Chapter 3 · Verse 5 · Karma Yoga
Bhagavad Gita 3.5
Sanskrit
न हि कश्िचत्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत्। कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः।।3.5।।
Transliteration
na hi kaśhchit kṣhaṇam api jātu tiṣhṭhatyakarma-kṛit kāryate hyavaśhaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛiti-jair guṇaiḥ
In plain words
You are trapped in the paralysis of wondering what you're meant to do, or you're exhausted from trying to control everything through sheer force of will. Krishna says: you cannot stop moving, cannot stop acting—but you can stop the exhausting pretense of having to know it all or manage every outcome. The real freedom is not in finding the perfect action; it's in acting from your honest heart, offering what you do to something larger than your fear, and trusting that you are already part of something alive and unfolding.
Word by Word
Krishna reveals the fundamental truth that inaction is impossible—every being is propelled by the gunas, the three qualities of nature, into ceaseless action whether conscious or not. This is not a curse but an invitation: you cannot escape action, so the question becomes not whether to act, but how to act with wisdom and surrender.
When you stop resisting your nature and instead offer your actions as service to something greater than yourself, you transform from a slave of compulsion into an instrument of grace.
Listen
Bhagavad Gita 3.5 — BG 3.5
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