Sanskrit
सदृशं चेष्टते स्वस्याः प्रकृतेर्ज्ञानवानपि । प्रकृतिं यान्ति भूतानि निग्रहः किं करिष्यति ॥
sadṛśaṃ ceṣṭate svasyāḥ prakṛter jñānavān api prakṛtiṃ yānti bhūtāni nigrahaḥ kiṃ kariṣyati
Translation
Even the man of knowledge behaves in conformity with his own nature; beings follow nature; what shall restraint avail?
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A genuinely uncomfortable admission the chapter doesn’t fully resolve: even knowledge doesn’t override one’s own prakriti, and forced restraint is called out as ineffective. This reads in real tension with verse 41’s coming instruction to master the senses — the text seems to be distinguishing between suppressing nature by force, rejected here, and the more targeted discipline of managing attraction and aversion, which is exactly what verse 34 offers next.