📿 Shloka Collection

Na Karmanam Anarambhat

Gita 3.4 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3 — Karma Yoga
न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते ।
न च सन्न्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ॥
Na karmanam anarambhan naishkarmyam purusho'shnute
Na cha sannyasanad eva siddhim samadhigachchhati
not
कर्मणाम् अनारम्भात्
by not beginning actions
नैष्कर्म्यम्
freedom from action, actionlessness
पुरुषः अश्नुते
a person attains
न च
nor
सन्न्यसनात् एव
by renunciation alone
सिद्धिम्
perfection
समधिगच्छति
one attains

Krishna now dismantles a common misunderstanding. Many people assume that if they simply stop doing things, they will reach a state of inner freedom. But stopping the hands does not stop the mind. True freedom from karma is a state of the mind, not of the body.

The second half drives the point further. Taking sannyasa (formal renunciation) by itself does not guarantee spiritual perfection either. Wearing ochre robes and sitting still is not the same as being genuinely free from attachment. The Gita's position is clear: it is not action that binds you. It is attachment within action.

This verse expands on 3.3. The path of Karma Yoga is not about outward renunciation. It is about inward detachment. This distinction runs through the entire Gita.

Gita 5.6 echoes this idea: without yoga, sannyasa only leads to suffering.

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