Chapter 3: Karm Yog – Path of Selfless Service

Verses

1. 3.1 — Arjuna said: If You consider knowledge superior to action, O Janardana, then why do You urge me to engage in…
2. 3.2 — You seem to confuse my understanding with these apparently conflicting words; therefore, tell me decisively…
3. 3.3 — The Blessed Lord said: O sinless one, I have already explained that in this world there is a twofold path of…
4. 3.4 — Not by abstaining from work does one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by mere renunciation does one attain…
5. 3.5 — Verily, no one can remain for even a moment without performing action; for everyone is driven to act…
6. 3.6 — The person who restrains the organs of action but continues to dwell on sense-objects in their mind is of…
7. 3.7 — But he who controls the senses by the mind, O Arjuna, and engages his organs of action in the performance of…
8. 3.8 — Perform your prescribed duty, for action is superior to inaction; by inaction, even the maintenance of your…
9. 3.9 — Work done as a sacrifice (yajna) does not bind the soul; all other actions lead to karmic entanglement.…
10. 3.10 — In the beginning, the Creator fashioned all beings along with the path of sacrifice and declared, 'Through…
11. 3.11 — By this, you shall nourish the gods, and may those gods nourish you; thus, mutually nourishing one another,…
12. 3.12 — The celestial beings, nourished by sacrifice, will grant you your desired enjoyments. He who enjoys the…
13. 3.13 — The righteous who eat the food offered in sacrifice are freed from all sins, but those sinful people who…
14. 3.14 — All living beings are sustained by food; food is produced by rain; rain is generated by sacrifice; and…
15. 3.15 — Know that all action originates from the Vedas (Brahma), and the Vedas originate from the Imperishable…
16. 3.16 — He who does not follow the cycle thus set in motion, whose life is sinful, and who revels in the senses,…
17. 3.17 — But for one who takes delight in the Self, who is satisfied in the Self, and who is content only in the…
18. 3.18 — For the self-realized soul, there is no purpose in performing actions, nor is there any gain in abstaining…
19. 3.19 — Therefore, always perform your prescribed duty without attachment, for by performing action without…
20. 3.20 — Kings like Janaka and others attained perfection solely through action; considering the duty of guiding the…
21. 3.21 — Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps; whatever standard he sets…
22. 3.22 — O Partha, there is no work in all the three worlds that I am compelled to do, nor is there anything I have…
23. 3.23 — For if I did not engage in action, ever untiring, O Partha, men would follow My path in every way.
24. 3.24 — If I were to cease from action, these worlds would perish; I would be the cause of social chaos and the…
25. 3.25 — Just as the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to the results, O Bharata, so too should the wise…
26. 3.26 — The wise should not unsettle the minds of those attached to the fruits of action; rather, they should…
27. 3.27 — All actions are performed by the qualities of nature (gunas); but the person whose mind is deluded by ego…
28. 3.28 — But the one who knows the truth of the divisions of the Gunas and their functions, O mighty-armed one,…
29. 3.29 — Those who are deluded by the modes of material nature become attached to the activities of these modes. The…
30. 3.30 — Surrendering all actions unto Me, with your mind focused on the Higher Self, free from desire and ego, and…
31. 3.31 — Those who always practice this teaching of Mine with faith and without malice are also liberated from the…
32. 3.32 — But those who find fault with My teaching and do not follow it, being devoid of all knowledge and lacking…
33. 3.33 — Even a wise man acts according to his own nature; all living beings follow their nature. What can restraint…
34. 3.34 — Attachment and aversion to the objects of the senses reside in the senses; let no one come under their…
35. 3.35 — It is better to perform one's own duty imperfectly than to perform the duty of another well. It is better to…
36. 3.36 — Arjuna said: But by what is a person impelled to commit sin, even against his will, as if compelled by…
37. 3.37 — The Blessed Lord said: It is desire alone, born of the mode of passion, which later manifests as anger; know…
38. 3.38 — Just as fire is covered by smoke, a mirror by dust, and an embryo by the womb, in the same way, knowledge is…
39. 3.39 — O Arjuna, wisdom is covered by this constant enemy of the wise, in the form of desire, which is like an…
40. 3.40 — The senses, the mind, and the intellect are said to be its seat; through these, it deludes the embodied one,…
41. 3.41 — Therefore, O best of the Bharatas, control your senses first and then kill this sinful thing, which destroys…
42. 3.42 — The senses are said to be superior to the body; the mind is superior to the senses; the intellect is…
43. 3.43 — Thus, knowing the Self to be superior to the intellect and restraining the lower self by the higher Self, O…