Bg. 3.24 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका न कुर्यां कर्म चेदहम् । सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः ॥ २४ ॥

Verse text

utsīdeyur ime lokā na kuryāṁ karma ced aham saṅkarasya ca kartā syām upahanyām imāḥ prajāḥ

Synonyms

utsīdeyuḥ — would be put into ruin ; ime — all these ; lokāḥ — worlds ; na — not ; kuryām — I perform ; karma — prescribed duties ; cet — if ; aham — I ; saṅkarasya — of unwanted population ; ca — and ; kartā — creator ; syām — would be ; upahanyām — would destroy ; imāḥ — all these ; prajāḥ — living entities.

Translation

If I did not perform prescribed duties, all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would be the cause of creating unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all living beings.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

24. If I were not to work, all people would be destroyed. I would be the cause of mixed castes, and would pollute the descendants.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

24. If I were not to work, all people would become unlawful. I would be the cause of mixed castes, and would pollute the descendents.

Purport

Varṇa-saṅkara is unwanted population which disturbs the peace of the general society. In order to check this social disturbance, there are prescribed rules and regulations by which the population can automatically become peaceful and organized for spiritual progress in life. When Lord Kṛṣṇa descends, naturally He deals with such rules and regulations in order to maintain the prestige and necessity of such important performances. The Lord is the father of all living entities, and if the living entities are misguided, indirectly the responsibility goes to the Lord. Therefore, whenever there is general disregard of regulative principles, the Lord Himself descends and corrects the society. We should, however, note carefully that although we have to follow in the footsteps of the Lord, we still have to remember that we cannot imitate Him. Following and imitating are not on the same level. We cannot imitate the Lord by lifting Govardhana Hill, as the Lord did in His childhood. It is impossible for any human being. We have to follow His instructions, but we may not imitate Him at any time. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.33.30–31) affirms: naitat samācarej jātu manasāpi hy anīśvaraḥ vinaśyaty ācaran mauḍhyād yathārudro ’bdhi-jaṁ viṣam īśvarāṇāṁ vacaḥ satyaṁ tathaivācaritaṁ kvacit teṣāṁ yat sva-vaco-yuktaṁ buddhimāṁs tat samācaret “One should simply follow the instructions of the Lord and His empowered servants. Their instructions are all good for us, and any intelligent person will perform them as instructed. However, one should guard against trying to imitate their actions. One should not try to drink the ocean of poison in imitation of Lord Śiva.” We should always consider the position of the īśvaras, or those who can actually control the movements of the sun and moon, as superior. Without such power, one cannot imitate the īśvaras, who are superpowerful. Lord Śiva drank poison to the extent of swallowing an ocean, but if any common man tries to drink even a fragment of such poison, he will be killed. There are many pseudo devotees of Lord Śiva who want to indulge in smoking gaṣjā (marijuana) and similar intoxicating drugs, forgetting that by so imitating the acts of Lord Śiva they are calling death very near. Similarly, there are some pseudo devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa who prefer to imitate the Lord in His rāsa-līlā, or dance of love, forgetting their inability to lift Govardhana Hill. It is best, therefore, that one not try to imitate the powerful, but simply follow their instructions; nor should one try to occupy their posts without qualification. There are so many “incarnations” of God without the power of the Supreme Godhead.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Taking Me as an example, the people, not performing dharma, would be contaminated. Mixed castes would result. I would be the cause of this. I would pollute the progeny.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Then what would happen? If I, the supreme among all, were not to perform actions according to scripture, the people would break the laws (utsīdeyuḥ—be destroyed). I would be responsible for producing mixed castes resulting from the destruction of law. I, the protector of the populace, prajā pati, would cause contamination of the populace (upahanyām), by the mixture of castes. The śruti says: eṣa setur vidharaṇa eṣāṁ lokānām asaṁbhedāya I am the restraining law in order that the populace is not disturbed. Chāndogya Upaniṣad 4.4.22 Though I am well known as the foundation of people’s respect for law as the śruti says, I would become the cause of breaking their respect for law. Though the Lord teaches in this way, we also see that the Lord sometimes acts independent of the law, desiring the happiness of his devotee. Such actions however are not to be performed by those inferior to the Lord, since they have no instructions to do so from the establisher of law, and they are supposed to be obedient to His order. Śukadeva states the same: īśvarāṇāṁ vacaḥ satyaṁ tathaivācaritaṁ kvacit teṣāṁ yat sva-vaco-yuktaṁ buddhimāṁs tat samācaret The statements of the Lord’s empowered servants are always true, and the acts they perform are exemplary when consistent with those statements. Therefore one who is intelligent should carry out their instructions. SB 10.33.31 naitat samācarej jātu manasāpi hy anīśvaraḥ vinaśyaty ācaran mauḍhyād yathārudro’ bdhi-jaṁ viṣam One who is not a great controller should never imitate the behavior of ruling personalities, even mentally. If out of foolishness an ordinary person does imitate such behavior, he will simply destroy himself, just as a person who is not Rudra would destroy himself if he tried to drink an ocean of poison. SB 10.33.30

Surrender Unto Me

If we remember, way back in the 1st Chapter, one of Arjuna's first reasons or arguments for not wishing to fight was that if killed the family, the elders and tradition would be destroyed and women would be unprotected causing unwanted progeny. So Arjuna is saying earlier "if I do my duty and fight and kill everyone that will be the cause of unwanted progeny". But Krsna here is taking the opposite stand: "if you don't do your duty and fight, you will be the cause of unwanted progeny." So Krsna has defeated this argument of Arjuna. [ 2 . Although the ignorant perform their duty with attachment, the wise should not unsettle them. The wise shoul perform their duty without attachment (and with knowledge) and thus become free. (17‑25)]