Bhagavad-gītā 3.26
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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buddhi - bhedam
—
disruption of intelligence
Compound: buddhi (intelligence) + bheda (splitting). A precise harm — *splitting* someone's working understanding. The verse forbids the very technique impatient preachers love.
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karma - saṅginām
—
who are attached to fruitive work
Compound: karma + saṅgin (clinger). The same saṅga of 2.47 in plural genitive — *those whose grip is on karma's fruits*. The wise must not pry the grip open by force; engagement (joṣayet) loosens it from within.
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joṣayet
—
he should dovetail
Causative optative of √juṣ, to enjoy/relish. The wise *causes them to relish* their work, but redirected. Prabhupāda's 'dovetail' is exactly right: same wood, fitted to a new joint.
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yuktaḥ
—
engaged
Past participle of √yuj — yoked. The teacher must himself be yoked in karma-yoga before he attempts to redirect others. The verse implicitly bars the unyoked from teaching this teaching.
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samācaran
—
practicing
Present participle of sam-ā-√car, fully walking through. Same verb as samācara in 3.9. The wise leads by *practice*, not by lecture.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
| Sanskrit | IAST | Grammar | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| न | na | ind. (indeclinable), negative | not |
| बुद्धि-भेदम् | buddhi-bhedam | बुद्धि (f.) + भेद (m.) acc.sg. (accusative singular), tatpuruṣa cpd. (compound) | splitting of intellect, confusion |
| जनयेत् | janayet | √जन् caus. (causative) opt. (optative) 3sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) | should cause / produce |
| अज्ञानाम् | ajñānām | अज्ञ (adj.) gen.pl. (genitive plural)m. | of the ignorant |
| कर्म-सङ्गिनाम् | karma-saṅginām | कर्म + सङ्गिन् gen.pl. (genitive plural)m., tatpuruṣa cpd. (compound) | attached to action |
| जोषयेत् | joṣayet | √जुष् caus. (causative) opt. (optative) 3sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) | should cause to enjoy / engage |
| सर्व-कर्माणि | sarva-karmāṇi | सर्व + कर्मन् acc.pl. (accusative plural)n., karmadhāraya | all actions |
| विद्वान् | vidvān | विद्वस् nom.sg. (nominative singular)m. | the wise |
| युक्तः | yuktaḥ | √युज् p.p.p. (past passive participle) nom.sg. (nominative singular)m. | yoked, disciplined |
| समाचरन् | samācaran | सम्+आ+√चर् pres. (present)act.part. nom.sg. (nominative singular)m. | performing |
Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ . That is the end of all Vedic rituals. All rituals, all performances of sacrifices, and everything that is put into the Vedas, including all direction for material activities, are meant for understanding Kṛṣṇa, who is the ultimate goal of life. But because the conditioned souls do not know anything beyond sense gratification, they study the Vedas to that end. But through fruitive activities and sense gratification regulated by the Vedic rituals one is gradually elevated to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore a realized soul in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should not disturb others in their activities or understanding, but he should act by showing how the results of all work can be dedicated to the service of Kṛṣṇa. The learned Kṛṣṇa conscious person may act in such a way that the ignorant person working for sense gratification may learn how to act and how to behave. Although the ignorant man is not to be disturbed in his activities, a slightly developed Kṛṣṇa conscious person may directly be engaged in the service of the Lord without waiting for other Vedic formulas. For this fortunate man there is no need to follow the Vedic rituals, because by direct Kṛṣṇa consciousness one can have all the results one would otherwise derive from following one’s prescribed duties.
You should not disturb the minds of those attached to action because of their impure hearts by saying “This karma is despicable! Give up action and become successful like me by the practice of jñāna.” Instead you should engage them in action (joṣayet) by saying “Perform action without desire and become successful.” Doing those actions, you set an example for others. “But according to the Bhāgavatam, this is contrary to the statement of the Lord: svayaṁ niḥśreyasaṁ vidvān na vakty ajñāya karma hi na rāti rogiṇo ’pathyaṁ vāñchato ’pi bhiṣaktamaḥ A pure devotee who is fully accomplished in the science of devotional service will never instruct a foolish person to engage in fruitive activities for material enjoyment, not to speak of helping him in such activities. Such a devotee is like an experienced physician, who never encourages a patient to eat food injurious to his health, even if the patient desires it.” SB 6.9.50 True, but this is in relation to instructions given about bhakti. It is not contradictory to giving instructions in this way about jñāna. Jñāna is dependent on purity of the heart, and purity of the heart is dependent on action without desire. But bhakti is by nature very strong, and is not dependent even on the purity of the heart. If it is possible for you to produce faith in bhakti in other person, then you may disturb the minds of those attached to action, for those who have faith in bhakti have no obligation for performing karma. This should be understood from such statements as the following: tāvat karmāṇi kurvīta na nirvidyeta yāvatā mat-kathā-śravaṇādau vā śraddhā yāvan na jāyate One should continue to perform the Vedic ritualistic activities until one actually becomes detached from material sense gratification and develops faith for hearing and chanting about Me. SB 11.20.9 dharmān santyajya yaḥ sarvān māṁ bhajet sa tu sattamaḥ Having taken complete shelter at My lotus feet, however, a saintly person ultimately renounces such ordinary religious duties and worships Me alone. He is thus considered to be the best among all living entities. SB 11.11.32 sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja Give up all dharmas and surrender to Me alone. BG 18.66 tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ harer bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi If someone gives up his occupational duties and works in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and then falls down on account of not completing his work, what loss is there on his part? And what can one gain if one performs his material activities perfectly? SB 1.5.17
Moreover, the person in knowledge, desiring the benefit of the people, should act with attention. Though a person may be fixed in knowledge (vidvān—pariniṣṭhita bhakta), he should not disturb the intelligence of the ignorant, who partake of the stupidity of faith in karma (karma saṅginām). He should not disturb the minds of those fixed in karma by saying “What is the use of these duties? Attain success just by jñāna like me.” Rather, engaging himself in all prescribed actions attentively, performing all the components or aṅgas till completion (samācaran), he should engage the ignorant with affection in all their duties prescribed by scripture (sarva karmāṇi joṣayet). If he disturbs their intelligence, then they will lose faith in performing duties and also will not attain jñāna. They will thus lose on both fronts. svayaṁ niḥśreyasaṁ vidvān na vakty ajñāya karma hi na rāti rogiṇo’pathyaṁ vāñchato’pi bhiṣaktamaḥ A pure devotee who is fully accomplished in the science of devotional service will never instruct a foolish person to engage in fruitive activities for material enjoyment, not to speak of helping him in such activities. Such a devotee is like an experienced physician, who never encourages a patient to eat food injurious to his health, even if the patient desires it. SB 6.9.50 This statement of Ajita however should be applied to those persons who are not attached to karma.
Similarly we should not preach to the people who are attached to fruits of their work: " there is no use of doing your work, you will gain nothing through your work." We should not preach like that, we should preach as Krsna says "rather by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts or activities[for the gradual development of Krsna consciousness]." One who has knowledge should by his example and by his words,encourage those without knowledge who are attached to the fruit of their work, to do their work, not to give up their work, but engage the fruit of their work in the development of Krsna consciousness. All these points are very practical. We talked here about to levels of people working: one level is when one works on the karma‑kanda level. And this level is in the mode of passion because of the attachment to enjoy the fruits of work combining the senses and sense objects. When Krsna explains the higher level of niskama karma, where one is detached because he has knowledge he is in the mode of goodness,what He asks is that one is on that level should keep on working so those karma‑ kanda persons, can come to the sakama karma‑yoga level where he is attached to his work but he is engaging his work or the fruits or his work in devotion and therefore he gradually will make advancement; he will get transcendental knowledge , he will gain detachment and gradually will come to the platform of niskama karma. On the platform of sakama karma‑yoga one is attached to his work and the fruits of his work by he is sacrificing the fruits of his work. On the platform of niskama karma one is detached from the fruits of his work but is attached to the work itself ‑ that is the level of the mode of goodness. It is not completely transcendental. In both platforms it appears that everyone is working and superficially they appear to be the same ‑ but there a big gulf of difference between the two because their consciousness is completely different: one is attached to the fruit of his work and the other is detached from the fruits of his work. And higher than that will be when one is working for Krsna in the same way ‑ that is on the bhakti level where one is detached from is work and its fruits. He works as Krsna wants not as he wants. Srila Prabhupada explains in the Purport of Text 26: " Therefore a realized soul in Krsna consciousness should not disturb others in their activities or understanding, but he should act by showing how the results of all work can be dedicated to the service of Krsna. The learned Krsna conscious person may act in such a way that the ignorant person working for sense gratification may learn how to act and how to behave." So the two are working, superficially on the same level, but there is a difference in their consciousness. And what is the difference of their consciousness? Is the difference between one in knowledge and another not in knowledge. And how does a person who doesn't have knowledge think?
We may preach to an attached materialist: “It’s no use working for māyā. You can’t take your gains
with you when you die. What will you eternally gain by such work?” Obviously that is true, but
Kṛṣṇa herein recommends an additional strategy: encouraging those who are attached to use their
work and its fruits for devotional service. Kṛṣṇa again says that premature renunciation, without
spiritual realization, leads to degradation.
This verse describes how those with knowledge should relate to those without knowledge. A per-
son with knowledge should, by his example and words, encourage those who are attached to the
results of their work to engage them in Kṛṣṇa’s service. This is practical. The third line, joṣayet
sarva-karmāṇi, indicates that we should first work ourselves, and then (as said in the fourth line) en-
gage others in devotional work.
We have already discussed three levels of work: (1) working only for the fruits (karma-kāṇḥa), (2)
establishing Kṛṣṇa as the goal yet remaining attached to the fruits (sakāma-karma-yoga), and (3) be-
ing completely detached from the fruits of work (niṣkāma-karma-yoga). In the second form of
work, though the mode of passion is still present, one advances from passion to goodness by re-
Bhagavad Gita Notes
nouncing a portion of the results of one’s work. A person working in this way will gradually become
detached, attain transcendental knowledge and advance toward the transcendental platform.
Two men may be doing similar work, but each may be working with a different consciousness. Su-
perficially it may appear that their work is the same, but a sakāma worker is attached to the fruits
of his work and to the specific nature of the work he does. The niṣkāma worker is detached from
the fruits of his work, but remains attached to the work itself. The quality of the work is measured
by their attachments.
The highest stage of work occurs when one is detached from the fruits of his work and from the
work itself. He continues to work, but his impetus is simply devotional surrender to the order of
guru and Kṛṣṇa.
3.26 न not? बुद्धिभेदम् unsettlement in the mind? जनयेत् should produce? अज्ञानाम् of the ignorant? कर्मसङ्गिनाम् of the persons attached to actions? जोषयेत् should engage? सर्वकर्माणि all actions? विद्वान् the wise? युक्तः balanced? समाचरन् performing.Commentary An ignorant may says to himelf? I shall do this action and thery enjoy its fruit. A wise man should not unsettle his belief. On the contrary he himself should set an example by performing his duties diligently but without attachment. The wise man should also persuade the ignorant never to neglect their duties. If need be? he should place before them in vivid colours the happiness they would enjoy here and hereafter by discharging such duties. When their hearts get purified in course of time? the wise man could sow the seeds of Karma Yoga (selfless service without deire) in them.
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- BG 03 26 - Sri Gadhadhara Pr - ISKCON Radhadesh 2012-01-28
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- Prashant Mukunda Pr BG 03-26 Hindi - Krishna told Bhim crying make him happy - 2018-09-25 AIIMS Delhi
- Rasika Govinda Pr BG 03-26 Tamil - 2017-02-05
- Rasika Govinda Pr BG 03-26 - 2017-02-05
- SKrishnaPr BG 03-26-43
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- Haladhar Sw BG 03-26 Oriya - Guna mukta hebaku hele Acarya patha grahana karibaku heba - 2021-07-16
- PrahladAnS BG 03-26 - What are presribed duties - 2024-10-04 ISKCON Slovenia
- PrahladAnS BG 03-26 Slovenian Translation - Kaj so predpisane dol%C5%BEnosti - 2024-10-04 ISKCON Slovenia
- Don't preach detachment to one who is not ready; meet them where they are.
- Show, don't tell — let your dharma-action lead.
- Avoid dismissing ordinary motivations harshly; gently elevate.
- Where is my preaching alienating rather than elevating?
- Whose ordinary motivation am I being too harsh with?
A skilled gardener does not yank a young plant out of its trellis to free it — he gently re-trains the vine higher. The teacher of dharma works the same way with the still-attached.
When Lord Caitanya met Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, a famous Māyāvādī scholar, He did not denounce his Vedānta. He sat in the lectures, listened to nine days of Śāṅkara commentary, and then offered the Vaiṣṇava reading. The pundit was won not by demolition but by re-engagement of his own faculties toward Kṛṣṇa.
Later, with Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī in Vārāṇasī, Caitanya again refused to disrupt. He sang the holy name, danced, and let the impersonalists' intelligence find its own way upward. Verse 3.26 is the method made explicit: do not disturb the ignorant attached to fruitive work — engage them, in the spirit of yoga, so they discover the higher motive from within their own action.
My note
Source: vedabase.io