Karma Yoga

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Bhagavad Gita

 

III. KARMA YOGA

 

ARJUNA SAID:

 

1. If it be thought by Thee that knowledge is superior to action, O

Janardana, why then dost Thou, O Kesava, direct me to this terrible

action ?

 

2. With an apparently perplexing speech, Thou confusest as it were my

understanding. Tell me with certainty that one (way) by which I may

attain bliss.

 

THE BLESSED LORD SAID:

 

3. In this world a twofold path was taught by Me at first, O sinless

one: that of Sankhyas by devotion to knowledge and that of Yogins by

devotion to action.

 

4. Not by abstaining from action does man win actionlessness, nor by

mere renunciation does he attain perfection.

 

5. None, verily, even for an instant, ever remains doing no action;

for every one is driven helpless to action by the energies born of

Nature.

 

6. He who, restraining the organs of action, sits thinking in his

mind of the objects of the senses, self-deluded, he is said to be one

of false conduct.

 

7. But whoso, restraining the senses by mind O Arjuna, engages in

Karma-Yoga, unattached, with organs of action, he is esteemed.

 

8. Do thou perform (thy) bounden duty; for action is superior to

inaction. And even the maintenance of the body would not be possible

for thee by inaction.

 

9. Except in the case of action for Sacrifice's sake, this world is

action-bound. Action for the sake Thereof, do thou, O son of Kunti,

perform, free from attachment.

 

10. Having first created mankind together with sacrifices, the

Prajapati said, " By this shall ye propagate; let this be to you the

cow of plenty.

 

11. With this do ye nourish the Gods and the Gods shall nourish you;

thus nourishing one another, ye shall attain the supreme good.

 

12. Nourished by the sacrifice, the Gods shall indeed bestow on you

the enjoyments ye desire. " Whoso enjoys - without offering to Them -

Their gifts, he is verily a thief.

 

13. The righteous, who eat the remnant of the sacrifice, are freed

from all sins; but sin do the impious eat who cook for their own

sakes.

 

14. From food creatures come forth; the production of food is from

rain; rain comes forth from sacrifice; sacrifice is born of action;

 

15. Know thou that action comes from Brahman and that Brahman comes

from the Imperishable. Therefore, the all-pervading Brahman ever

rests in sacrifice.

 

16. He who follows not here the wheel thus set in motion, who is of

sinful life, indulging in senses, he lives in vain, O son of Pritha.

 

17. That man, verily, who rejoices only in the self, who is satisfied

with the Self, who is content in the Self alone - for him there is

nothing to do.

 

18. For him, there is here no interest whatever in what is done or

what is not done. Nor is there in all beings any one he should resort

to for any object.

 

19. Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform the action

which should be done; for, performing action without attachment, man

reaches the Supreme.

 

20. By action only, indeed, did Janaka and others try to attain

perfection. Even with a view to the protection of the masses thou

shouldst perform (action).

 

21. Whatsoever a great man does, that alone the other men do;

whatever he sets up as the standard, that the world follows.

 

22. I have nothing whatsoever to achieve in the three worlds, O son

of Pritha, nor is there anything unattained that should be attained;

yet I engage in action.

 

23. For, should I not ever engage in action, unwearied, men would in

all matters follow My path, O son of Pritha.

 

24. These worlds would be ruined if I should not perform action; I

should be the cause of confusion of castes and should destroy these

creatures.

 

25. As ignorant men act attached to work, O Bharata, so should the

wise man act, unattached from a wish to protect the masses.

 

26. Let no wise man cause unsettlement in the minds of the ignorant

who are attached to action; he should make them do all actions,

himself fulfilling them with devotion.

 

27. Actions are wrought in all cases by the energies of Nature. He

whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks 'I am the doer'.

 

28. But he who knows the truth, O mighty-armed, about the divisions

of the energies and (their) functions, is not attached, thinking that

the energies act upon the energies.

 

29. Those deluded by the energies of Nature are attached to the

functions of the energies. He who knows the All should not unsettle

the unwise who know not the All.

 

30. Renouncing all action in Me, with thy thought resting on the

Self, being free from hope, free from selfishness, devoid of fever,

do thou fight.

 

31. Men who constantly practise this teaching of Mine with faith and

without cavilling, they too are liberated from actions.

 

32. But those who, carping at this, My teaching, practise it not -

know them as deluded in all knowledge, as senseless men doomed to

destruction.

 

33. Even the man of knowledge acts in conformity with his own nature;

(all) beings follow (their) nature; what shall coercion avail ?

 

34. Love and hate lie towards the object of each sense; let none

become subject to these two; for, they are his enemies.

 

35. Better one's own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of

another well discharged. Better is death in one's own duty; the duty

of another is productive of danger.

 

ARJUNA SAID:

 

36. But by what dragged on, O Varshneya, does a man, though

reluctant, commit sin, as if constrained by force ?

 

THE BLESSED LORD SAID:

 

37. It is desire, it is wrath, born of the energy of Rajas, all-

devouring, all sinful; that, know thou, is the foe here.

 

38. As fire is surrounded by smoke, as a mirror by rust, as the

foetus is enclosed in the womb, so is this covered by it.

 

39. Covered, O son of Kunti, is wisdom by this constant enemy of the

wise, in the form of desire, which is greedy and insatiable.

 

40. The senses, mind and reason are said to be its seat; veiling

wisdom through these, it deludes the embodied.

 

41. Therefore, O lord of the Bharatas, restrain the senses first, do

thou cast off this sinful thing which is destructive of knowledge and

wisdom.

 

42. They say that the senses are superior; superior to the senses is

mind; superior to mind is reason; one who is even superior to reason

is He.

 

43. Then knowing Him who is superior to reason, subduing the self by

the self, slay thou, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire,

hard to conquer.