Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 4

Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते ।
न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ॥

Transliteration

na karmaṇāmanārambhānnaiṣkarmyaṃ puruṣo.aśnute .
na ca saṃnyasanādeva siddhiṃ samadhigacchati ॥

Meaning

A person does not reach freedom from action by merely abstaining from work, nor does he attain perfection by renunciation alone.

Word meanings

न – not
कर्मणाम् – of actions
अनारम्भात् – by non-commencement
नैष्कर्म्यम् – freedom from action
पुरुषः – a person
अश्नुते – attains
न – not
च – and
संन्यसनात् – by renunciation
एव – alone
सिद्धिम् – perfection
समधिगच्छति – reaches

Anvaya (word order)

पुरुषः कर्मणाम् अनारम्भात् नैष्कर्म्यम् न अश्नुते; संन्यसनात् एव च सिद्धिम् न समधिगच्छति ।

Explanation

Having said that there are two paths, Krishna now removes two tempting shortcuts. The first shortcut belongs to the active person: "If knowledge is the goal, I will simply stop acting." The Lord replies that mere abstention from work does not yield naishkarmya, the state of freedom from the bondage of action. Nobody becomes actionless by refusing to act, just as nobody becomes healthy by refusing to eat.

The second shortcut belongs to the aspirant who wishes to skip the road: "Let me take up the outward robe of renunciation and be done." The Lord says that sannyasa taken up merely as an outward act does not by itself bring siddhi, perfection. A change of clothes or of address leaves the restless mind exactly as it was.

Shankara explains naishkarmya as the state of abiding as the actionless Self, which is reached only by knowledge, and he says karma performed without desire first cleanses the mind so that such knowledge can arise. Hence action cannot be bypassed by one who is not yet ripe. Ramanuja reads the verse as saying that without engaging in prescribed action the aspirant cannot reach even the vision of the Self, because knowledge ripens through the practice of duty offered to God. Madhva likewise says renunciation without knowledge and devotion does not give release.

The practical wisdom is easy to see. A student who skips the daily practice and hopes for sudden mastery fails; so does the businessman who "gives up" his work out of frustration and only carries the same anxiety into idleness. Real inner freedom is a change in the doer's attitude, not just in his schedule.

Notice how the verse keeps both paths honest. The way of action is not a licence for endless busyness, and the way of renunciation is not an escape from responsibility. Each requires inner maturity. The next verse, 3.5, will show why abstention is impossible in any case, and verses 3.7 and 6.1 return to the idea that the true renunciate is the one who acts without attachment to the fruit.

Context

Arjuna assumed that giving up action was the way to the highest good. After speaking of two disciplines in 3.3, the Lord now says that abandoning action, by itself, yields neither naishkarmya nor siddhi. With this verse begins the argument for the unavoidability of action.

Life lesson

Running from work is no solution. Peace comes not from outward inactivity but from inner non-attachment. Purify the mind through duty well done; showy renunciation changes nothing.

Key terms

Naishkarmya: freedom from the bondage of action; actionless state of the Self
Sannyasa: renunciation of actions and their fruits
Siddhi: perfection; attainment of knowledge and liberation