Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3: The Yoga of Action

All 43 verses of Chapter 3 of the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit, with English translation, per-word meanings, and Adi Shankara's commentary.

• Verse 3.1 — If it be thought by Thee that knowledge is superior to action, O Janārdana, why then dost…
• Verse 3.2 — With an apparently perplexing speech, Thou confusest as it were my understanding. Tell me…
• Verse 3.3 — In this world a twofold path was taught by Me at first, O sinless one: that of the…
• Verse 3.4 — Not by abstaining from action does man win actionlessness, nor by mere renunciation does…
• Verse 3.5 — None, verily, even for an instant, ever remains doing no action; for every one is driven…
• Verse 3.6 — He who, restraining the organs of action, sits thinking in his mind of the objects of the…
• Verse 3.7 — But whoso, restraining the senses by mind, O Arjuna, engages in Karma-Yoga, unattached…
• Verse 3.8 — Do thou perform (thy) bounden duty; for, action is superior to inaction. And even the…
• Verse 3.9 — Except in the case of action for Sacrifice's sake, this world is action-bound. Action for…
• Verse 3.10 — Having first created mankind together with sacrifices, the Prajāpati said, "By this shall…
• Verse 3.11 — With this do ye nourish the Gods, and the Gods shall nourish you: thus nourishing one…
• Verse 3.12 — "Nourished by the sacrifice, the Gods shall indeed bestow on you the enjoyments ye…
• Verse 3.13 — The righteous, who eat the remnant of the sacrifice, are freed from all sins; but sin do…
• Verse 3.14 — From food creatures come forth; the production of food is from rain; rain comes forth…
• Verse 3.15 — From food creatures come forth; the production of food is from rain; rain comes forth…
• Verse 3.16 — He who follows not here the wheel thus set in motion, who is of sinful life, indulging in…
• Verse 3.17 — That man, verily, who rejoices only in the Self, who is satisfied with the Self, who is…
• Verse 3.18 — For him, there is here no interest whatever in what is done or what is not done. Nor is…
• Verse 3.19 — Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform the action which should be done; for…
• Verse 3.20 — By action only, indeed, did Janaka and others try to attain perfection. Even with a view…
• Verse 3.21 — Whatsoever a great man does, that alone the other men do; whatever he sets up as the…
• Verse 3.22 — I have nothing whatsoever to achieve in the three worlds, O son of Pṛthā, nor is there…
• Verse 3.23 — For, should I not ever engage in action, unwearied, men would in all matters follow My…
• Verse 3.24 — These worlds would be ruined if I should not perform action; I should be the cause of…
• Verse 3.25 — As ignorant men act attached to work, O Bhārata, so should the wise man act, unattached…
• Verse 3.26 — Let no wise man cause unsettlement in the minds of the ignorant who are attached to…
• Verse 3.27 — Actions are wrought in all cases by the energies of Nature. He whose mind is deluded by…
• Verse 3.28 — But he who knows the truth, O mighty-armed, about the divisions of the energies and…
• Verse 3.29 — Those deluded by the energies of Nature are attached to the functions of the energies. He…
• Verse 3.30 — Renouncing all actions in Me, with thy thought resting on the Self, being free from hope…
• Verse 3.31 — Men who constantly practise this teaching of Mine with faith and without cavilling, they…
• Verse 3.32 — But those who, carping at this, My teaching, practise it not — know them as deluded in…
• Verse 3.33 — Even the man of knowledge acts in conformity with his own nature; (all) beings follow…
• Verse 3.34 — Love and hate lie towards the object of each sense; let none become subject to these two…
• Verse 3.35 — Better one's own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of another well discharged…
• Verse 3.36 — But by what dragged on, O Vārṣṇeya, does a man, though reluctant, commit sin, as if…
• Verse 3.37 — It is Desire, it is Wrath, born of the energy of Rajas, all-devouring, all-sinful; that…
• Verse 3.38 — As fire is surrounded by smoke, as a mirror by rust, as the foetus is enclosed in the…
• Verse 3.39 — Covered, O son of Kuntī, is wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise, in the form of…
• Verse 3.40 — The senses, mind, and reason are said to be its seat; veiling wisdom through these, it…
• Verse 3.41 — Therefore, O lord of the Bhāratas, restrain the senses first, do thou cast off this…
• Verse 3.42 — They say that the senses are superior: superior to the senses is mind: superior to mind…
• Verse 3.43 — Thus knowing Him who is superior to reason, subduing the self by the self, slay thou, O…