Step 4 of 7 · 5 min

Study a Verse

Pick any verse to see what it means and how to use it in your life.

  1. 1Tap a chapter, then a verse
  2. 2Read what it means
  3. 3Try the practice
700 verses37 detailed
Or browse by chapter
Chapter

Chapter 3 · Karma-yoga · 43 verses

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243

Deep profile← → keys move between verses

Questions & crisisChapter 3 · Karma-yoga
2.723.2

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 3.1

Arjuna asks about action and knowledge

अर्जुन उवाच

ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन ।

तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि केशव ॥ १ ॥

arjuna uvāca

jyāyasī cet karmaṇas te

matā buddhir janārdana

tat kiṁ karmaṇi ghore māṁ

niyojayasi keśava

Translation

Arjuna said: O Janārdana, O Keśava, why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

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

Arjuna Asks About Action

  1. 1Arjuna asks why Kṛṣṇa wants him to fight in such terrible warfare if intelligence is better than work for results.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that Arjuna mistook Kṛṣṇa consciousness for withdrawal from active life and wanted to use it to avoid fighting.
  3. 3Like Arjuna, sincerely ask for guidance rather than use Kṛṣṇa consciousness as an excuse to avoid action.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 3, Karma-yoga: arjuna asks about action and knowledge.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Honest questions open the way to wisdom.

2

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: saṁśaya, viṣāda.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 3.1 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to questions & crisis?

Practice

Write down the real question behind your current dilemma.

4

The story behind it

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

All stories for chapter 3 ›
5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 3.2Arjuna asks about action and knowledgeBG 1.28Compassion entangled with attachmentBG 1.46The bow falls

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

Ask the study guide

Ask about BG 3.1 — get a simple answer linked to related ideas and verses.

Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.