Karma-yoga

arjuna uvāca jyāyasī cet karmaṇas te matā buddhir janārdana tat kiṁ karmaṇi ghore māṁ niyojayasi keśava

Arjuna said: O Janārdana, O Keśava, why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?

vyāmiśreṇeva vākyena buddhiṁ mohayasīva me tad ekaṁ vada niścitya yena śreyo ’ham āpnuyām

My intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively which will be most beneficial for me.

śrī-bhagavān uvāca loke ’smin dvi-vidhā niṣṭhā purā proktā mayānagha jñāna-yogena sāṅkhyānāṁ karma-yogena yoginām

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.

na karmaṇām anārambhān naiṣkarmyaṁ puruṣo ’śnute na ca sannyasanād eva siddhiṁ samadhigacchati

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

na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api jātu tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt kāryate hy avaśaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ

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.

karmendriyāṇi saṁyamya ya āste manasā smaran indriyārthān vimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate

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

yas tv indriyāṇi manasā niyamyārabhate ’rjuna karmendriyaiḥ karma-yogam asaktaḥ sa viśiṣyate

On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga [in Kṛṣṇa consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior.

niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ śarīra-yātrāpi ca te na prasidhyed akarmaṇaḥ

Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain one’s physical body without work.

yajñārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ tad-arthaṁ karma kaunteya mukta-saṅgaḥ samācara

Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed; otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage.

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā purovāca prajāpatiḥ anena prasaviṣyadhvam eṣa vo ’stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk

In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṇu, and blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.”

devān bhāvayatānena te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ parasparaṁ bhāvayantaḥ śreyaḥ param avāpsyatha

The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you, and thus, by cooperation between men and demigods, prosperity will reign for all.

iṣṭān bhogān hi vo devā dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ tair dattān apradāyaibhyo yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ

In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajña [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.

yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt

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.

annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ yajñād bhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ

All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajña [sacrifice], and yajña is born of prescribed duties.

karma brahmodbhavaṁ viddhi brahmākṣara-samudbhavam tasmāt sarva-gataṁ brahma nityaṁ yajñe pratiṣṭhitam

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.

evaṁ pravartitaṁ cakraṁ nānuvartayatīha yaḥ aghāyur indriyārāmo moghaṁ pārtha sa jīvati

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.

yas tv ātma-ratir eva syād ātma-tṛptaś ca mānavaḥ ātmany eva ca santuṣṭas tasya kāryaṁ na vidyate

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.

naiva tasya kṛtenārtho nākṛteneha kaścana na cāsya sarva-bhūteṣu kaścid artha-vyapāśrayaḥ

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.

tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ kāryaṁ karma samācara asakto hy ācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ

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.

karmaṇaiva hi saṁsiddhim āsthitā janakādayaḥ loka-saṅgraham evāpi sampaśyan kartum arhasi

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.

yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute lokas tad anuvartate

Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.

na me pārthāsti kartavyaṁ triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana nānavāptam avāptavyaṁ varta eva ca karmaṇi

O son of Pṛthā, 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.

yadi hy ahaṁ na varteyaṁ jātu karmaṇy atandritaḥ mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

For if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow My path.

utsīdeyur ime lokā na kuryāṁ karma ced aham saṅkarasya ca kartā syām upahanyām imāḥ prajāḥ

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.

saktāḥ karmaṇy avidvāṁso yathā kurvanti bhārata kuryād vidvāṁs tathāsaktaś cikīrṣur loka-saṅgraham

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.

na buddhi-bhedaṁ janayed ajñānāṁ karma-saṅginām joṣayet sarva-karmāṇi vidvān yuktaḥ samācaran

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 Kṛṣṇa consciousness].

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate

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.

tattva-vit tu mahā-bāho guṇa-karma-vibhāgayoḥ guṇā guṇeṣu vartanta iti matvā na sajjate

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.

prakṛter guṇa-sammūḍhāḥ sajjante guṇa-karmasu tān akṛtsna-vido mandān kṛtsna-vin na vicālayet

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.

mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi sannyasyādhyātma-cetasā nirāśīr nirmamo bhūtvā yudhyasva vigata-jvaraḥ

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.

ye me matam idaṁ nityam anutiṣṭhanti mānavāḥ śraddhāvanto ’nasūyanto mucyante te ’pi karmabhiḥ

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.

ye tv etad abhyasūyanto nānutiṣṭhanti me matam sarva-jñāna-vimūḍhāṁs tān viddhi naṣṭān acetasaḥ

But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not follow them regularly are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befooled, and ruined in their endeavors for perfection.

sadṛśaṁ ceṣṭate svasyāḥ prakṛter jñānavān api prakṛtiṁ yānti bhūtāni nigrahaḥ kiṁ kariṣyati

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?

indriyasyendriyasyārthe rāga-dveṣau vyavasthitau tayor na vaśam āgacchet tau hy asya paripanthinau

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.

śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt sv-anuṣṭhitāt sva-dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ

It is far better to discharge one’s prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another’s duties perfectly. 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.

arjuna uvāca atha kena prayukto ’yaṁ pāpaṁ carati pūruṣaḥ anicchann api vārṣṇeya balād iva niyojitaḥ

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

śrī-bhagavān uvāca kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ mahāśano mahā-pāpmā viddhy enam iha vairiṇam

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.

dhūmenāvriyate vahnir yathādarśo malena ca yatholbenāvṛto garbhas tathā tenedam āvṛtam

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.

āvṛtaṁ jñānam etena jñānino nitya-vairiṇā kāma-rūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca

Thus the wise living entity’s pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.

indriyāṇi mano buddhir asyādhiṣṭhānam ucyate etair vimohayaty eṣa jñānam āvṛtya dehinam

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.

tasmāt tvam indriyāṇy ādau niyamya bharatarṣabha pāpmānaṁ prajahi hy enaṁ jñāna-vijñāna-nāśanam

Therefore, O Arjuna, best of th3e Bhāratas, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin [lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization.

indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ manasas tu parā buddhir yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ

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.

evaṁ buddheḥ paraṁ buddhvā saṁstabhyātmānam ātmanā jahi śatruṁ mahā-bāho kāma-rūpaṁ durāsadam

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 [Kṛṣṇa consciousness] and thus – by spiritual strength – conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust.