Bhagavad Gita 3.1
Jyayasi cet karmanas te mata buddhir janardana “Arjuna said: O Janardana, O Keshava, why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.2Vyamisreneva vakyena buddhim mohayashiva me “My intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively which will be most beneficial for me.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.3Sri-Bhagavan uvaca Loke smin dvi-vidha nistha pura prokta mayanagha “The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O sinless Arjuna, I have already explained that there are two classes of men who try to realize the self. Some are inclined to understand it by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others by devotional service.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.4Na karmanam anarambhan naishkarmyam purusho snute “Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.5Na hi kascit ksanam api jatu tisthaty akarma-krt “Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.6Karmendriyani samyamya ya aste manasa smaran “One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.7Yas tv indriyani manasa niyamyarabhate arjuna “On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga [in Krishna consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.8Niyatam kuru karma tvam karma jyayo hy akarmanah “Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain ones physical body without work.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.9Yajnarthat karmano nyatra loko yam karma-bandhanah “Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.10Saha-yajnah prajah srstva purovaca prajapatih “In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Vishnu, and blessed them by saying, Be thou happy by this yajna [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.11Devan bhavayatanena te deva bhavayantu vah “The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you, and thus, by cooperation between men and demigods, prosperity will reign for all.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.12Istan bhogan hi vo deva dasyante yajna-bhavitah “In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajna [sacrifice], will supply all necessities to you. But he who enjoys such gifts without offering them to the demigods in return is certainly a thief.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.13Yajna-sistasinah santo mucyante sarva-kilbisaih “The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.14Annad bhavanti bhutani parjanyad anna-sambhavah “All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.15Karma brahmodbhavam viddhi brahmakshara-samudbhavam “Regulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.16Evam pravartitam cakram nanuvartayatiha yah “My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin. Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.17Yas tv atma-ratir eva syad atma-trptas ca manavah “But for one who takes pleasure in the self, whose human life is one of self-realization, and who is satisfied in the self only, fully satiated for him there is no duty.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.18Naiva tasya krtenartho nakrteneha kascana “A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.19Tasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samacara “Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.20Karmanaiva hi samsiddhim asthita janakadayah “Kings such as Janaka attained perfection solely by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.21Yad yad acarati sresthas tat tad evetaro janah “Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.22Na me parthasti kartavyam trisu lokesu kincana “O son of Pritha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.23Yadi hy aham na varteyam jatu karmany atandritah “For if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O Partha, certainly all men would follow My path.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.24Utsideyur ime loka na kuryam karma ced aham “If I did not perform prescribed duties, all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would be the cause of creating unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all living beings.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.25Saktah karmany avidvamso yatha kurvanti bharata “As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, the learned may similarly act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.26Na buddhi-bhedam janayed ajnanam karma-sanginam “So as not to disrupt the minds of ignorant men attached to the fruitive results of prescribed duties, a learned person should not induce them to stop work. Rather, by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts of activities [for the gradual development of Krishna consciousness.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.27Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah “The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.28Tattva-vit tu maha-baho guna-karma-vibhagayoh “One who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth, O mighty-armed, does not engage himself in the senses and sense gratification, knowing well the differences between work in devotion and work for fruitive results.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.29Prakriter guna-sammudhah sajjante guna-karmasu “Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage themselves in material activities and become attached. But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to the performers lack of knowledge.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.30Mayi sarvani karmani sannyasyadhyatma-cetasa “Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.31Ye me matam idam nityam anutishthanti manavah “Those persons who execute their duties according to My injunctions and who follow this teaching faithfully, without envy, become free from the bondage of fruitive actions.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.32Ye tv etad abhyasuyanto nanutishthanti me matam “But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not follow them are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befooled, and ruined in their endeavors for perfection.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.33Sadrsam cestate svasyah prakriter jnanavan api “Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows the nature he has acquired from the three modes. What can repression accomplish?” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.34Indriyasyendriyasyarthe raga-dvesau vyavasthitau “There are principles to regulate attachment and aversion pertaining to the senses and their objects. One should not come under the control of such attachment and aversion, because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.35Sreyan sva-dharmo vigunah para-dharmat sv-anusthitat “It is far better to discharge ones prescribed duties, even though faultily, than anothers duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing ones own duty is better than engaging in anothers duties, for to follow anothers path is dangerous.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.36
Atha kena prayukto yam papam carati purushah “Arjuna said: O descendant of Vrishni, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.37Sri-Bhagavan uvaca Kama esa krodha esa rajo-guna-samudbhavah “The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.38Dhumenavriyate vahnir yathadarso malena ca “As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is similarly covered by different degrees of this lust.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.39Avrtam jnanam etena jnanino nitya-vairina “Thus the wise living entitys pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.40Indriyani mano buddhir asyadhisthanam ucyate “The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust. Through them lust covers the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.41Tasmat tvam indriyany adau niyamya bharatarsabha “Therefore, O Arjuna, best of the Bharatas, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin [lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.42Indriyani parany ahur indriyebhyah param manah “The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.” |
Bhagavad Gita 3.43Evam buddheh param buddhva samstabhyatmanam atmana “Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence [Krishna consciousness] and thus by spiritual strength conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust.” |
