BG 3.10 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.10Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

सहयज्ञाः प्रजाः सृष्ट्वा पुरोवाच प्रजापतिः ।

अनेन प्रसविष्यध्वमेष वो ऽस्त्विष्टकामधुक् ॥

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā purovāca prajāpatiḥ

anena prasaviṣyadhvam eṣa vo 'stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

In the beginning, the Lord of Creatures brought forth humanity together with sacrifice and said: "Grow and thrive through this, for it is your wish-granting cow.

ekras · bhāṣya

Krishna gives the cosmological frame for yajna. "At the beginning, Prajapati emitted the prajas together with yajna, saying — by this you shall flourish. Let this be your ishta-kama-dhuk — the cow that gives every wished-for thing." The picture is primordial. At the moment of creation, Prajapati did not first make creatures and then later teach them sacrifice. The two were emitted together. Yajna was given as the constitutive activity of human life from the start.

Ramanuja reads Prajapati not as a secondary deity but as the supreme Narayana himself, citing the Taittiriya: patim vishvasya atmeshvaram. Out of compassion, seeing beings dissolved into avidya at the start of each cycle, the Lord emitted them with the very means of their flourishing already in their hands. Yajna is not an obligation imposed from outside; it is the structural feature of being a creature. The closing image is the kama-dhuk — the cow that gives the wished-for thing. Yajna performed faithfully yields whatever the performer needs. The metaphor is gentle. Not a transactional contract; a relationship of feeding and being fed. The cow gives milk because the cow is a cow; yajna gives flourishing because yajna is what humans were emitted to do.

Madhusudana adds the doctrinal precision: yajna here is upalakshana — a stand-in — for all avashyaka-karma, all obligatory action. Even nityakarma yields incidental anushangika fruit. The cosmological frame extends the operational rule of 3.9 backward to creation itself.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 3.9

Work done as an offering to the Lord does not bind you, but any other action chains you to this world, so act for that purpose alone, free from attachment.

What's going on

In the beginning, the Lord of Creatures brought forth humanity together with sacrifice and said: “Grow and thrive through this, for it is your wish-granting cow.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

2.72Old-age renunciation is off topic here.───→here3.10───→3.15He refutes by saying na ca.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.10───→5.13Lay down all acts in mind; sit at ease, body free.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

3.8Even keeping the body alive requires action.───→here3.10───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

show all 73

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind───→here3.10───→3.30Offer all your acts

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.10───→5.13Nine-gated city, all karma laid down

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

3.5'Na hi kashchit kshanam api jatu tishthaty akarma-krit.' No one stays inactive e───→here3.10───→3.21'Yad yad acharati shreshthas tat tad evetaro janah.' Whatever the leader does, o

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

2.50Thumb. Kausalam. 'Yogah karmasu kausalam' is the line Gaurav opens the whole mne───→here3.10───→3.27Palm, kartala. Akartritva, non-doership. 'Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani s

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

2.22'Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya' — body as worn-out clothes. Sister verse to 2.13,───→here3.10───→3.27Karma pillar. The 'ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate' line is where Gaura

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm───→here3.10───→5.4'Sankhya-yogau prithag balah pravadanti na panditah.' Only the immature say sank

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

3.3Two paths for two kinds — never combined.───→here3.10───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.10───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.10───→4.13The four orders are the Puruṣa's own body.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

3.1Self in chapter two; sādhana opens here.───→here3.10───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

3.4Both śruti and smṛti held in support.───→here3.10───→3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhabetween

2.50Nanu opens, smṛti runs nine deep.───→here3.10───→3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga literal, not external schools.───→here3.10───→3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

2.68Supply marks the chapter-seal gap.───→here3.10───→3.15Iti viṣṇoḥ iti śeṣaḥ supplies referent.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningbetween

3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.───→here3.10───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.10───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here3.10───→3.30Even a seeker not-yet-pure offers, drops fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.───→here3.10───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.10───→4.34Approach a knower; knowing is not earned by action.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.───→here3.10───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.10───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.10───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here3.10───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here3.10───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.10───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here3.10───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.10───→4.11Fruit proportional to the service offered.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaexit

2.11'Ashochyan anvashochas tvam prajna-vadamsh cha bhashase.' You grieve those not t───→here3.10───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.10───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.10───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.10───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.10───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.10───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.10───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.10───→4.39Faith earns knowing; work readies that faith.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

2.71The steady seer walks with no want, no mine.───→here3.10───→3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here3.10───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here3.10───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.10───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.10───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here3.10───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.10───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.10───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.10───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here3.10───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here3.10───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

3.3Two paths, named───→here3.10───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

2.63Anger to ruin───→here3.10───→3.37Kāma is the enemy

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.───→here3.10───→3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.10───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here3.10───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here3.10───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here3.10───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.10───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.10───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.10───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.9Sacrifice-frame frees the act.───→here3.10───→3.30Surrender every act.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.10───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.───→here3.10───→3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)approach

───→here3.10───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.10───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.10───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here3.10───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.10───→4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

3.1Knowing versus acting is the wrong cut.───→here3.10───→7.1Together they cover everything to be known.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

2.20The soul is conscious but only as reflection.───→here3.10───→3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

3.4If non-action freed, plants would already be free.───→here3.10───→3.20Even Janaka acted; the wise still do.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.10───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.10───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.10───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (15 unique · 15 occurrences)

प्रजाः prajā — offspring, progeny, creatures (pra- + √jan) · accusative feminine plural noun · also at 3.11, 3.24, 10.6
अनेन idam — this (proximal demonstrative) · instrumental masculine singular noun
सृष्ट्वा sṛj — to release, create, emit (verbal root) · conv
प्रजापतिः prajāpati — Lord of creatures (prajā + pati) · nominative masculine singular noun · also at 11.39
प्रसविष्यध्वम् pra-√sū — to bring forth, give birth (pra- + √sū) · future cond 2nd person plural verb

show all 15

सह saha — with, together with
यज्ञाः yajña — sacrifice, worship, ritual offering · accusative feminine plural noun · also at 4.28
पुरा purā — formerly, of old
उवाच √vac — to speak (verbal root) · past indicative 3rd person singular verb
एष etad — this (proximal demonstrative) · nominative masculine singular noun
वः tvad — you (2nd person pronoun stem) · genitive plural noun
अस्तु √as — to be (verbal root) · present imperative 3rd person singular verb
इष्ट √iṣ — to wish, desire (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member)
काम kāma — desire, lust, sensual pleasure · compound
दुह् duh — to milk, yield (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If Prajāpati ordained yajña at creation as the universal mechanism of thriving, does every act of reciprocal exchange — taxation, gift, trade, ritual — participate in a cosmic economy rather than being merely human convention?
02All six commentators agree that yajña here stands for obligatory duty in general: what makes an action 'obligatory' — its social assignment, its inner necessity, or Bhagavān's prior command? And who decides when that assignment changes?

show all 7

03Śaṅkara treats iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk as a concession to the fruit-desiring adhikārin, while Madhusūdana argues even nityakarma naturally produces incidental fruit — is there actually a difference between the two positions in practice, or only in rhetorical framing?
04Rāmānuja's Prajāpati is Nārāyaṇa himself acting out of karuṇā (compassion) for beings dissolved in pralaya — how does the motive of the creator affect the obligatory status of the created creature's action? If compassion created the duty, does compassion also limit it?
05Madhva collapses the verse to arthavāda (motivational praise) in two words — is that reduction philosophically defensible, or does it foreclose the metaphysical density Rāmānuja and Madhusūdana excavate? When is terse enough too terse?
06Prasava means both 'birth' and 'increase' — is Prajāpati's command a one-time creation event or an ongoing instruction? Does yajña sustain existence continuously, or merely initiate it?
07If iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk (the wish-fulfilling cow) is the stated reward and mokṣa is only implied by some schools: what kind of practitioner needs the promise of desired ends to begin practicing, and is there a developmental arc where that motivation becomes unnecessary?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before performing any routine obligation — filing taxes, cooking a meal, meeting a deadline — pause for one breath and mentally release the result. The act is Prajāpati's ordinance, not your invention; the fruit belongs to the field, not to you. This is not indifference but precision: the antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument) stays clean for the inquiry that follows work.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Treat your daily occupation as kainkarya (service) offered to Bhagavān: before beginning any task, explicitly dedicate it to Nārāyaṇa. The dedication does not change the task's external form — the report still gets written, the patient still gets treated — but it transforms the interior relationship to outcome from grasping to offering, which Rāmānuja identifies as the seed of bhakti-yoga.

show all 6

Dvaita

When tempted to abandon a duty because it seems futile or unrewarding, remember that the duty was not self-assigned — it was ordained by Hari at creation. Performing it is an act of ontological alignment with one's nature as a dependent jīva; skipping it is not liberation but confusion about what kind of being you are. Show up fully to what is assigned.

Śuddhādvaita

Every vocation — teaching, healing, building, parenting — contains within it a complete path to the highest good (paraṃ śreyas), provided it is performed with full energy and offered to Kṛṣṇa. Do not wait for a separate spiritual practice to begin after work ends. The desk, the kitchen, the workshop floor: these are the yajña-kunda (fire-altar) of Puṣṭi-mārga.

Bhakti

Distinguish between what you are obligated to do (āvaśyaka-karma) and what you merely want to do (kāmya-karma). Śrīdhara's practical teaching: build your day around the irreducible obligations first — those are your yajña. The 'desired fruits' will arise incidentally, like shade from a tree you planted for its fruit; engineering them directly is the lesser use of your energy.

Advaita-Bhakti

When good things arrive as by-products of doing your duty well — recognition, money, connection — receive them as Āpastamba's shade-and-fragrance, not as proof that you calculated correctly. Madhusūdana's distinction is actionable: notice whether you are adjusting your behavior to maximize incidental fruit (that is kāmya-karma by another name) or continuing with the prescribed action regardless (that is nityakarma). The difference is interior, invisible to observers, and entirely yours to maintain.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 3, Verse 10: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga