Bg. 7.11 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

बलं बलवतां चाहं कामरागविवर्जितम् । धर्माविरुद्धो भूतेषु कामोऽस्मि भरतर्षभ ॥ ११ ॥

Verse text

balaṁ balavatāṁ cāhaṁ kāma-rāga-vivarjitam dharmāviruddho bhūteṣu kāmo ’smi bharatarṣabha

Synonyms

balam — strength ; bala-vatām — of the strong ; ca — and ; aham — I am ; kāma — passion ; rāga — and attachment ; vivarjitam — devoid of ; dharma-aviruddhaḥ — not against religious principles ; bhūteṣu — in all beings ; kāmaḥ — sex life ; asmi — I am ; bharata-ṛṣabha — O lord of the Bhāratas.

Translation

I am the strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire. I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles, O lord of the Bhāratas [Arjuna].

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

11. I am the strength of the strong which is devoid of lust and anger. I am that lust which is according to dharma, O best of Bharata lineage.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

11. I am the strength of the strong which is devoid of desire and excessive craving. I am that lust which is for producing offspring, O best of Bharata.

Purport

The strong man’s strength should be applied to protect the weak, not for personal aggression. Similarly, sex life, according to religious principles ( dharma ), should be for the propagation of children, not otherwise. The responsibility of parents is then to make their offspring Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

I am the strength of the strong, not displayed out of anger or used with the desire to maintain to ones own lifestyle. I am lust not contrary to dharma, directed towards one’s wife only for the production of children.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Kāma means desire for maintaining ones life and for material objects. Rāga means that, after having attained ones desired object, one still hankers for additional things. Another name for rāga is excessive thirst for material enjoyment, which contaminates the consciousness. Strength devoid of kāma and rāga enables one to perform ones prescribed duties properly. I am kāma which is only for the purpose of producing offspring through ones wife (dharma aviruddhaḥ kāmaḥ).

Surrender Unto Me

Sex life according to religious principles, is for the propagation of children not otherwise. To sum‑up the Section where Krsna is the essence of everything and the source of both material and spiritual energies (Krsna is trying to explain how to become 'mad‑ gatenantar‑atmana', see Him always in our heart with great faith), Krsna says: