📿 Shloka Collection

Jyayasi Chet Karmanaste

Gita 3.1 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3 — Karma Yoga
ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन ।
तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि केशव ॥
Jyayasi chet karmanaste mata buddhir Janardana
Tat kim karmani ghore mam niyojayasi Keshava
ज्यायसी
superior, better
चेत्
if
कर्मणः
than action
ते मता
in your opinion
बुद्धिः
knowledge, intellect
जनार्दन
O Janardana (Krishna)
तत् किम्
then why
कर्मणि घोरे
in this terrible action, in war
माम्
me
नियोजयसि
you engage, you urge

Chapter Three opens with Arjuna's voice, not Krishna's. In the previous chapter, Krishna spoke at length about the glory of knowledge and wisdom. Arjuna heard all of it. And now a very natural doubt has risen in his mind: if knowledge is higher than action, why is Krishna asking him to plunge into the horror of battle?

The question is honest and direct. Arjuna addresses Krishna by two names here: Janardana and Keshava. Both are terms of deep affection and trust. He is not arguing. He is genuinely confused, like a student who has listened carefully to two different lessons and cannot see how they fit together.

Every spiritual seeker hits this fork at some point. Should I withdraw from the world and seek knowledge? Or should I stay in the thick of life and act? Arjuna's confusion is the doorway through which the entire teaching of Karma Yoga will now unfold.

This shloka follows directly from Chapter 2, where Krishna described the nature of the soul and the path of wisdom. In verse 2.49, Krishna called action inferior to the yoga of intellect. Arjuna picks up on exactly that statement here.

The entire third chapter is Krishna's response to this question. The answer, in short: knowledge and action are not opposites. They are partners.

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