Bhagavad Gita BG 3.2
Chapter 3, Verse 2 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे । तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम् ॥ २ ॥
vyāmiśreṇeva vākyena buddhiṃ mohayasīva me tad ekaṃ vada niścitya yena śreyo 'ham āpnuyām
Meaning
My intelligence is bewildered by Your seemingly mixed instructions. Therefore, please tell me definitively which single path will lead me to the highest good.
Understanding
Arjuna is not playing games — he is genuinely overwhelmed. The word vyāmiśreṇa (mixed/ambiguous) shows he has heard Krishna speak of renunciation AND action and cannot reconcile them. He asks for a single (ekam), definitive (niścitya) answer. This is the honest cry of a sincere student who wants to do the right thing but needs clarity. The verse is important because it forces Krishna to articulate the two-path system formally in the next verse.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| व्यामिश्रेण | vyāmiśreṇa | mixed / ambiguous / seemingly contradictory |
| मोहयसि | mohayasi | you are bewildering / confusing |
| एकम् | ekam | one / single |
| निश्चित्य | niścitya | definitively / with certainty |
| श्रेयः | śreyaḥ | the highest good / the most beneficial |
| वाक्येन | vākyena | by speech / by statement |
| बुद्धिम् | buddhim | the intelligence / the understanding |
| इव | iva | as it were / seemingly (comparison) |
| मे | me | my / of me |
| तद् | tad | that / therefore |
| वद | vada | tell / say (imperative) |
| येन | yena | by which / through which |
| अहम् | aham | I |
| आप्नुयाम् | āpnuyām | I may attain / I may obtain |