You Knew It Was a Bad Decision — But You Still Did It. The Gita Explains Why
Nidhi | Jun 17, 2025, 11:12 IST
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Even when we know something will hurt us, we still do it. Why? The Bhagavad Gita reveals the deeper truth — our decisions aren’t just logical; they’re driven by desire, ego, and unconscious habits shaped by nature and karma. This article breaks down the Gita’s timeless explanation of why we sabotage ourselves — and how awareness, not willpower, is the key to breaking the cycle.
It wasn’t a mistake. You knew exactly what would happen. The warning signs were loud, the pattern was familiar — and yet, something inside you moved forward anyway. You told yourself you wouldn’t go back, wouldn’t repeat, wouldn’t give in. But in the end, logic failed. Wisdom went silent. And the hand that reached out… felt like it wasn’t even yours.
Why does this happen? Why do we sabotage ourselves with eyes wide open?
The Bhagavad Gita doesn’t treat this as weakness. It treats it as a fundamental human condition. Desire, delusion, past impressions, mental inertia — they all work beneath the surface, shaping decisions long before the intellect arrives. You think you’re choosing. But more often than not, you’re being pulled — by forces you haven’t yet seen.
The Gita doesn’t ask you to feel bad. It asks you to look deeper. Because once you see clearly, you don’t just avoid bad decisions — you start to unravel the inner machinery that makes them feel inevitable. 
The mind doesn’t act from logic — it acts from preference. From the moment of birth, says Krishna, every being is caught between icchā (desire) and dveṣa (aversion). These two — craving and repulsion — are the most ancient architects of our decision-making.
They distort not just emotion, but perception itself. The moment desire arises, it dresses up the object of desire in illusions of pleasure, importance, and urgency. Likewise, aversion paints things darker than they are, making us irrationally avoidant.
So even when your intellect knows what is right, these forces shift your internal balance. And your actions — even when “wrong” — feel psychologically justified in the moment. 
We assume we act out of conscious free will. But in the Gita, nature (prakriti) is the default driver of behavior. Your instincts, reactions, even your sense of self are shaped by the interaction of the three gunas — sattva (clarity), rajas (restlessness), and tamas (inertia).
According to the Gita, actions don't start when you decide them. They begin much earlier — in the form of vāsanās (latent tendencies) and samskāras (subtle imprints of past actions).
These are not metaphors — they are literal energetic patterns imprinted in the subtle body. They shape your reactions before your logic even arrives. They create a sense of déjà vu — where you feel you're choosing, but in reality, you're just repeating what your system is familiar with.
This is why people return to the same toxic patterns — even when they’ve “learned their lesson.” Learning doesn’t dissolve vāsanā. Awareness does. Observation does. Detached action does. 
The Gita maps out a psychological chain reaction:
Attachment → Desire → Anger → Delusion → Loss of Memory → Destruction of Discernment (Buddhi) → Fall
The crucial turning point here is the loss of buddhi — not intellect in the academic sense, but the inner faculty of spiritual discernment.
When buddhi is compromised, you still know what’s wrong — but you no longer have the strength to resist it. The voice inside becomes quiet. You don't argue with the truth — you just don't hear it anymore.
This is how people fall into knowingly destructive choices. It’s not that they’re blind — it’s that their inner compass has been silenced by the noise of mental disturbance. 
One of the most sobering lines in the Gita is:
“All actions are performed by the gunas of nature, but the deluded self thinks, ‘I am the doer.’” (3.27)
Here, Krishna is not denying effort or accountability — but he is pointing to a truth most people don’t want to face: you’re not as free as you think.
What feels like choice is often momentum — of habits, tendencies, emotional inertia, or social conditioning. Until you witness that pattern, you can’t break it. That’s why Krishna urges Arjuna to act as a seer, not just a doer. Only through awareness does real will emerge — not from impulse, but from clarity. 
Your ahankāra — the ego-identity — isn’t interested in truth. It’s interested in consistency. It wants your story to stay intact: that you’re in control, that you’re smart, that you’re okay.
So sometimes, you’ll protect a bad decision just to avoid confronting an inconvenient truth. You might keep pushing in the wrong direction just because turning back would hurt your pride.
The Gita sees this clearly. Krishna doesn’t flatter the ego. He calls it what it is: the mask of the Self. It talks loudly. But behind it, the real ātman — the observing, eternal witness — is quietly watching. No one wakes up and says, “Let me sabotage myself today.” The Gita shows that wrong decisions are rarely sudden. They begin subtly — in thought.
The Gita doesn’t blame you for the bad decision. It reveals why it felt inevitable. It shows how layers of desire, memory, ego, and habit quietly overruled your wisdom — not because you were weak, but because you weren’t yet fully awake.
True change doesn’t begin with control. It begins with clarity. The moment you start seeing the forces behind your actions — the gunas, the vāsanās, the play of prakriti — the spell starts to break. You stop running from mistakes and start learning how they happen.
And in that moment of awareness — even before the next decision comes — you’ve already taken your first real step toward freedom.
Explore the latest trends and tips in Health & Fitness, Travel, Life Hacks, Fashion & Beauty, and Relationships at Times Life
Why does this happen? Why do we sabotage ourselves with eyes wide open?
The Bhagavad Gita doesn’t treat this as weakness. It treats it as a fundamental human condition. Desire, delusion, past impressions, mental inertia — they all work beneath the surface, shaping decisions long before the intellect arrives. You think you’re choosing. But more often than not, you’re being pulled — by forces you haven’t yet seen.
The Gita doesn’t ask you to feel bad. It asks you to look deeper. Because once you see clearly, you don’t just avoid bad decisions — you start to unravel the inner machinery that makes them feel inevitable.
1. You’re Pulled by Invisible Threads: Desire and Aversion
Mind.
( Image credit : Pexels )
They distort not just emotion, but perception itself. The moment desire arises, it dresses up the object of desire in illusions of pleasure, importance, and urgency. Likewise, aversion paints things darker than they are, making us irrationally avoidant.
So even when your intellect knows what is right, these forces shift your internal balance. And your actions — even when “wrong” — feel psychologically justified in the moment.
2. Your Nature Isn’t Always Your Friend — It’s a Cycle You Haven’t Broken
Clarity
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- When rajas dominates, it creates urgency, ambition, and unexamined passion. You feel compelled to act — not because it's wise, but because you can’t sit still.
- When tamas takes over, the opposite happens: the mind becomes heavy, dull, and indifferent. You make bad choices not out of obsession, but out of mental fog and confusion.
- Even sattva, though luminous, is often fleeting — and unless consciously cultivated, it's easily overpowered by the other two.
3. You're Not Just Acting — You're Replaying Unfinished Karma
Gita
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These are not metaphors — they are literal energetic patterns imprinted in the subtle body. They shape your reactions before your logic even arrives. They create a sense of déjà vu — where you feel you're choosing, but in reality, you're just repeating what your system is familiar with.
This is why people return to the same toxic patterns — even when they’ve “learned their lesson.” Learning doesn’t dissolve vāsanā. Awareness does. Observation does. Detached action does.
4. Your Inner Discernment Isn’t Always Active — Sometimes It’s Offline
Inner Conflict
( Image credit : Pexels )
Attachment → Desire → Anger → Delusion → Loss of Memory → Destruction of Discernment (Buddhi) → Fall
The crucial turning point here is the loss of buddhi — not intellect in the academic sense, but the inner faculty of spiritual discernment.
When buddhi is compromised, you still know what’s wrong — but you no longer have the strength to resist it. The voice inside becomes quiet. You don't argue with the truth — you just don't hear it anymore.
This is how people fall into knowingly destructive choices. It’s not that they’re blind — it’s that their inner compass has been silenced by the noise of mental disturbance.
5. You Mistake Compulsion for Free Will
Free will
( Image credit : Pexels )
“All actions are performed by the gunas of nature, but the deluded self thinks, ‘I am the doer.’” (3.27)
Here, Krishna is not denying effort or accountability — but he is pointing to a truth most people don’t want to face: you’re not as free as you think.
What feels like choice is often momentum — of habits, tendencies, emotional inertia, or social conditioning. Until you witness that pattern, you can’t break it. That’s why Krishna urges Arjuna to act as a seer, not just a doer. Only through awareness does real will emerge — not from impulse, but from clarity.
6. The Ego Doesn’t Want Truth — It Wants Comfort
Ego
( Image credit : Pexels )
So sometimes, you’ll protect a bad decision just to avoid confronting an inconvenient truth. You might keep pushing in the wrong direction just because turning back would hurt your pride.
The Gita sees this clearly. Krishna doesn’t flatter the ego. He calls it what it is: the mask of the Self. It talks loudly. But behind it, the real ātman — the observing, eternal witness — is quietly watching.
7. You Don’t Fall — You Slide Gradually, Thought by Thought
- A desire arises.
- You entertain it.
- You identify with it.
- You justify it.
- You act on it.
- You regret it.
So What Now?
True change doesn’t begin with control. It begins with clarity. The moment you start seeing the forces behind your actions — the gunas, the vāsanās, the play of prakriti — the spell starts to break. You stop running from mistakes and start learning how they happen.
And in that moment of awareness — even before the next decision comes — you’ve already taken your first real step toward freedom.
Explore the latest trends and tips in Health & Fitness, Travel, Life Hacks, Fashion & Beauty, and Relationships at Times Life