Bhagwad Gita (English) | Chapter 3 | Verse 23

Chapter 3, Verse 23

Karma-yoga

For, if I did not engage in work, O Partha, certainly all men would follow My path.

Verse

यदि ह्यहं न वर्तेयं जातु कर्मण्यतन्द्रितः।
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः।।3.23।।

yadi hyahaṁ na varteyaṁ jātu karmaṇyatandritaḥ
mama vartmānuvartante manuṣhyāḥ pārtha sarvaśhaḥ

Meaning of each word

yadi — if;
hi — certainly;
aham — I;
na — not;
varteyam — thus engage;
jātu — ever;
karmaṇi — in the performance of prescribed duties;
atandritaḥ — carefully;
mama — my;
vartma — path;
anuvartante — follow;
manuṣhyāḥ — all men;
pārtha — Arjun, the son of Pritha;
sarvaśhaḥ — in all respects

Interpretation

In this verse, Lord Krishna is talking to Arjuna, reminding him of the importance of taking action and setting an example. He says that if He, being a divine figure, chose not to work or fulfill His duties, then people would see that as a reason to stop working themselves.

This is significant because it highlights the idea that everyone in society, from the highest to the lowest, has a role to play. By working and following the right path, Krishna is setting an example for all mankind. He is teaching that even a person like Him, who is so powerful and beyond the ordinary rules, still chooses to follow the regulations and duties expected in life.

The purpose of these regulations or duties is to create order and harmony in society. They help people understand what is expected of them and guide them toward spiritual growth. For ordinary people, these rules are essential. They provide a framework for living a good life and making sure that society operates smoothly. If a leader or a prominent figure, like Krishna, didn't follow these rules, many would think that it is acceptable to ignore their responsibilities too.

Moreover, Krishna's engagement in duties not only shows his dedication but also reinforces the idea that no matter how elevated someone may be, performing one's responsibilities is important. He balanced his spiritual role and his duties as a householder, showing us that we can also maintain our personal responsibilities while striving for spiritual growth.

In essence, the verse emphasizes the significance of work and duty in life. It teaches us that by working diligently and following the path laid out by those who are wise, we can contribute to our community and enhance our own spiritual journey.

Other Verses of Chapter 3

Verse 1
Arjuna said: O Janardana, O Kesava, why do You urge me to engage in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?

Verse 2
My intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively what is most beneficial for me.

Verse 3
The Blessed Lord said: O sinless Arjuna, I have already explained that there are two classes of men who realize the Self. Some are inclined to understand Him by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others are inclined to know Him by devotional work.

Verse 4
Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection.

Verse 5
All men are forced to act helplessly according to the impulses born of the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.

Verse 6
One who restrains the senses and organs of action, but whose mind dwells on sense objects, certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.

Verse 7
On the other hand, he who controls the senses by the mind and engages his active organs in works of devotion, without attachment, is by far superior.

Verse 8
Perform your prescribed duty, for action is better than inaction. A man cannot even maintain his physical body without work.

Verse 9
Work done as a sacrifice for Visnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage.

Verse 10
In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Visnu, and blessed them by saying, "Be thou happy by this yajna [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you all desirable things."

Verse 11
The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you; thus nourishing one another, there will reign general prosperity for all.

Verse 12
In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajna [sacrifice], supply all necessities to man. But he who enjoys these gifts, without offering them to the demigods in return, is certainly a thief.

Verse 13
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.

Verse 14
All living beings need food to survive, and this food comes from grains that grow when it rains. Rains happen because of sacrifices made to the divine, and these sacrifices come from doing one's duties properly.

Verse 15
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.

Verse 16
My dear Arjuna, a man who does not follow this prescribed Vedic system of sacrifice certainly leads a life of sin, for a person delighting only in the senses lives in vain.

Verse 17
One who is, however, taking pleasure in the self, who is illumined in the self, who rejoices in and is satisfied with the self only, fully satiated - for him there is no duty.

Verse 18
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.

Verse 19
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.

Verse 20
Even kings like Janaka and others attained the perfectional stage by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work.

Verse 21
Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.

Verse 22
O son of Prtha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I need to obtain anything, and yet I am engaged in work.

Verse 24
If I stopped working, then all these worlds would be destroyed. I would also be responsible for creating unwanted people, and I would harm the peace of all living beings.

Verse 25
As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, similarly the learned may also act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.

Verse 26
Let not the wise disrupt the minds of the ignorant who are attached to fruitive action. They should not be encouraged to refrain from work, but to engage in work in the spirit of devotion.

Verse 27
The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.

Verse 28
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.

Verse 29
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.

Verse 30
Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with mind intent on Me, and without desire for gain and free from egoism and lethargy, fight.

Verse 31
One who executes his duties according to My injunctions and who follows this teaching faithfully, without envy, becomes free from the bondage of fruitive actions.

Verse 32
But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not practice them regularly, are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befooled, and doomed to ignorance and bondage.

Verse 33
Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows his nature. What can repression accomplish?

Verse 34
Attraction and repulsion for sense objects are felt by embodied beings, but one should not fall under the control of senses and sense objects because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization.

Verse 35
It is far better to discharge one's prescribed duties, even though they may be faulty, than another's duties. Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous.

Verse 36
Arjuna said: O descendant of Vrsni, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?

Verse 37
The Blessed Lord said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material modes of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring, sinful enemy of this world.

Verse 38
As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, similarly, the living entity is covered by different degrees of this lust.

Verse 39
Thus, a man's pure consciousness is covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.

Verse 40
The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust, which veils the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.

Verse 41
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.

Verse 42
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.

Verse 43
Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to material senses, mind and intelligence, one should control the lower self by the higher self and thus - by spiritual strength - conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust.

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