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Chapter 3 · Karma-yoga · 43 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.

Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›

Soul & knowledgeChapter 3 · Karma-yoga

3.17 3.19

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 3.18

Self-realization and freedom from selfish need

Jīva · The soul

नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन ।

न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रयः ॥ १८ ॥

naiva tasya kṛtenārtho

nākṛteneha kaścana

na cāsya sarva-bhūteṣu

kaścid artha-vyapāśrayaḥ

Translation

A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Self-Realized Life and Duty

1
A self-realized person has nothing to gain from prescribed duties, no reason to avoid them, and no need to depend on others.
2
Prabhupāda explains that only activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness remain obligatory; these activities fully meet such a person's obligations.
3
Stay active in Kṛṣṇa consciousness—it does not mean doing nothing.

Key points from the purport

These notes cover verses 3.17–18

Self-realized soul is free from all material duties — Yes, one with no material desires and who is already purified has no need of material duties nor has he any aversion to them