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Bhagwad Gita (English) | Chapter 3 | Verse 30

Chapter 3, Verse 30

Karma-yoga

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

मयि सर्वाणि कर्माणि संन्यस्याध्यात्मचेतसा।
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।।3.30।।


mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi sannyasyādhyātma-chetasā
nirāśhīr nirmamo bhūtvā yudhyasva vigata-jvaraḥ

Meaning of each word

mayi — unto me;
sarvāṇi — all;
karmāṇi — works;
sannyasya — renouncing completely;
adhyātma-chetasā — with the thoughts resting on God;
nirāśhīḥ — free from hankering for the results of the actions;
nirmamaḥ — without ownership;
bhūtvā — so being;
yudhyasva — fight;
vigata-jvaraḥ — without mental fever

Interpretation

In this verse, Krishna is giving important advice to Arjuna about how to live and act in life, especially when faced with tough situations like battle. Let’s break it down into simpler parts:

1. **Surrendering All Works**: Krishna tells Arjuna to give all his actions or work to Him. This means that Arjuna should focus on performing his duties but understand that the results or outcomes belong to Krishna, not to him personally. Instead of thinking ‘I did this’, he should think ‘I am doing this for Krishna’.

2. **Mind Intent on Krishna**: Arjuna should keep his thoughts and focus directed towards Krishna while he does his work. This is like how a soldier is focused on their commander during battle, ready to follow orders. By keeping his mind on Krishna, Arjuna will find strength and guidance.

3. **Without Desire for Gain**: Krishna advises Arjuna to act without hoping for personal rewards. This means doing his duty just for the sake of the duty itself, without selfishness or the wish to gain honor, money, or success from it. Imagine someone volunteering for a community event without expecting any praise or payment; they do it simply because it’s the right thing to do.

4. **Free from Egoism and Lethargy**: Here, Krishna emphasizes that Arjuna should not be full of pride (ego) about what he is doing nor should he feel lazy (lethargy) about it. He must approach his duty with humility and motivation. Think of it like a team sport; if everyone on the team thinks 'I am the best' or is too lazy to play, the team suffers. They need to work together selflessly and energetically.

5. **Krishna as the Commander**: Krishna positions Himself as Arjuna's commander. In this way of thinking, Arjuna doesn't need to question or doubt what he’s supposed to do; he just needs to listen, trust, and act. For example, if an athlete trusts their coach's decisions completely, they perform better because they follow the guidance without hesitation.

6. **True Ownership**: Krishna explains that nothing really belongs to anyone; it all belongs to Him. Just like a cashier handles money for a shop but doesn’t think that it’s theirs, Arjuna should understand that he is executing duties that belong to a higher purpose, not to boost his ego or status. This is important because when you realize that everything is part of a bigger picture, you can act more selflessly.

7. **Setting Aside Hesitation**: Krishna encourages Arjuna to put aside any doubts or fears, especially those that come from family ties or personal relationships. Sometimes, people hesitate to take difficult actions because they’re worried about what others may think. Krishna reassures Arjuna that these thoughts shouldn’t hinder his duty as a warrior.

8. **Being Free from Agitation**: Krishna describes Arjuna as 'vigata-jvara', meaning free from troubled thoughts or worries. When Arjuna approaches his duty without attachment to the results, he’ll find clarity and peace. When you focus on doing your best without overthinking the outcome, stress reduces, and you can perform better.

In summary, this verse teaches us to perform our duties sincerely with the right mindset. When we focus on our responsibilities, keep our hearts directed towards a higher purpose, avoid selfish thoughts, and act with energy and clarity, we not only fulfill our roles effectively but also find peace and happiness in our actions. It’s about letting go of the idea of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ and working as a part of a bigger team under a higher guidance.

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 23
For, if I did not engage in work, O Partha, certainly all men would follow My path.
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 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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