Bhagavad Gita · Karma YogaChapter 3, Shloka 6 (3.6)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन्
इन्द्रियार्थान् विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचारः स उच्यते
॥ 3.6 ॥
karmendriyāṇi saṃyamya ya āste manasā smaran
indriyārthān vimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate
Translation
"One who sits restraining the organs of action, yet keeps dwelling in the mind on the objects of the senses — that deluded person is called a hypocrite (one who only puts on a show)."
Interpretation
The gap between outside and inside. Hands and feet are still, eyes are closed — but the mind is wandering among memories of pleasures. This recalls 2.59: the objects fall away, but the taste remains.
Shankaracharya: mithyācāraḥ mṛṣācāraḥ pāpācāraḥ — false conduct, sinful conduct. Vimūḍhātmā = vimūḍhāntaḥkaraṇaḥ — one whose inner being is deluded.
Acharya Ramanuja — one intention, another conduct. A person whose sins have not been destroyed, who has not conquered the outer and inner senses, sets out for knowledge of the self, but the mind, leaning towards sense objects, turns away from the self — he keeps remembering only the objects. Anyathā saṅkalpya anyathā carati — he intends one thing and does another — this is hypocrisy. And such a person, ātma-jñānāya udyuktaḥ viparītaḥ vinaṣṭo bhavati — though he rose up for knowledge of the self, goes the opposite way and is ruined.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.