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Chapter 3 · Karma-yoga · 43 verses

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Duty & actionChapter 3 · Karma-yoga
3.73.9

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 3.8

Why disciplined, selfless action is necessary

नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मणः ।

शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येदकर्मणः ॥ ८ ॥

niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ

karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ

śarīra-yātrāpi ca te

na prasidhyed akarmaṇaḥ

Translation

Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain one’s physical body without work.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

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

Perform Your Prescribed Duty

  1. 1Do your prescribed duty: work is better than inaction, and even the body needs work to survive.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that Kṛṣṇa wanted Arjuna to do his duties, which gradually purify the heart, rather than pretend to renounce work.
  3. 3Carry out your duties instead of giving up work and depending on others while material desires remain.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 3, Karma-yoga: why disciplined, selfless action is necessary.

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 3.8 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

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 3.3Why disciplined, selfless action is necessaryBG 3.4Why disciplined, selfless action is necessaryBG 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 3.8 — 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.