Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Vijnana YogaChapter 7, Shloka 27 (7.27)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत
सर्वभूतानि सम्मोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप
॥ 7.27 ॥
icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata
sarvabhūtāni sammohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa
Translation
"O Bharata, O scorcher of foes, through the delusion of the pairs of opposites that arises from desire and aversion, all beings fall into deep confusion at the very moment of birth."
Interpretation
Shankaracharya. Icchā-dveṣau śītoṣṇavat paraspara-viruddhau sukha-duḥkha-tad-dhetu-viṣayau … dvandva-śabdena abhidhīyete — desire and aversion, opposed to each other like cold and heat, bound up with pleasure and pain and their causes — are called "dvandva" (the pairs); they prajñāyāḥ sva-vaśāpādana-dvāreṇa paramārthātma-tattva-viṣaya-jñānotpatti-pratibandha-kāraṇaṃ mohaṃ janayataḥ — by bringing the intellect under their control, they produce a delusion that blocks knowledge of the self. And the reasoning: na hi icchā-dveṣa-doṣa-vaśīkṛta-cittasya yathābhūtārtha-viṣaya-jñānam utpadyate bahir api — a mind under the sway of desire and aversion does not have correct knowledge even of external things, kim u — what then of the self! Sarge janmani utpatti-kāle — at the very time of birth.
Acharya Ramanuja — tendencies from past births. Pūrva-pūrva-janmani yad-viṣayau icchā-dveṣau rāga-dveṣau abhyastau tad-vāsanayā punar api janma-kāla eva — the things towards which attachment and aversion were practised in past births — through those tendencies (vasana), the same pairs appear again at the very time of birth; so beings tad-viṣayecchā-dveṣa-svabhāvāni bhavanti na mat-saṃśleṣa-viyoga-sukha-duḥkha-svabhāvāni — become creatures whose nature is to want and to hate those objects, not creatures whose nature is to feel joy in union with me and sorrow in separation from me. Only the wise one is mat-saṃśleṣa-viyogaika-sukha-duḥkha-svabhāvaḥ — one whose joy is union with me and whose sorrow is separation from me.
Ramanuja's beautiful point: the aim is not to erase pleasure and pain — it is to change their object: away from sense objects, towards the Lord.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.