Karma Yoga: Shlokas 1 to 6
If you have not already done so, I would request you to review the Chapter 2, Sankhya Yoga before studying chapter 3 as that would help set the right context.
You can find the explanation of the final shlokas of chapter 2 (67 to 72) here. Please go through that to get a better understand and maintain continuity in your learning.
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अर्जुन उवाच |
ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन |
तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि केशव || 3.1||
arjuna uvācha
jyāyasī chet karmaṇas te matā buddhir janārdana
tat kiṁ karmaṇi ghore māṁ niyojayasi keśhava
Translation: jyāyasī (ज्यायसी) – better; cet (चेत्) – if; karmaṇas (कर्मणस्) – than fruitive action; te (ते) – your; matā (मता) – opinion; buddhiḥ (बुद्धिः) – intellect; janārdana (जनार्दन) – O maintainer of all living entities; tat (तत्) – then; kiṁ (किं) – why; karmaṇi (कर्मणि) – in action; ghore (घोरे) – terrible; mām (माम्) – me; niyojayasi (नियोजयसि) – do You engage; keśava (केशव) – O Keshava.
व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे |
तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम् || 3.2||
vyāmiśhreṇeva vākyena buddhiṁ mohayasīva me
tad ekaṁ vada niśhchitya yena śhreyo ’ham āpnuyām
vyāmiśreṇa (व्यामिश्रेण) – with equivocal; iva (इव) – as if; vākyena (वाक्येन) – with words; buddhiṁ (बुद्धिं) – intellect; mohayasī (मोहयसी) – You are bewildering; me (मे) – my; tad (तत्) – that; ekam (एकम्) – one; vada (वद) – please tell; niścitya (निश्चित्य) – conclusively; yena (येन) – by which; śreyaḥ (श्रेयः) – the ultimate good; aham (अहम्) – I; āpnuyām (आप्नुयाम्) – may achieve.
Arjuna said: O Janardana, if You consider knowledge superior to action, then why do You ask me to wage this terrible war? My intellect is bewildered by Your contradictory advice. Please tell me decisively the one path by which I may attain the highest good.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
लोकेऽस्मिन्द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ |
ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् || 3.3||
śhrī bhagavān uvācha
loke ’smin dvi-vidhā niṣhṭhā purā proktā mayānagha
jñāna-yogena sāṅkhyānāṁ karma-yogena yoginām
śrībhagavānuvāca (श्रीभगवानुवाच) – The Supreme Lord said; loke (लोके) – in the world; asmin (अस्मिन्) – this; dvividhā (द्विविधा) – two kinds of; niṣṭhā (निष्ठा) – faith or steadfastness; purā (पुरा) – formerly; proktā (प्रोक्ता) – were explained; mayā (मया) – by Me; anagha (अनघ) – O sinless one; jñānayogena (ज्ञानयोगेन) – through the path of knowledge; sāṅkhyānāṁ (साङ्ख्यानां) – for the Sankhyas; karmayogena (कर्मयोगेन) – through the path of action; yoginām (योगिनाम्) – for the yogis.
The Lord said: O sinless one, the two paths leading to enlightenment were previously explained by Me: the path of knowledge, for those inclined toward contemplation, and the path of work for those inclined toward action.
न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते |
न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ||3.4||
na karmaṇām anārambhān naiṣhkarmyaṁ puruṣho ’śhnute
na cha sannyasanād eva siddhiṁ samadhigachchhati
na (न) – not; karmaṇām (कर्मणाम्) – by abstaining from actions; anārambhāt (अनारम्भात्) – by non-performance; naiṣkarmyam (नैष्कर्म्यं) – the state of actionlessness; puruṣaḥ (पुरुषः) – a person; aśnute (अश्नुते) – achieves; na (न) – not; ca (च) – and; saṁnyasanāt (संन्यसनात्) – by renunciation alone; eva (एव) – only; siddhim (सिद्धिं) – perfection; samadhigacchati (समधिगच्छति) – attains.
One cannot achieve freedom from karmic reactions by merely abstaining from work, nor can one attain perfection of knowledge by mere physical renunciation.
न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् |
कार्यते ह्यवश: कर्म सर्व: प्रकृतिजैर्गुणै: ||3.5||
na hi kaśhchit kṣhaṇam api jātu tiṣhṭhatyakarma-kṛit
kāryate hyavaśhaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛiti-jair guṇaiḥ
na (न) – not; hi (हि) – indeed; kaścit (कश्चित्) – anyone; kṣaṇam (क्षणम्) – a moment; api (अपि) – even; jātu (जातु) – ever; tiṣṭhati (तिष्ठति) – remains; akarmakṛt (अकर्मकृत्) – without performing action; kāryate (कार्यते) – is compelled to act; hi (हि) – indeed; avaśaḥ (अवशः) – helplessly; karma (कर्म) – action; sarvaḥ (सर्वः) – all; prakṛtijaiḥ (प्रकृतिजैः) – born of material nature; guṇaiḥ (गुणैः) – by the modes.
There is no one who can remain without action even for a moment. Indeed, all beings are compelled to act by their qualities born of material nature (sattva, rajas and tamas).
कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन् |
इन्द्रियार्थान्विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचार: स उच्यते ||3.6||
karmendriyāṇi sanyamya ya āste manasā smaran
indriyārthān vimūḍhātmā mithyāchāraḥ sa uchyate
karmendriyāṇi (कर्मेन्द्रियाणि) – the working senses; saṁyamya (संयम्य) – restraining; ya (य) – who; āste (आस्ते) – remains; manasā (मनसा) – with the mind; smaran (स्मरन्) – dwelling upon; indriyārthān (इन्द्रियार्थान्) – sense objects; vimūḍhātmā (विमूढात्मा) – deluded soul; mithyācāraḥ (मिथ्याचारः) – hypocrite; sa (स) – he; ucyate (उच्यते) – is called.
One who restrains the working senses, but mentally dwells upon the sense objects, is a deluded soul and should be called a hypocrite.
The transition from Sankhya Yoga to Nishkama Karma Yoga
In Chapter 2 (sankhya yoga), Shri Krishna explained the importance of performing one’s prescribed duties and reminded Arjuna that as a Kshatria, his duty was to fight for dharma and if he does so, he will attain kirtis and reach Godly planets.
In verse 2.38, Krishna explained the importance of performing one’s duties and treating happiness/sadness, profit/loss, victory/defeat etc as alike and maintaining samatvam.
सुखदु:खे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ |
ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि || 2.38||
Sukha-dukha (happiness and sadness)
Labha-alabhau (profit and loss)
Jaha-ajayo (victory and loss)
Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat. Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will never incur sin.
This is the gist of nishkama karma yoga.
And in 2.49, Krishna says “O Dhananjaya, rid yourself of all fruitive activities by devotional service, and surrender fully to that consciousness. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.”
Thus, in chapter 2, Krishna starts by explaining Sankhya yoga and the science of the soul, then he explains karma yoga and the yoga of fruitive actions and then he explains buddhi yoga which is the yoga of nishkama karma or actions without attachment to results and the importance of devotional service. This way, Krishna has gradually progressed and provided elevating knowledge to Arjuna.
However, Arjuna is not able to understand this intent of Krishna. Arjuna thinks that buddhi yoga means renouncing all actions and just going to a forest and doing meditation, etc. So, he asks Krishna “O Janardhana, if you consider knowledge superior to action, then why do you ask me to wage this terrible war?” (Janardhana means one who protects and liberates people).
Arjuna’s confusion
Arjuna then says “I am very confused by your contradictory statements. Please tell me decisively the one path which is shreya and best for me.”
Well, this is exactly what Krishna had already explained to Arjuna using 62 shlokas in chapter 2 (the rest were spoken by Arjuna). Actually, this misunderstanding and confusion from Arjuna is also a leela of Krishna so that Krishna can answer this question and address the similar confusion that many of us may have. Usually this is the natural response of humans to concepts that they cannot comprehend. For example, everybody believed that the Earth was the centre of the Universe and that the Sun revolved around Earth. And then a scientist named Copernicus told everybody that the Earth was just a small planet that it was the one which revolved around the Sun. Most people immediately reacted by ridiculing him and saying that he was not making sense. They even banned his book saying that he was spreading falsehood.
Albert Einstein famously said: “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.“
The concept behind this quote is that in order to solve a problem, one must shift their perspective, think differently, and elevate their level of consciousness in order to even understand the problem so that they can then come up with a solution for the problem. The best way to raise our level of consciousness is by surrendering to Krishna, having complete faith in Him and approaching a guru with humility to understand his teachings.
How Jnana Yoga complements Karma Yoga
Shri Krishna starts his response in verse 3.3 by saying “O sinless one, the two paths leading to enlightenment were given by me to humankind. The path of jnana, for those inclined toward philosophical thinking and contemplation, and the path of karma for those inclined toward action.”
The path of jnana and sankhya yoga is suitable for people with a philosophical mindset who like to think deeply and achieve self realization through intellectual analysis. The second is the path of karma yoga where you focus on action by performing your prescribed duties. When the duties are performed without attachment to the results, Krishna calls it buddhi yoga and Krishna says that this path is superior to that of jnana yoga.
Srila Prabhupada has explained that jnana yoga is like finding the root of the tree while karma yoga is like actually watering the roots. So, both have their purpose. And that is what Krishna’s advice is, to do your duties (karma) with detachment (jnana).
We can be a Jnani and know exactly where the roots of the tree are, however if we don’t water the roots, this knowledge is not of much use. Similarly, we can have a bucket of water and we can be busy watering the leaves and branches but it will not help the tree. It will be helpful only if we know where the roots are and that we are supposed to water the roots. So as we can see, both Jnana yoga and Karma yoga / buddhi yoga are important and play a role in our spiritual advancement.
No action is not equal to no reaction
Sri Krishna very clearly says that we cannot achieve freedom from the law of karma merely by abstaining from work.
We cannot escape from the cycle of cause and effect by merely choosing to not act at all. In fact, it is not possible to totally avoid any action because even breathing is an action that we must perform. Similarly, our mind doesn’t stop jumping from one thought to another and this is also considered as an action. And every action makes an impact on our karmic account.
We cannot think that if we do ‘nothing’ at all, then we will escape the laws of karma. In fact, as discussed in chapter 2, if we fail to do what we are supposed to do, if we fail to perform our duties then that is actually negative karma. Thus, we can incur negative karma by ‘not doing’ rightful action and also by ‘doing’ wrong or adharmic actions.
If you revisit shloka 2.47, you will realize that a true karma yogi must learn to work without any attachment to the fruits of actions. And He also said that we should not be attached to inaction.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||2.47||
karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi
The second line is usually ignored by many. “Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your actions, and never be attached to inaction.”
Krishna’s message for the karma yogis emphasizes the importance of facing life’s struggles and fulfilling one’s duties without attachment, rather than prematurely renouncing everything and seeking sanyās. Confronting our problems and performing our duties without being attached to outcomes sets us on the path to liberation. We should never abandon our prescribed duties. Instead, we must continue to engage in our activities with God consciousness and detachment from the results. This approach leads to enlightenment. Practicing karma yoga in this manner helps in purifying our mind and avoiding generation of negative karma.
Shri Krishna also says that “nor can we attain perfection of knowledge by mere physical renunciation.” We cannot just run away to a forest or a mountain and expect perfection of knowledge. Physical renunciation is not sufficient. If you remember, in 2.56, Krishna had said:
दु:खेषु अनुद्विग्न मना: सुखेषु विगत स्पृह: |
वीत राग भय क्रोध: स्थित धीर मुनिर उच्यते ||2.56||
duḥkheṣhv-anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣhu vigata-spṛihaḥ
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ sthita-dhīr munir uchyate
दु:खेषु (duḥkheṣu): in sorrows, troubles अनुद्विग्न (anudvigna): not distressed, unperturbed मना: (manāḥ): mind सुखेषु (sukheṣu): in happiness, pleasures विगत (vigata): devoid of, free from स्पृह: (spr̥haḥ): desire, longing वीत (vīta): devoid of, free from राग (rāga): attachment, passion भय (bhaya): fear क्रोध: (krodhaḥ): anger स्थित (sthita): steady, stable धीर (dhīr): wise, calm मुनि (muni): sage, ascetic उच्यते (ucyate): is said, called
One whose mind remains undisturbed amidst misery, who does not crave for pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom.
He has called out the need to overcome anger, fear and attachment. For this, we need to discipline our mind. This is His message for the jnana yogis. Thus, we need to discipline our mind and perform actions without attachment to the results and this way, we need to bring jnana yoga and karma yoga together for success in our path to self realization and liberation. Thus, Jnana yoga and Karma yoga are complementary and not contradictory to each other.
Shri Krishna is giving a couple of more formulas here. ‘No action’ is not equal to ‘No reaction’.
Renunciation is not equal to Liberation
And ‘Sanyasa or renunciation’ is not equal to ‘Liberation’.
In 3.6, Shri Krishna says that those who restrain the external organs of action, while continuing to dwell on sense objects in the mind, certainly delude themselves and are to be called hypocrites (mithyachari).
If you remember the story of the two monks that we discussed earlier on, the younger monk restrained his physical senses by not touching the woman, however he was the one who was very disturbed because he could not control his mind which kept thinking about the woman even long after she had gone her own way. Thus, his external renunciation was useless as his mind was not yet disciplined.
Swami Mukundananda quotes this story from the Puranas to explain the point further.
Tavrit and Suvrit, to illustrate this point. The brothers were walking from their house to hear the Śhrīmad Bhāgavatam discourse at the temple. On the way, it began raining heavily, so they ran into the nearest building for shelter. To their dismay, they found themselves in a brothel, where women of disrepute were dancing to entertain their guests. Tavrit, the elder brother, was appalled and walked out into the rain, to continue to the temple. The younger brother, Suvrit, felt no harm in sitting there for a while to escape getting wet in the rain.
Tavrit reached the temple and sat for the discourse, but in his mind he became remorseful, “O how boring this is! I made a dreadful mistake; I should have remained at the brothel. My brother must be enjoying himself greatly in revelry there.” Suvrit, on the other hand, started thinking, “Why did I remain in this house of sin? My brother is so holy; he is bathing his intellect in the knowledge of the Bhāgavatam. I too should have braved the rain and reached there. After all, I am not made of salt that I would have melted in a little bit of rain.”
When the rain stopped, both started out in the direction of the other. The moment they met, lightning struck them and they both died on the spot. The Yamdoots (servants of the god of Death) came to take Tavrit to hell. Tavrit complained, “I think you have made a mistake. I am Tavrit. It was my brother who was sitting at the brothel a little while ago. You should be taking him to hell.” The Yamdoots replied, “We have made no mistake. He was sitting there to avoid the rain, but in his mind he was longing to be at the Bhāgavatam discourse. On the other hand, while you were sitting and hearing the discourse, your mind was yearning to be at the brothel.” Tavrit was doing exactly what Shree Krishna declares in this verse; he had externally renounced the objects of the senses, but was dwelling upon them in the mind. This was an improper kind of renunciation.
Physically restraining our senses is just the first step. It helps weaken our desires. However we should not forget that our ultimate goal is to restrain our minds and for that we use the substitution technique. Whenever we have a bad thought, substitute it with the thought of God and service to God.
As we can see, in verses 3.4 to 3.6, Shri Krishna tells us what not to do or how not to approach the path to liberation. From 3.7, Krishna will start stating more of what to do and how to do it.
You can find the explanation of the next set of Shlokas, 7 to 12 here:
kṛṣṇadaasa
Servant of Krishna
Aka +Vinayak Raghuvamshi