Verse 3.33

सदृशं चेष्टते स्वस्याः प्रकृतेर्ज्ञानवानपि ।

प्रकृतिं यान्ति भूतानि निग्रहः किं करिष्यति ॥

3.33

Transliteration

sadṛśaṃ ceṣṭate svasyāḥ prakṛterjñānavānapi |

prakṛtiṃ yānti bhūtāni nigrahaḥ kiṃ kariṣyati ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

Even a wise man acts in accordance with his own nature; beings will follow Nature; what can restraint do?

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

in accordance
acts
with his own
nature
a wise man
even

nature
follow
beings
repression
what
will do

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

Krishna acknowledges the force of nature (prakṛti) in each person. Even the wise behave in keeping with their own temperament, and all beings follow their nature. Forcible repression, nigraha, cannot simply override it. The verse is realistic about human psychology. It does not mean that discipline is useless, as the following verses show, but that suppressing one's nature by sheer force is not the way. In Arjuna's case, his warrior nature will assert itself; the question is whether he acts from it with or without attachment.