Karma Yoga

Arjuna said: If you hold that knowledge is superior to action, why do you urge me into this terrible action?

You seem to bewilder my mind with words that appear to contradict each other. Tell me for certain the one way by which I may reach the highest good.

Krishna said: In this world a twofold path was taught by me long ago, sinless one: the path of knowledge for those given to contemplation, and the path of action for those who act.

A person does not reach freedom from action by abstaining from action. Nor does anyone reach perfection by renunciation alone.

No one ever stays even for a moment without doing some action. Everyone is made to act, helplessly, by the qualities born of Nature.

One who restrains the organs of action but sits dwelling in the mind on the objects of the senses is deluded. Such a person is called a hypocrite.

But one who controls the senses with the mind and takes up the path of action with the organs of action, unattached, excels.

Do your prescribed duty, for action is superior to inaction. Even the maintenance of your body would not be possible without action.

This world is bound by action, except when action is done as sacrifice. So perform your action for that sake, free from attachment.

In the beginning, the Lord of beings created humankind together with sacrifice and said: By this you shall multiply. Let this be the cow that grants your desires.

Nourish the gods with this, and let the gods nourish you. Nourishing one another, you shall attain the highest good.

Nourished by sacrifice, the gods will give you the enjoyments you desire. One who enjoys their gifts without offering anything to them in return is a thief.

The good, who eat what is left after the sacrifice, are freed from all sins. But the sinful, who cook only for themselves, feed on sin.

Beings come from food. Food comes from rain. Rain comes from sacrifice. And sacrifice is born of action.

Know that action arises from Brahman, and Brahman arises from the Imperishable. So the all-pervading Brahman is forever established in sacrifice.

Whoever does not keep turning the wheel thus set in motion lives a sinful life, delighting in the senses. Such a person lives in vain, Arjuna.

But for the person who delights only in the Self, who is satisfied with the Self, and content in the Self alone, there is nothing left to do.

For such a person, there is nothing to gain by acting here, and nothing to lose by not acting. They depend on no being for any purpose.

So always perform the work that must be done, without attachment. By working without attachment, a person attains the Supreme.

Janaka and others attained perfection through action alone. You too should act, with the welfare of the world in view.

Whatever a great person does, others do the same. Whatever standard they set, the world follows.

In all the three worlds there is nothing I must do, Arjuna, nothing unattained for me to attain. Yet I keep working.

For if I did not keep working, tirelessly and always, people would follow my path in every way, Arjuna.

These worlds would fall to ruin if I did not act. I would be the cause of confusion, and I would destroy these people.

As the ignorant act with attachment to their work, Arjuna, so should the wise act, but without attachment, seeking the welfare of the world.

The wise should not unsettle the minds of the ignorant, who are attached to their work. Acting with discernment, they should perform their own work well and lead the others to do the same.

Actions are done in every way by the modes of nature. But one deluded by ego thinks, "I am the doer."

But one who knows the truth about the modes and their actions is not attached, Arjuna. Knowing that the modes act upon the modes, such a person holds back.

Those deluded by the modes of nature become attached to the actions of the modes. The one who knows the whole should not unsettle the dull, who do not know the whole.

Dedicate all your actions to me, with your mind resting on the Self. Free from desire, free from any sense of ownership, and free from the fever of the mind, fight.

Those who constantly follow this teaching of mine, with faith and without finding fault, are freed from the bondage of action.

But those who find fault with my teaching and do not follow it are deluded about all knowledge. Know them to be without discernment and lost.

Even one who has knowledge acts according to their own nature. All beings follow their nature. What can restraint do?

Attraction and aversion are seated in the senses toward their objects. One should not fall under their sway, for they are one's foes.

One's own duty, though imperfect, is better than another's duty done well. It is better to die in one's own duty; another's duty brings danger.

Arjuna said: Then what drives a person to commit sin, even against their will, Krishna, as if forced into it?

It is desire, it is anger, born of the mode of rajas. It devours everything; it drives endless sin. Know it as the enemy here.

As fire is veiled by smoke, as a mirror is clouded by dust, as an embryo is wrapped in the womb, so is this veiled by desire.

The knowledge of the wise is veiled by this constant enemy. It takes the form of desire, an insatiable fire.

The senses, the mind, and discernment are said to be its seat. Through these it deludes the embodied self, veiling knowledge.

Therefore control the senses first. Then slay this sinful thing, the destroyer of knowledge and realization.

The senses are said to be superior to the body. The mind is above the senses, and discernment is above the mind. And above discernment is the Self.

Knowing the Self as above discernment, steady the self by the Self. Then slay the enemy in the form of desire, so hard to conquer.