BHAGAVAD-GITA 3:22

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 3:22

 

na me parthasti kartavyam

trisu lokesu kincana

nanavaptam avaptavyam

varta eva ca karmani

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

na--not; me--Mine; partha--O son of Prtha; asti--there is;

kartavyam--prescribed duty; trisu--in the three; lokesu--planetary

systems; kincana--any; na--nothing; anavaptam--wanted; avaptavyam--to

be gained; varte--I am engaged; eva--certainly; ca--also; karmani--in

prescribed duty.

 

TRANSLATION

 

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 a

need to obtain anything--and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.

 

PURPORT

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is described in the Vedic

literatures as follows:

 

tam isvaranam paramam mahesvaram

tam devatanam paramam ca daivatam

patim patinam paramam parastad

vidama devam bhuvanesam idyam

na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate

na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate

parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate

svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca

 

"The Supreme Lord is the controller of all other controllers, and He is the

greatest of all the diverse planetary leaders. Everyone is under His

control. All entities are delegated with particular power only by the

Supreme Lord; they are not supreme themselves. He is also worshipable

by all demigods and is the supreme director of all directors.

Therefore, He is transcendental to all kinds of material leaders and

controllers and is worshipable by all. There is no one greater than

Him, and He is the supreme cause of all causes.

 

"He does not possess bodily form like that of an ordinary living entity.

There is no difference between His body and His soul. He is absolute.

All His senses are transcendental. Any one of His senses can perform

the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him

or equal to Him. His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds

are automatically performed as a natural sequence." (Svetasvatara

Upanisad 6.7-8)

 

Since everything is in full opulence in the Personality of Godhead and

is existing in full truth, there is no duty for the Supreme

Personality of Godhead to perform. One who must receive the results of

work has some designated duty, but one who has nothing to achieve

within the three planetary systems certainly has no duty. And yet Lord

Krsna is engaged on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra as the leader of the

ksatriyas because the ksatriyas are duty-bound to give protection to

the distressed. Although He is above all the regulations of the

revealed scriptures, He does not do anything that violates the

revealed scriptures.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.