Shloka

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत |
सर्वभूतानि सम्मोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप ||७-२७||

Transliteration

icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata .
sarvabhūtāni sammohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa ||7-27||

Translations

Dr.S.Sankaranarayan

7.27. O descendant of Bharata, O scorcher of foes ! At the time of creation, all beings get delusion because of the illusion of pairs [of opposites] arising from desire and hatred.

Shri Purohit Swami

7.27 O brave Arjuna! Man lives in a fairy world, deceived by the glamour of opposite sensations, infatuated by desire and aversion.

Sri Abhinav Gupta

7.27 Iccha-etc. [At the time of destruction] he (the personal Soul) is led to expand exceedingly, while he still remains unconcious on account of his desire, aversion, agner, dellusion etc. On account of this, the entire world takes recourse to the sleeping stage while it continues to exist in its entirity within the stomach of the Prakrti (the Prime Casue); and to exist just being (temporarily) not capable of performing its activities. For, as long as there is delusion, the mental impressions are to be experienced, as in the case of the sleeping stage in the night time every day. But on that account no emancipation is gained. For, when the experience of loss of unconsciousness is over (i.e., when consciousness is regained), again the mundane life with its varieties of activites is found.

Sri Ramanuja

7.27 As soon as beings are born they are deluded. This delusion springs from sense experiences described as pairs of opposites like heat and cold. Such reactions spring from desire and hate.

The purport is this: Desire and hatred for the pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain, which are constituted of Gunas, have their origin in the Jivas from the past experiences they had in their previous births. The subtle impressions or Vasanas of these previous experiences manifest again as instinctive desire and hatred towards similar objects in every succeeding birth of the Jivas. The delusive force of these impressions make them deluded from the very beginning. It becomes their nature to have love or hatred for such objects, in place of having happiness and misery at union with or separation from Me. The Jnanin, however, feels happiness when he is in union with Me and misery when separated from Me. No other being is born with such a nature as found in the Jnanin.

Sri Shankaracharya

7.27 Iccha-dvesa-samutthena, by what arises from likes and dislikes: iccha, likes, and dvesa, dislikes, are iccha-dvesau; anything arising from them is icchadvesa-samutthah. (Creatures are duluded) by that. By what? When that is thus sought to be known in particular, the Lord answers: dvandva-mohena, by the delusion of duality. Delusion (moha) that originates from duality (advandva) is dvandva-moha. Those very likes and dislikes, which are mutually opposed like heat and cold, which relate to happiness and sorrow and their causes, and which come into association with all beings in due course, are termed as duality (and this deludes all creatures). As regards them, when likes and dislikes arise from the experience of happiness, sorrow and their causes, then, by bringing the wisdom of all beings under their control, they create bewilderment which is the cause of the impediment to the rise of knowledg about the reality of Self, the suprem Truth. Indeed, exact knowledg about objects even in the external world does not arise in one whose mind is overpowered by the defects, viz likes and dislikes. It goes without saying that knowledge of the indwelling Self, beset with many obstacles as it is, does not arise in a completely bewildered person whose intelligence has been overcome by them. Therefore, bharata, O scion of the Bharata dynasty; owing to that delusion of duality arising from likes and dislikes, sarvabhutani, all creatures become deluded. Parantapa, O destroyer of foes; they yanti sammoham, become bewildered, come under delusion; sarge, at the time of their birth, i.e. at the time of their origination. The idea is that all creatures that come into being do so prepossessed by delusion. ‘Since this is so, therefore all creatures, being deluded and having their wisdom obstructed by that delusion of duality, do not know Me who am their Self. Hence, they do not adore Me as their Self.’ ‘Who, again, are those that, becoming free from the delusion of duality, come to know You, and adore You as the Self in accordance with the scriptures?’ In order to elaborate the subject enired about, it is being said:

Swami Adidevananda

7.27 By the delusion of the pairs of opposites springing from desire and hate, O Arjuna, all beings are deluded as soon as they are born.

Swami Gambirananda

7.27 O scion of the Bharata dynasty, O destroyer of foes, due to the delusion of duality arising from likes and dislikes, all creatures become bewildered at the time of their birth.

Swami Sivananda

7.27 By the delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion, O Bharata, all beings are subject to delusion at birth, O Parantapa.

Commentaries

Swami Sivananda

7.27 इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन arisen from desire and aversion? द्वन्द्वमोहेन by the delusion of the pairs of opposites? भारत O Bharata? सर्वभूतानि all beings? संमोहम् to delusion? सर्गे at birth? यान्ति are subject? परन्तप O Parantapa (scorcher of the foes).Commentary Where there is pleasure there is Raga or attachment where there is pain there is Dvesha or aversion. There is the instinct in man to preserve his body. Man wishes to attain those objects which help the preservation of the body. He wishes to get rid of those objects which give pain to the body and the mind. On account of delusion caused by the pairs of opposites? desire and aversion spring up and man cannot get the knowledge of the things as they are? even of this external universe of senseexperience and it needs no saying that in a man whose intellect is overwhelmed by desire and aversion there cannot arise the transcendental knowledge of the innermost Self.Raga (attraction) and Dvesha (repulsion)? pleasure and pain? heat and cold? happiness and misery? joy and sorrow? success and failure? censure and priase? honour and dishonour are the Dvandvas or the pairs of opposites. Desire and aversion (or attraction and repulsion) induce delusion in all beings and serve as obstacles to the dawn of the knowledge of the Self.He whose intellect is obscured by the delusion caused by the pairs of opposites is not able to realise I am the Self. Therefore he does not adore Me as the Self.He who is a victim of RagaDvesha loses the power of discrimination. He wishes that pleasant objects should last for ever and that disagreeable or unpleasant objects should disappear immediately. How could this be Objects that are conditioned in time? space and causation will perish. That which is agreeable and pleasant now will become disagreeable and unpleasant after some time. The mind is ever fluctuating. It demands variety and gets disgusted with monotony.