Sacred Scripture / Chapter 3
43 published verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita (कर्मयोगः). The Yoga of Action and Selfless Service. Chapter 3 establishes the profound philosophy of Karma Yoga: action performed as worship without selfish attachment or desire for rewards. Krishna explains why mere inaction is impossible, introduces Yajna (the sacred cycle of cosmic reciprocity), urges leaders to set an exemplary standard for society (Lokasamgraha), emphasizes adherence to one’s own innate duty (Swadharma), and teaches how to conquer the twin inner enemies — Kama (desire) and Krodha (anger) — through spiritual mastery.
Explore original Sanskrit, word-by-word padartha, trilingual translations, commentary, reflections, and modern life applications.
43 verses
Verse 3.1
jyāyasī cetkarmaṇaste matā buddhirjanārdana | tatkiṃ karmaṇi ghore māṃ niyojayasi keśava ||1||
Arjuna said: Janardana, if you regard understanding as higher than action, why do you direct me toward this terrible action, Keshava?
Verse 3.2
vyāmiśreṇeva vākyena buddhiṃ mohayasīva me | tadekaṃ vada niścitya yena śreyo'hamāpnuyām ||2||
Your words seem mixed and seem to confuse my understanding. Tell me one definite course by which I may attain the highest good.
Verse 3.3
loke'smindvividhā niṣṭhā purā proktā mayānagha | jñānayogena sāṃkhyānāṃ karmayogena yoginām ||3||
The Lord said: Blameless one, I previously taught two commitments in this world: the yoga of knowledge for those devoted to discernment, and the yoga of action for practitioners of yoga.
Verse 3.4
na karmaṇāmanārambhānnaiṣkarmyaṃ puruṣo'śnute | na ca saṃnyasanādeva siddhiṃ samadhigacchati ||4||
A person does not attain freedom from action merely by never beginning actions, nor reach fulfillment through renunciation alone.
Verse 3.5
na hi kaścitkṣaṇamapi jātu tiṣṭhatyakarmakṛt | kāryate hyavaśaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛtijairguṇaiḥ ||5||
No one can remain even for a moment without acting. Everyone is driven to action, often unwillingly, by the qualities born of nature.
Verse 3.6
karmendriyāṇi saṃyamya ya āste manasā smaran | indriyārthānvimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate ||6||
One who restrains the organs of action but mentally dwells on sense objects is confused and is called a pretender in conduct.
Verse 3.7
yastvindriyāṇi manasā niyamyārabhate'rjuna | karmendriyaiḥ karmayogamasaktaḥ sa viśiṣyate ||7||
But one who governs the senses through the mind and undertakes the yoga of action with the organs of action, without attachment, excels, Arjuna.
Verse 3.8
niyataṃ kuru karma tvaṃ karma jyāyo hyakarmaṇaḥ | śarīrayātrāpi ca te na prasiddhyedakarmaṇaḥ ||8||
Perform the action that is yours to do; action is better than inaction. Even maintaining your body would not be possible without action.
Verse 3.9
yajñārthātkarmaṇo'nyatra loko'yaṃ karmabandhanaḥ | tadarthaṃ karma kaunteya muktasaṅgaḥ samācara ||9||
Action other than that performed for sacrifice binds this world. Kunti's son, act for that purpose, carrying out your work free from attachment.
Verse 3.10
sahayajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā purovāca prajāpatiḥ | anena prasaviṣyadhvameṣa vo'stviṣṭakāmadhuk ||10||
Having created beings together with sacrifice in the beginning, Prajapati said: Through this you shall flourish; let it fulfill your cherished desires.
Verse 3.11
devānbhāvayatānena te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ | parasparaṃ bhāvayantaḥ śreyaḥ paramavāpsyatha ||11||
Nourish the devas through this sacrifice, and let those devas nourish you. By nourishing one another you shall attain the highest good.
Verse 3.12
iṣṭānbhogānhi vo devā dāsyante yajñabhāvitāḥ | tairdattānapradāyaibhyo yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ ||12||
Nourished by sacrifice, the devas will give you desired enjoyments. One who enjoys their gifts without offering back to them is indeed a thief.
Verse 3.13
yajñaśiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarvakilbiṣaiḥ | bhuñjate te tvaghaṃ pāpā ye pacantyātmakāraṇāt ||13||
The good who eat what remains after sacrifice are freed from all wrongdoing. Those who cook only for themselves eat the burden of wrongdoing.
Verse 3.14
annādbhavanti bhūtāni parjanyādannasambhavaḥ | yajñādbhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karmasamudbhavaḥ ||14||
Beings arise from food; food comes from rain; rain arises from sacrifice; and sacrifice arises from action.
Verse 3.15
karma brahmodbhavaṃ viddhi brahmākṣarasamudbhavam | tasmātsarvagataṃ brahma nityaṃ yajñe pratiṣṭhitam ||15||
Understand action as having Brahman as its source, and Brahman as having the Imperishable as its source. Thus all-pervading Brahman continually abides in sacrifice.
Verse 3.16
evaṃ pravartitaṃ cakraṃ nānuvartayatīha yaḥ | aghāyurindriyārāmo moghaṃ pārtha sa jīvati ||16||
Partha, one who does not participate in the cycle thus set in motion, living wrongly and delighting only in the senses, lives in vain.
Verse 3.17
yastvātmaratireva syādātmatṛptaśca mānavaḥ | ātmanyeva ca santuṣṭastasya kāryaṃ na vidyate ||17||
But one who delights in the self, is fulfilled by the self, and is content in the self alone has no obligatory task.
Verse 3.18
naiva tasya kṛtenārtho nākṛteneha kaścana | na cāsya sarvabhūteṣu kaścidarthavyapāśrayaḥ ||18||
Such a person has no gain to secure through action or through inaction here, and depends on no being for the fulfillment of that purpose.
Verse 3.19
tasmādasaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara | asakto hyācarankarma parāmāpnoti puruṣaḥ ||19||
Therefore, continually perform the action that ought to be done, without attachment. By acting without attachment, a person reaches the highest.
Verse 3.20
karmaṇaiva hi saṃsiddhimāsthitā janakādayaḥ | lokasaṅgrahamevāpi sampaśyankartumarhasi ||20||
Janaka and others attained fulfillment through action itself. You should act also with regard to sustaining the welfare and cohesion of the world.
Verse 3.21
yadyadācarati śreṣṭhastattadevetaro janaḥ | sa yatpramāṇaṃ kurute lokastadanuvartate ||21||
Whatever an exemplary person does, others do likewise. Whatever standard that person establishes, the world follows.
Verse 3.22
na me pārthāsti kartavyaṃ triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana | nānavāptamavāptavyaṃ varta eva ca karmaṇi ||22||
Partha, there is nothing I must do in the three worlds, nothing unacquired that I must acquire. Yet I continue in action.
Verse 3.23
yadi hyahaṃ na varteyaṃ jātu karmaṇyatandritaḥ | mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ ||23||
For if I did not remain diligently engaged in action, Partha, people would follow my course in every way.
Verse 3.24
utsīdeyurime lokā na kuryāṃ karma cedaham | saṅkarasya ca kartā syāmupahanyāmimāḥ prajāḥ ||24||
If I did not act, these worlds would fall into ruin. I would become the cause of disorder and bring harm to these beings.
Verse 3.25
saktāḥ karmaṇyavidvāṃso yathā kurvanti bhārata | kuryādvidvāṃstathāsaktaścikīrṣurlokasaṅgraham ||25||
As those without understanding act with attachment, Bharata, so the person of understanding should act without attachment, wishing to sustain the world.
Verse 3.26
na buddhibhedaṃ janayedajñānāṃ karmasaṅginām | joṣayetsarvakarmāṇi vidvānyuktaḥ samācaran ||26||
The wise should not unsettle the understanding of those who lack knowledge and are attached to work. Acting steadily themselves, they should encourage others to engage in all appropriate actions.
Verse 3.27
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ | ahaṅkāravimūḍhātmā kartāhamiti manyate ||27||
Actions are carried out in every way by the gunas of nature. One whose understanding is confused by ego thinks, “I am the doer.”
Verse 3.28
tattvavittu mahābāho guṇakarmavibhāgayoḥ | guṇā guṇeṣu vartanta iti matvā na sajjate ||28||
But one who knows the truth of the distinctions between gunas and actions, mighty-armed one, understands that gunas operate among gunas and does not become attached.
Verse 3.29
prakṛterguṇasammūḍhāḥ sajjante guṇakarmasu | tānakṛtsnavido mandānkṛtsnavinna vicālayet ||29||
Those confused by nature's gunas become attached to activities of the gunas. One with fuller understanding should not unsettle those whose understanding is partial and slow to develop.
Verse 3.30
mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi saṃnyasyādhyātmacetasā | nirāśīrnirmamo bhūtvā yudhyasva vigatajvaraḥ ||30||
Entrust all actions to me, with your awareness turned toward the self. Free from craving and possessiveness, fight without the fever of distress.
Verse 3.31
ye me matamidaṃ nityamanutiṣṭhanti mānavāḥ | śraddhāvanto'nasūyanto mucyante te'pi karmabhiḥ ||31||
People who continually live by this teaching of mine, with faith and without fault-finding resentment, are also freed from the bondage of actions.
Verse 3.32
ye tvetadabhyasūyanto nānutiṣṭhanti me matam | sarvajñānavimūḍhāṃstānviddhi naṣṭānacetasaḥ ||32||
But those who reject this teaching with resentful fault-finding and do not practice it are confused concerning all knowledge; know them as undiscerning and lost.
Verse 3.33
sadṛśaṃ ceṣṭate svasyāḥ prakṛterjñānavānapi | prakṛtiṃ yānti bhūtāni nigrahaḥ kiṃ kariṣyati ||33||
Even a knowledgeable person acts in accordance with their own nature. Beings follow nature; what can mere suppression accomplish?
Verse 3.34
indriyasyendriyasyārthe rāgadveṣau vyavasthitau | tayorna vaśamāgacchettau hyasya paripanthinau ||34||
Attraction and aversion are established in the relation of each sense to its objects. Do not come under their control, for they obstruct the path.
Verse 3.35
śreyānsvadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmātsvanuṣṭhitāt | svadharme nidhanaṃ śreyaḥ paradharmo bhayāvahaḥ ||35||
One's own duty, even performed imperfectly, is better than another's duty performed well. Death in one's own duty is better; another's duty brings danger.
Verse 3.36
atha kena prayukto'yaṃ pāpaṃ carati pūruṣaḥ | anicchannapi vārṣṇeya balādiva niyojitaḥ ||36||
Arjuna said: Then what drives a person to commit wrongdoing, even against their wish, Varshneya, as though compelled by force?
Verse 3.37
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajoguṇasamudbhavaḥ | mahāśano mahāpāpmā viddhyenamiha vairiṇam ||37||
The Lord said: It is desire; it is anger, arising from rajas, endlessly consuming and greatly harmful. Know this as the enemy here.
Verse 3.38
dhūmenāvriyate vahniryathādarśo malena ca | yatholbenāvṛto garbhastathā tenedamāvṛtam ||38||
As fire is veiled by smoke, a mirror by dirt, and an embryo by its enclosing membrane, so this understanding is veiled by desire.
Verse 3.39
āvṛtaṃ jñānametena jñānino nityavairiṇā | kāmarūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca ||39||
Kunti's son, knowledge is covered by this persistent enemy of the discerning, which takes the form of desire, an insatiable fire.
Verse 3.40
indriyāṇi mano buddhirasyādhiṣṭhānamucyate | etairvimohayatyeṣa jñānamāvṛtya dehinam ||40||
The senses, mind, and understanding are said to be its dwelling places. Through them desire covers knowledge and confuses the embodied person.
Verse 3.41
tasmāttvamindriyāṇyādau niyamya bharatarṣabha | pāpmānaṃ prajahi hyenaṃ jñānavijñānanāśanam ||41||
Therefore, best of Bharatas, first govern the senses and overcome this harmful force that destroys knowledge and realized understanding.
Verse 3.42
indriyāṇi parāṇyāhurindriyebhyaḥ paraṃ manaḥ | manasastu parā buddhiryo buddheḥ paratastu saḥ ||42||
The senses are described as higher; mind stands above the senses, understanding above mind, and beyond understanding is the self.
Verse 3.43
evaṃ buddheḥ paraṃ buddhvā saṃstabhyātmānamātmanā | jahi śatruṃ mahābāho kāmarūpaṃ durāsadam ||43||
Knowing the self to be beyond understanding, steady yourself through the self, mighty-armed one, and overcome the formidable enemy that takes the form of desire.
