3.6

Sanskrit

कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन् । इन्द्रियार्थान्विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचारः स उच्यते ॥

karmendriyāṇi saṃyamya ya āste manasā smaran indriyārthān vimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate

Translation

Who sitteth, controlling the organs of action, but dwelling in his mind on the objects of the senses, that bewildered man is called a hypocrite.

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

Krishna’s first concrete example of the failure mode: someone who physically restrains the organs of action while mentally rehearsing the sense-objects he’s pretending to renounce. The word Besant renders “hypocrite” names exactly this gap between outward posture and inward craving — bodily inaction with an active mind is worse than useless, since it adds self-deception to the same underlying bondage. Verse 7 gives the positive counterpart.