FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 3.8

नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मणः । शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येदकर्मणः ॥ ८ ॥
niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ
[niyatam kuru karma tvam]
karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ
[karma jyaayo hy akarmanah]
śarīra-yātrāpi ca te
[shareera-yaatraapi cha te]
na prasidhyed akarmaṇaḥ
[na prasidhyed akarmanah]
Word-for-word
niyatam — prescribed kuru — do karma — duties tvam — you karma — work jyāyaḥ — better hi — certainly akarmaṇaḥ — than no work śarīra — bodily yātrā — maintenance api — even ca — also te — your na — never prasidhyet — is effected akarmaṇaḥ — without work .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ
niyatam
prescribed
kuru
do
karma
duties
tvam
you
karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ
karma
work
jyāyaḥ
better
hi
certainly
akarmaṇaḥ
than no work
śarīra-yātrāpi ca te
śarīra
bodily
yātrā
maintenance
api
even
ca
also
te
your
na prasidhyed akarmaṇaḥ
na
never
prasidhyet
is effected
akarmaṇaḥ
without work .
Important Words
  • niyatam — prescribed
    From ni-√yam — what has been bound to you. Niyata-karma is not whatever you feel like; it is the duty already assigned by your varṇa, āśrama, and situation. The verse rules out improvised dharma.
  • kuru — do
    Imperative of √kṛ. The verb is bare, blunt — *do*. Kṛṣṇa wastes no syllables here; the entire teaching of karma-yoga is compressed into a two-syllable command.
  • jyāyaḥ — better
    Comparative — echoing Arjuna's own opening word jyāyasī in 3.1. Arjuna had asked which is better; Kṛṣṇa here gives the answer in the same comparative form: karma is *better* than akarma.
  • akarmaṇaḥ — than no work
    Ablative of comparison. The word marks the fantasy Kṛṣṇa keeps closing — that 'doing nothing' is a third option. There is no third option.
  • śarīra — bodily
    The body itself argues against akarma. śarīra-yātrā — the very journey of maintaining a body — requires work. Even the renunciate must eat, walk, sleep.
Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain one’s physical body without work.
Classical Sanskrit analysis शास्त्रीय विश्लेषण
How Sanskrit scholars read this verse — split, rearranged, grammar-tagged. For the plain English distilled meaning, jump to Plain meaning below.
Auto-generated study layers — original analysis of the public-domain śloka. Review against a published edition for academic work.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
Practical argument for action: even survival requires it. To give up niyata-karma (prescribed duty) is not nobler than performing it — it is simply unworkable. Arjuna's proposed withdrawal would not even feed him.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
Niyata karma here means duty fixed by varṇāśrama (and for Arjuna, kṣatra-dharma). The 'śarīra-yātrā' image is wonderfully concrete: even the bare maintenance of the body is a chain of small actions. Karma cannot be escaped; it can only be reframed. This sets up the yajña-cycle exposition that follows.
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
त्वम् नियतम् कर्म कुरु; हि कर्म अकर्मणः ज्यायः; ते अकर्मणः शरीर-यात्रा अपि च न प्रसिद्ध्येत्।
tvam niyatam karma kuru; hi karma akarmaṇaḥ jyāyaḥ; te akarmaṇaḥ śarīra-yātrā api ca na prasiddhyet|
You — perform your prescribed duty; for action is better than inaction; even your bodily maintenance would not succeed for you without action.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
नियतम् कुरु कर्म त्वम् कर्म ज्यायः हि अकर्मणः । शरीर-यात्रा अपि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येत् अकर्मणः ॥
niyatam kuru karma tvam karma jyāyaḥ hi akarmaṇaḥ | śarīra-yātrā api ca te na prasiddhyet akarmaṇaḥ ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
नियतम् niyatam नि+√यम् p.p.p. (past passive participle) → नियत (adj.) acc.sg. (accusative singular)n. prescribed, ordained
कुरु kuru √कृ impv. 2sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) do, perform
कर्म karma कर्मन् (n.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) action, duty
त्वम् tvam युष्मद् pron. (pronoun) nom.sg. (nominative singular) you
ज्यायः jyāyaḥ ज्यायस् (compar. (comparative)) nom.sg. (nominative singular)n. better
हि hi ind. (indeclinable), causal for, indeed
अकर्मणः akarmaṇaḥ अकर्मन् (n.) abl.sg. (ablative singular) than inaction
शरीर-यात्रा śarīra-yātrā शरीर (n.) + यात्रा (f.) nom.sg. (nominative singular), tatpuruṣa cpd. (compound) bodily journey / maintenance
अपि api ind. (indeclinable), even even
च ca ind. (indeclinable), conj. and
ते te युष्मद् pron. (pronoun) gen.sg. (genitive singular) enclitic for you
न na ind. (indeclinable), negative not
प्रसिद्ध्येत् prasiddhyet प्र+√सिध् opt. (optative) 3sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) would succeed / be accomplished
Purport

There are many pseudo meditators who misrepresent themselves as belonging to high parentage, and great professional men who falsely pose that they have sacrificed everything for the sake of advancement in spiritual life. Lord Kṛṣṇa did not want Arjuna to become a pretender. Rather, the Lord desired that Arjuna perform his prescribed duties as set forth for kṣatriyas. Arjuna was a householder and a military general, and therefore it was better for him to remain as such and perform his religious duties as prescribed for the householder kṣatriya. Such activities gradually cleanse the heart of a mundane man and free him from material contamination. So-called renunciation for the purpose of maintenance is never approved by the Lord, nor by any religious scripture. After all, one has to maintain one’s body and soul together by some work. Work should not be given up capriciously, without purification of materialistic propensities. Anyone who is in the material world is certainly possessed of the impure propensity for lording it over material nature, or, in other words, for sense gratification. Such polluted propensities have to be cleared. Without doing so, through prescribed duties, one should never attempt to become a so-called transcendentalist, renouncing work and living at the cost of others.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
8. Perform your daily scriptural duties. This is better than not acting. You cannot even maintain your body by non-action.
Commentary

Therefore you should engage in daily obligatory activities such as sandhya-vandana (niyatam karma). This is better than renunciation of these actions (karma-sannyāsa). By renunciation of all actions you will not even be able to maintain your body.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
8. Perform your daily scriptural duties without attachment. This is better than not acting. You cannot even maintain your body by non-action.
Commentary

Therefore, since you have impure heart, you must necessarily (niyatam) perform prescribed activities for purification of the heart. This means “Perform these prescribed activities without desire.” Performing activities is better than renouncing all actions out of enthusiasm, because this will gradually lead to attainment of jñāna, just as steps lead to the top of the stairs. This is because jñāna will not arise in the contaminated heart of that person who prematurely renounces all actions out of enthusiasm only. Moreover by renouncing all actions, you cannot even maintain your material body (sarīra yātrā). Because he must maintain the body purified by sādhana as long as he lives, even the jñānī performs actions such as begging for food. But that begging is not to done by you, a kṣatriya. Therefore you should earn wealth and taxes by your prescribed actions such as fighting and protecting the citizens, and accomplishing your bodily maintenance with that, you should search out your ātmā.

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Recommends Arjuna that his prescribed duty as ksatriya is “Fighting or Work” and not “renunciation”,

as per discussion in Text 2.47 “Karmany evadhikaras te…”

One cannot even maintain one’s physical body without work

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF TEXTS 3.8

Prescribed duties are too important to be capriciously abandoned. Besides the value in

purifying the heart, they also maintain a balanced society and even one’s physical health

Focus of Learning

(a) What is Prime ‘svartha-gati’ or the ‘goal of self-interest’

To reach Vishnu, which implies to be free from material bondage and enter God’s kingdom

(b) Purpose of ‘Varnashrama’ institution – Designed to lead one gradually to this ‘goal of self-interest’

This implies that a sincere householder can also reach this destination by regulated service in Krishna consciousness

(c) “Sincerity” means

Live a controlled life based on sastras and
Carry out your business without attachment

(d) “Sincere sweeper is better than charlatan meditator”, who adopts show-bottle spiritualism to

cheat innocent public

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF TEXTS 3.6 – 3.7

Taking to quick renunciation before one is qualified may be an attempt to acquire subtle sense gratification through profit, adoration and distinction. Krishna mockingly contrasts this pseudo-renunciation with the honest attempt at purification through the regulations of karma-yoga
We should always act according to our level or position and never try to imitate higher levels, without purification; and thus follow the guidance of guru, sadhu and sastra

LINK BETWEEN TEXTS 3.8 & 3.9: Arjuna wanted to avoid work out of fear that he will develop material

attachments and desires and especially he fears the reaction that follows this work. Lord speaks Text 3.9

to differentiate ordinary entangling work from ‘Karma-yoga’, which carries one to liberation.

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
3.8 Tvam, you, O Arjuna; kuru, perform; niyatam, the obligatory; karma, duties, those daily obligatory duties (nitya-karmas) or which one is competent (according to the scriptures), and which are not heard of [although no result of daily obligatory duties is mentioned in the scriptures, still Sankaracarya holds that it is either heaven or purification of the heart, because something done must have its conseence.-Tr.] as productive of any result; hi, for, from the point of view of result; karma, action; is jyayah, superior; akarmanah, to inaction, to non-performance (of duties). Why? Ca, and; akarmanah, through inaction; api, even; te sarira-yatra, the maintenance of your body; na prasiddhyet, will not be possible. Therefore, the distinction between action and in action is abvious in this world. 'And as regards your ideea that action should not be udnertaken because it leads to bondage-that too is wrong.' How?
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
3.8 'Obligatory' (Niyatam) means 'concomitant' (Vyaptam); for action is concomitant with that which is conjoined with Prakrti or the body. The contact with Prakrti has arisen from beginingless subtle impressions (Vasanas). You must perform work, because the performance of action is easy and may not cause accidents by reason of its being obligatory. Action is superior to non-action, i.e., even to the devotee of Jnana. Because of the instruction at the beginning (of this context), 'No man experiences freedom from activity' (3.4), devotion to Jnana alone is indicated by the word, 'Non-action' (Akarma). Even in the case of one alified for devotion to Jnana, devotion to Karma indeed is better because Jnana-nistha is difficult to perform and liable to accidents, as it has not been practised previoulsy and as it does not come to one naturally. Subseently it will be described how, one with the knowledge of the true nature of the self can carry on actions along with that knowledge. Conseently, we should take the meaning here to be that, because knowledge of the self too is included in Karma Yoga, this kind of Yoga is superior. This statement on the superiority of activity (Karma Yoga) over Jnana Yoga is valid even when there is competency for one to adopt Jnana Yoga. For, if you abandon all activities to alify yourself for Jnana Yoga, then, for you, who is thus inactive while following Jnana Yoga, even the nourishment of the body, which is necessary even for Jnana-nistha, will not be achieved. The body has to be necessarily sustained until the means are executed to the full. Performing 'great sacrifices' with the help of honestly earned wealth, the body should be sustained by consuming the remainders left after such sacrifices. This is made clear from scriptural texts like, 'When the food is pure, the Sattva (mind or inner organ) becomes pure; when the Sattva is pure, then the remembrance (meditation) will be steady' (Cha. U., 7.26.2). Sri Krsna himself will declare: 'The sinful ones who cook food for their own sake eat sin (3.13). Conseently,even the sustenance of the body will not be possible in the case of one who practises Jnana-nistha, and does not act. In other ways also Karma Yoga is superior to Jnana Yoga even in respect of one who is alified for Jnana-nistha; for, obligatory and occasional rites like the 'great sacrifices' must be carried out by one who follows Jnana Yoga too, as he has to sustain the body until he attains perfection. Besides, the understanding of the true nature of the self is incorporated in Karma Yoga, as it involves the contemplation of the self as being a non-agent. It is also in line with the nature of life (Prakrti). Karma Yoga, is for these reasons easier and it is free from danger of downfall. Therefore, you must perform Karma Yoga only. This is the purport of the verse. If it is contended that any action such as earning money implies 'I-ness', 'My-ness' etc., and will therefore be disturbing to the senses, and that such a person devoted often to works will be in bondage through subtle impressions of his acts, Sri Krsna says:
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
3.8 Niyatam etc. you must perform action which has been enjoined i.e., prescribed in the scriptures. For, even the just subsistence of body depends on action. Because -
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
3.8 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.
Commentary

3.8 नियतम् bounden (prescribed or obligatory)? कुरु perform? कर्म action? त्वम् thou? कर्म action? ज्यायः superior? हि for? अकर्मणः than inaction? शरीरयात्रा maintenance of the body? अपि even? च and? ते thy? न not? प्रसिद्ध्येत् would be possible? अकर्मणः by inaction.Commentary Niyatam Karma is an obligatory duty which one is bound to perform. Thenonperformance of the bounden duties causes demerit. The performance of the obligatory duties is not a means for the attainment of a specific result. The performance does not cause any merit.Living itself involves several natural and unavoidable actions which have to be performed by all. It is ignorance to say? I can live doing nothing.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
3.8 You perform the obligatory duties, for action is superior to inaction. And, through inaction, even the maintenance of your body will not be possible.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
3.8 Do thy duty as prescribed, for action for duty's sake is superior to inaction. Even the maintenance of the body would be impossible if man remained inactive.
Related values & verses
Primary values
Udyama (Industriousness / Effort)
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related verses
BG 18.48 BG 2.47 BG 3.19 SB 7.11.8 SB 11.17.15 SB 1.2.13 CC Madhya 22.58 CC Madhya 8.58 CC Madhya 15.104 Īśa Upaniṣad 2 BRS 1.2.255
Stories
udyama_epic_primary
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Do your prescribed duty — action is better than inaction; even the body's maintenance requires action.
Practical Applications
  • Stop romanticizing 'dropping out' — even the breath requires action; choose action wisely instead.
  • Identify your prescribed duty in this stage of life and execute it as worship.
  • Replace fantasy escape with grounded engagement.
Reflection Questions
  • What 'dropping out' fantasy is keeping me from my actual duty?
  • What is genuinely my prescribed duty in this life-stage?
Analogy

Even a sleeping body is breathing, digesting, repairing — work goes on. To imagine that you can step out of activity is to imagine that you can step out of being embodied. Choose your work; you cannot choose to have none.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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