Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 16

Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

एवं प्रवर्तितं चक्रं नानुवर्तयतीह यः ।
अघायुरिन्द्रियारामो मोघं पार्थ स जीवति ॥

Transliteration

evaṃ pravartitaṃ cakraṃ nānuvartayatīha yaḥ .
aghāyurindriyārāmo moghaṃ pārtha sa jīvati ॥

Meaning

O Partha, one who does not follow here the wheel thus set in motion — sinful in life and delighting in the senses — lives in vain.

Word meanings

एवम् – thus
प्रवर्तितम् – set in motion
चक्रम् – the wheel, cycle
न अनुवर्तयति – does not follow
इह – here, in this world
यः – who
अघायुः – whose life is sinful
इन्द्रियारामः – delighting in the senses
मोघम् – in vain
पार्थ – O Partha
सः – he
जीवति – lives

Anvaya (word order)

पार्थ, एवं प्रवर्तितं चक्रं यः इह न अनुवर्तयति, सः अघायुः इन्द्रियारामः मोघं जीवति ।

Explanation

The Lord now draws the moral from the cycle of giving and receiving described in the previous verses. He compares it to a wheel, chakra, set turning by the Creator. The one who lives in this world and does not help the wheel to turn, taking from it but never contributing, is called aghayu, one whose life is sinful, and indriyarama, one who delights only in the senses. Such a person, the Lord says bluntly, lives in vain, mogham jivati.

The harshness of the verse is aimed at a particular attitude: the person who treats the world as a supermarket. He benefits from the work of farmers, teachers, mothers, builders and rulers, from the earth and from the ancestors, and yet he asks only what he can get. His life is a series of withdrawals with no deposit.

Shankara explains that the one who does not follow the wheel of duties laid down in the scriptures lives a life of sin and sense-pleasure, and lives uselessly, for he does not even attempt the purification that leads to knowledge. Ramanuja reads the verse as condemning the neglect of the sacrificial duties prescribed for one's station, since these are forms of worship of the Lord. Madhva observes that such a person forgets the One who sustains the wheel itself.

The word "mogham", in vain, deserves a moment. It does not say that the person is evil in every way, only that his life produces nothing of lasting value. Even great wealth and enjoyment pass away, leaving the person unchanged. By contrast, an ordinary life of honest service, with no money or fame, bears fruit in the lives of others.

A simple test follows for us. Look at a day and ask: what did I take, and what did I give? A home, a workplace or a nation that works on this principle thrives, and the person who contributes finds that his own heart is also nourished. This verse should be read together with 3.12 and 3.13, which describe the thief who enjoys gifts without offering anything back, and with 4.31, where the non-giver finds no happiness in either world.

Context

This verse closes the discussion of the yajna-cycle (3.9–3.16). In 3.17 the Lord goes on to describe the knower who rejoices in the Self and for whom no obligation of duty remains.

Life lesson

Merely taking without giving hollows out life. Find your contribution to society, family and nature; there lies the meaning of living.

Key terms

Chakra: the wheel of mutual dependence of creation and sacrifice
Aghayu: one whose life is full of sin
Indriyarama: one who delights in sense pleasure