Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 5

Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् ।
कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः ॥

Transliteration

na hi kaścitkṣaṇamapi jātu tiṣṭhatyakarmakṛt .
kāryate hyavaśaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛtijairguṇaiḥ ॥

Meaning

No one can remain even for a moment without acting; for all are helplessly driven to action by the gunas born of Nature.

Word meanings

न – not
हि – for
कश्चित् – anyone
क्षणम् – a moment
अपि – even
जातु – ever
तिष्ठति – remains
अकर्मकृत् – without acting
कार्यते – is made to act
अवशः – helpless, impelled
कर्म – action
सर्वः – all
प्रकृतिजैः – born of Prakriti
गुणैः – by the gunas

Anvaya (word order)

हि कश्चित् जातु क्षणम् अपि अकर्मकृत् न तिष्ठति; हि सर्वः प्रकृतिजैः गुणैः अवशः कर्म कार्यते ।

Explanation

Here the Lord makes an observation about life itself. No one, not even for a single moment, remains without action. The word "kshanam api", even for a moment, is chosen with care. Breathing, digestion, the flicker of thought, the drift of a dream, all go on whether we will them or not. A person sitting perfectly still outwardly is still thinking, wanting, remembering and planning within.

The reason follows: every being is made to act, helplessly, by the gunas born of prakriti, the three strands of sattva, rajas and tamas. These qualities of nature keep the body and mind in motion, and the person who thinks "I am the one who acts" is largely mistaken about who is driving. The word "avashah", helpless, is a quiet humbling of the ego.

Shankara draws the conclusion that the unenlightened cannot give up action by deciding to, since their nature compels them, whereas the knower of the Self sees that the gunas act while the Self does not act at all. Ramanuja stresses that since action is unavoidable for the embodied, it is wiser to direct it into the worship of the Lord, so that it becomes a means of liberation instead of bondage. Madhva reads the verse as saying that even the apparently inactive are acting in obedience to the Lord's will working through nature.

The practical lesson is hard to dodge. Someone who says "I will do nothing" is still choosing something, often laziness, which is itself the working of tamas. Anxious waiting, scrolling, wishing and worrying are all karma too, and usually unproductive karma. Since action cannot be abolished, the real question is the quality and the purpose of the action.

This sets the stage for the next verses, which ask the mind to be disciplined and the work to be offered as yajna, and for 14.5 and 18.59–60, where the Lord returns to how the gunas bind and how Arjuna's own nature would force him to fight even if he refused.

Context

In the previous verse the Lord said that mere abandonment of action does not give perfection. Here He gives the reason: abandoning action is not even possible. In this way He removes the root of Arjuna's argument for withdrawal.

Life lesson

There is no way to avoid action in life, so what matters is the spirit in which we act. Stay alert to your own gunas and habits, lest they drive you unawares.

Key terms

Prakritija gunas: sattva, rajas, tamas — the three modes born of Nature
Avasha: helpless, not in one's own control
Akarmakrit: one who remains without acting