Chapter 3 · Verse 17 · Karma Yoga
Bhagavad Gita 3.17
Sanskrit
यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्च मानवः। आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते।।3.17।।
Transliteration
yas tvātma-ratir eva syād ātma-tṛiptaśh cha mānavaḥ ātmanyeva cha santuṣhṭas tasya kāryaṁ na vidyate
In plain words
You've been running in circles looking for the answer outside yourself — the right job, the right relationship, the right thing to do — because stopping feels like falling. Krishna says: the exhaustion you feel isn't because you haven't found the answer yet; it's because you're seeking peace in a place that will never hold it. When you turn inward and find even a moment of being okay with who you are right now, the frantic reaching stops, and from that quiet place, the real answer becomes clear.
Word by Word
When a human being is absorbed in the joy of the Self alone—satisfied within, needing nothing from the world—there arises a profound freedom where action becomes purposeless because the actor has dissolved into pure being. This is not laziness or withdrawal, but the natural completion of the spiritual journey where the restless seeking finally rests.
For us today, this means discovering that our frantic doing often masks a hunger for something the world cannot give—and that moment of inner satisfaction is where true freedom begins.
Listen
Bhagavad Gita 3.17 — BG 3.17
Your Mantra Prescription
This mantra is prescribed for clarity and purpose. Is that what you're going through?
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