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Chapter 3 · Karma-yoga · 43 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Duty & actionChapter 3 · Karma-yoga

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 3.34

Act according to your proper duty

Prakṛti · Material nature

इन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे रागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ ।

तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत्तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ ॥ ३४ ॥

indriyasyendriyasyārthe

rāga-dveṣau vyavasthitau

tayor na vaśam āgacchet

tau hy asya paripanthinau

Translation

There are principles to regulate attachment and aversion pertaining to the senses and their objects. One should not come under the control of such attachment and aversion, because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

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

3 study points

Freedom from Sense Attachment

  1. 1

    Do not let attachment or aversion to sense objects control you; both block self-realization.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that scriptural rules limit sense enjoyment, but loving service to Kṛṣṇa frees us from sense attachment.

  3. 3

    Follow scriptural rules without becoming attached to permitted enjoyment, and stay engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s loving service.

Key points from the purport

Gradually purify them (conditioned souls) by dovetailing their sense enjoyment propensities according to religious duty

Stumbling blocks on path of self-realization (3.34)

Attachment and aversion pertaining to senses and their objects

How to get out of it (3.34)

Do not come under the control of such attachment and aversion

There are principles to regulate attachment and aversion

Connected verses · 1

Texts 3.33 & 3.34

Maya, despite one’s intelligence, is invested with the potency to push

a conditioned soul away from Krishna consciousness. The next verse answers the question, “If we all are helplessly forced to act according to our natures, what is the use of so many rules in the sastra to regulate our activities?”

Further reading

Niskama-Karma To Set Correct Example

Dutifully acting without attachment sets the correct example for others, who are less advanced

Chapter 3, section IV: Niskama-Karma To Set Correct Example
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. indriyasyaof the senses
  2. indriyasya arthein the sense objects
  3. rāgaattachment
  4. dveṣaualso detachment
  5. vyavasthitauput under regulations
  6. tayoḥof them
  7. nanever
  8. vaśamcontrol
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Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: karma, sva-dharma.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 3.34 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to duty & action?

Practice

Do one task today purely because it is right.

5

The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 3 ›
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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

Live this todayFaithful to Your Prescribed DutyA practice from BG 3.35, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.