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Chapter 5 · Action in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness · 29 verses

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Duty & actionChapter 5 · Action in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness
5.125.14

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 5.13

Detached action performed in devotion

सर्वकर्माणि मनसा सन्न्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी ।

नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥ १३ ॥

sarva-karmāṇi manasā

sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśī

nava-dvāre pure dehī

naiva kurvan na kārayan

Translation

When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done.

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.

Happy Within the Body

  1. 1By controlling his nature and mentally renouncing actions, the soul lives happily in the body, neither working nor causing work.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that nature’s modes govern bodily activities. Kṛṣṇa consciousness restores the soul’s real position, beyond bodily conditions.
  3. 3Practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness rather than identifying yourself with the material body.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 5, Action in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness: detached action performed in devotion.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Act dutifully without attachment to fruits.

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Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: karma, sva-dharma.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 5.13 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.

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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 5.2Detached action performed in devotionBG 5.3Detached action performed in devotionBG 2.47Responsibility without ownership of outcomesBG 3.21Leadership by example

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

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Ask about BG 5.13 — 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.