Bhagavad Gita 3.22-24

Sanskrit

न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन । नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि ॥3.22॥यदि ह्यहं न वर्तेयं जातु कर्मण्यतन्द्रितः । मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ॥3.23॥उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका न कुर्यां कर्म चेदहम् । सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः ॥3.24॥

Transliteration

na me pārthāsti kartavyaṃ triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana | nānavāptamavāptavyaṃ varta eva ca karmaṇi ‖3.22‖ yadi hyahaṃ na varteyaṃ jātu karmaṇyatandritaḥ | mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ ‖3.23‖ utsīdeyurime lokā na kuryāṃ karma cedaham | saṅkarasya ca kartā syāmupahanyāmimāḥ prajāḥ ‖3.24‖

Meaning

“There is nothing in the three worlds, O Partha, that I must do, nothing unattained to be attained, yet I engage in action. For if I did not engage tirelessly in action, people would follow My path in every way. These worlds would perish if I did not perform action; I would be the author of confusion and would destroy these beings.”

Key learning

Even someone with nothing left to gain keeps working hard, because the moment the leader stops, everyone below follows. Being at the top doesn't free you from effort. Your visible hard work is actually what holds everyone else's effort up.

How to apply this today

If you lead anything, a team, a family, a group, your effort isn't optional, it's holding things together. A boss who starts coasting signals the whole team to coast. A parent who stops growing tells the household it's fine to stop too. Do this: when you're in charge, keep working visibly hard, because others are taking their cue from you.

Theme: The Yoga of Action

This verse is part of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3: Karma Yoga , read all verses in this chapter.

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