Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 15

Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

कर्म ब्रह्मोद्भवं विद्धि ब्रह्माक्षरसमुद्भवम् ।
तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम् ॥

Transliteration

karma brahmodbhavaṃ viddhi brahmākṣarasamudbhavam .
tasmātsarvagataṃ brahma nityaṃ yajñe pratiṣṭhitam ॥

Meaning

Know that action arises from Brahma (the Veda), and Brahma arises from the Imperishable. Hence the all-pervading Brahman is ever established in sacrifice.

Word meanings

कर्म – action
ब्रह्मोद्भवम् – arising from Brahma (the Veda)
विद्धि – know
ब्रह्म – Brahma, the Veda
अक्षरसमुद्भवम् – arising from the Imperishable
तस्मात् – therefore
सर्वगतम् – all-pervading
ब्रह्म – Brahman
नित्यम् – ever
यज्ञे – in sacrifice
प्रतिष्ठितम् – is established

Anvaya (word order)

कर्म ब्रह्मोद्भवं विद्धि; ब्रह्म अक्षरसमुद्भवम् । तस्मात् सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम् ।

Explanation

The last verse said that action is the root of yajna. Now the Lord carries the chain higher still, to its ultimate source. The ordinance of action comes from the Veda; the Veda issues from the Akshara, the Imperishable Supreme. Karma Yoga is thus not a mere social convention; it is linked with the divine order.

Shankara takes ‘Brahma’ here as the Veda and ‘Akshara’ as the Supreme Brahman, saying that the Veda prescribes action and is itself the manifestation of the Supreme, like His breath. Ramanuja also offers a reading in which ‘Brahma’ is Prakriti and ‘Akshara’ the individual soul, but the overall conclusion is the same: action is part of the Lord's own arrangement.

‘Sarva-gatam brahma nityam yajne pratishthitam’ means that the all-pervading Supreme is ever present in sacrifice. When action is done selflessly, as an offering, it becomes a bridge to God. Sacrificial action is therefore no instrument of worldly pleasure but a form of worship.

The verse teaches that even our ordinary duties, done in the spirit of yajna, let us feel the presence of the Divine within them.

Context

Having made action the basis of yajna in 3.14, the Lord now reveals the divine origin of the cycle. In 3.16 He will criticise the one who does not follow this cycle.

Life lesson

When we do our ordinary duty as an offering to God, it is filled with sanctity and meaning. Work then stops being mere labour and becomes worship.

Key terms

Brahma (Veda): the Veda, source of the injunction to act
Akshara: the Imperishable Supreme
Yajna-pratishthita Brahman: the Supreme established in sacrifice