine), accusative plural) Dictionary: a-cetas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 9, col. 1 “unconscious, insensible”

Old translations

Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 56.

But those who carp at my opinion and do not act upon it, know them to be devoid of discrimination, deluded as regards all knowledge1, and ruined.

  1. Of actions, or of the Brahman in its various forms. ↩
English translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882); public domain. archive.org (page 56, scan leaf n69). Shown verbatim.
Compare 3 translations

Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 56.

But those who carp at my opinion and do not act upon it, know them to be devoid of discrimination, deluded as regards all knowledge1, and ruined.

  1. Of actions, or of the Brahman in its various forms. ↩
English translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882); public domain. archive.org (page 56, scan leaf n69). Shown verbatim.

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Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 46.

Who carp at My teaching and act not thereon, senseless, deluded in all knowledge, know thou them to be given over to destruction.

English translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895); public domain. archive.org (page 46, scan leaf n52). Shown verbatim.

You are reading this one

Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 77.

But those who decrying this teaching of mine do not practise (it), deluded in all knowledge, and devoid of discrimination, know them to be ruined.

English translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909); public domain. archive.org (page 77, scan leaf n86). Shown verbatim.

You are reading this one

Cite this verse

The translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 56. Bhagavad Gita 3.32.

The translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 46. Bhagavad Gita 3.32.

The translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 77. Bhagavad Gita 3.32.

Our explanation: “Bhagavad Gita 3.32: meaning and translation.” Pujadeep. Updated October 27, 2026. https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/3/32/

Pujadeep’s explanations are free to quote with credit: name Pujadeep and link to the page. How to credit

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Classical readings, by school

No readings by school on this verse yet.

Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. Source and changes

Questions families ask

Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 3.32?

Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 3 (Karma Yoga).

Where does the Sanskrit text come from?

Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. See the source

Is the meaning on this page a translation?

Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.

Source and licence

Sanskrit text
The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
Translation
The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
Translation
The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
Translation
Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
Common wording
In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
Our explanation
Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Checked
Checked against the cited edition, October 27, 2026.

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