Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन ।
न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रयः ॥१८॥
naiva tasya kṛtenārtho
nākṛteneha kaścana
na cāsya sarva-bhūteṣu
kaścid artha-vyapāśrayaḥ
Word for word (synonyms)
- na
- never
- eva
- certainly
- tasya
- his
- kṛtena
- by discharge of duty
- arthaḥ
- purpose
- na
- nor
- akṛtena
- without discharge of duty
- iha
- in this world
- kaścana
- whatever
- na
- never
- ca
- and
- asya
- of him
- sarva-bhūteṣu
- in all living beings
- kaścit
- any
- artha
- purpose
- vyapa-āśrayaḥ
- taking shelter of
Translation
A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being.
Purport
A self-realized man is no longer obliged to perform any prescribed duty, save and except activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not inactivity either, as will be explained in the following verses. A Kṛṣṇa conscious man does not take shelter of any person—man or demigod. Whatever he does in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is sufficient in the discharge of his obligation.
What this verse teaches
Self-realized person has no duty
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 3
- Bhagavad-gītā 3.17–20 1966-05-27 · New York
- Bhagavad-gītā 3.11-19 1968-12-27 · Los Angeles
- Bhagavad-gītā 3.18-30 1968-12-30 · Los Angeles
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.