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Chapter 3 · Karma-yoga · 43 verses

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Duty & actionChapter 3 · Karma-yoga
3.243.26

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 3.25

Exemplary action and leadership by example

सक्ताः कर्मण्यविद्वांसो यथा कुर्वन्ति भारत ।

कुर्याद्विद्वांस्तथासक्तश्चिकीर्षुर्लोकसङ्‍‍ग्रहम् ॥ २५ ॥

saktāḥ karmaṇy avidvāṁso

yathā kurvanti bhārata

kuryād vidvāṁs tathāsaktaś

cikīrṣur loka-saṅgraham

Translation

As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, the learned may similarly act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

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

Act Without Attachment

  1. 1The learned do their duties without attachment to results, guiding others on the right path.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that similar actions can serve different desires: pleasing one's senses or pleasing Kṛṣṇa.
  3. 3Set an example by acting to please Kṛṣṇa and using the results for Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 3, Karma-yoga: exemplary action and leadership by example.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Act dutifully without attachment to fruits.

2

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: karma, sva-dharma.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 3.25 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.

4

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 3.19Exemplary action and leadership by exampleBG 3.20Exemplary action and leadership by exampleBG 2.47Responsibility without ownership of outcomes

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

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Ask about BG 3.25 — 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.