Shloka

कर्षयन्तः शरीरस्थं भूतग्राममचेतसः |
मां चैवान्तःशरीरस्थं तान्विद्ध्यासुरनिश्चयान् ||१७-६||

Transliteration

karṣayantaḥ śarīrasthaṃ bhūtagrāmamacetasaḥ .
māṃ caivāntaḥśarīrasthaṃ tānviddhyāsuraniścayān ||17-6||

Translations

Dr.S.Sankaranarayan

17.6. Who emaciate unintelligently the conglamoration of elements in their physic and emaciate Me too, dwelling within the physic-know them to be of a demoniac resolve.

Shri Purohit Swami

17.6 They are ignorant. They torment the organs of the body; and they harass Me also, Who lives within. Know that they are devoted to evil.

Sri Abhinav Gupta

17.4-6 Yajante etc., upto asura-niscayan. Unintelligently : i.e. due to their lack of discrimination. Emaciating Me too : Because they do not follow the purport of the scriptures. That is why they undertake practising austerities invented by their own intellect and they are rather men of the Tamas (Strand). Like faith, the food also is of three types, differentiated by the Sattva etc., so are the sacrifice, austerity and charity. That is being detailed as :

Sri Ramanuja

17.5 - 17.6 ‘Those men who perform terrible pernances not enjoined by the Sastras’ - this is illustrative of sacrifices etc., of a similar nature. Those who perform sacrifices, etc., sacrifices which are not enjoined by the Sastras and demand much exertion, those who are possessed of ‘ostentation and conceit and are goaded by sensual desire, attachment and passion’ - they torture the group of elements such as earth etc., in their bodies. They also torture the individual self which is a part of Myself and is within their bodies. Those who perform such sacrifices etc., know them to be demoniacal in their resolves. The resolve of demons is demoniac resolve. The demons are those who act contrary to My ?ndments. Since they act contrary to My ?ndments, they do not have even a iota of joy, but as stated earlier, they fall a prey to a multitude of calamities. ‘They fall into a foul Naraka’ (16.16).

Now, Sri Krsna, resuming the subject, details the differences according to the Gunas with reference to sacrifice, etc., enjoined by the Sastras. To begin with, he describes three kinds of food, since the growth of Sattva etc., has its source in food, as Srutis declare thus: ‘For my dear, the mind consists of food’ (Cha. U., 6.5.4) and ‘when the food is pure, the man becomes pure’ (Cha. U., 7.26.2).

Sri Shankaracharya

17.6 (And who,) acetasah, being non-discriminating; karsayantah, torture; bhuta-gramam, all the organs; sarirastham, in the body, ca, as also; torture eva, even; mam, Me; antah-sarira-stham, who reside in the body as the witness of its actions and intellect-non-adherence to My injunctions itself is ’torturing Me’; viddhi, know; tan, them; asura-niscayan, as possessed of demoniacal convictions. Know them so that they may be avoided. This is an instruction. The liking of persons possessing the alities of sattva, rajas and tamas for foods that are divided into three groups, viz succulent, oleaginous, etc., is respectively being shown here so that, by knowing the presence of the alities of sattva, rajas and tamas (in oneself) from the indications of the degree of one’s preference for particular foods as are succulent, oleaginous, etc., one may avoid foods having the characteristics of rajas and tamas, and accept food with the characteristics of sattva. Similarly, sacrifices etc. also are being explained here under three categories according to the distinguishing ality of sattva etc. So that one may reject those known to be born of rajas and tamas, and undertake only those born of sattva.

Swami Adidevananda

17.6 These foolish men, torturing the group of elements in their bodies and Me also who dwell within the body - know them to be demoniacal in their resolves.

Swami Gambirananda

17.6 (And who,) being non-discriminating, torture, all the organs in the body as also even Me who reside in the body,-know them as possessed of demoniacal conviction.

Swami Sivananda

17.6 Senseless, torturing all the elements in the body and Me also, Who dwell in the body, know thou these to be of demonical resolves.

Commentaries

Swami Sivananda

17.6 कर्षयन्तः torturing? शरीरस्थम् dwelling in the body? भूतग्रामम् all the elements? अचेतसः senseless? माम् Me? च and? एव even? अन्तःशरीरस्थम् who dwells in the body within? तान् them? विद्धि know? आसुरनिश्चयान् to be of demoniac resolves.Commentary Bhutagramam The aggregate of all the elements composing the body.Elements Organs.Mam Me Vaasudeva? the witness of their thoughts and deeds.He who thus tortures Me disregards My teachings entirely.Achetasah Senseless? unintelligent? having no discrimination.