BG 3.11 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.11Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

देवान्भावयतानेन ते देवा भावयन्तु वः । परस्परं भावयन्तः श्रेयः परमवाप्स्यथ ॥

devānbhāvayatānena te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ

parasparaṃ bhāvayantaḥ śreyaḥ paramavāpsyatha

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

meaning

Nourish the gods through sacrifice, and they will nourish you in return; by sustaining each other this way, you will reach the highest good.

ekras · bhāṣya

Bhavayata — the imperative addressed to the yajamana: cause the devas to thrive. The reciprocity comes in the next clause — te deva bhavayantu vah — let those devas in turn cause you to thrive. The yajamana gives havis to the devas; the devas give rain, food, progeny back. Each makes the other thrive. The picture is not transactional in the merchant sense; it is the picture of a household where each member sustains every other.

Ramanuja goes deeper. The devas being propitiated are not independent powers; they are macccharirabhutan madatmakan — the body and the self of Bhagavan. The real recipient of every offering is Vishnu. The givers and receivers are not two separate parties bartering; they are two sides of one organism, breathing together.

Madhusudana reads the verse on two levels at once. On the surface, the yajamana nourishes Indra and the devas with havis; the devas return rain and abundance. Beneath that, the same yajna, performed without phala-sanga, becomes the chitta-shuddhi means that conducts the practitioner toward jnana. Both are happening in one act. The closing word is shreyah param — the highest good. Not just material flourishing. The mutual nourishing, when sustained, conducts the participant toward the destination the chapter has been pointing at since 2.39. The verse is the structural justification for karma-yoga: action performed in this reciprocal mode is not a chain holding the doer; it is the very means by which the worldly system sustains itself and the inner self ripens.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 3.10

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.

What's going on

Nourish the gods through sacrifice, and they will nourish you in return; by sustaining each other this way, you will reach the highest good.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

2.72Old-age renunciation is off topic here.───→here3.11───→3.15He refutes by saying na ca.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→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───→here3.11───→3.30Offer all your acts

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.11───→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───→here3.11───→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───→here3.11───→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,───→here3.11───→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───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.11───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

2.50Nanu opens, smṛti runs nine deep.───→here3.11───→3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga literal, not external schools.───→here3.11───→3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

2.68Supply marks the chapter-seal gap.───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.11───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.11───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.11───→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

───→here3.11───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here3.11───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.11───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here3.11───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.11───→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───→here3.11───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.11───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.11───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.11───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.11───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.11───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.11───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here3.11───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here3.11───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.11───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.11───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here3.11───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.11───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.11───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.11───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here3.11───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here3.11───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

3.3Two paths, named───→here3.11───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

2.63Anger to ruin───→here3.11───→3.37Kāma is the enemy

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.───→here3.11───→3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.11───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here3.11───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here3.11───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here3.11───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.11───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.11───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.11───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.9Sacrifice-frame frees the act.───→here3.11───→3.30Surrender every act.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.11───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.───→here3.11───→3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

───→here3.11───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.11───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.11───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here3.11───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→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.───→here3.11───→3.20Even Janaka acted; the wise still do.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.11───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.11───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.11───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (10 unique · 13 occurrences)

भावयत·भावयन्तु·भावयन्तः √bhāvay ×3 — to bring into being, contemplate (causative of √bhū) · present imperative 2nd person plural verb / present imperative 3rd person plural verb / nominative masculine plural present participle verb
देवान्·देवाः deva ×2 — god, deity, celestial being; the devas · accusative masculine plural noun / nominative masculine plural noun
श्रेयः śreyas — better, superior; the higher good (vs preyas, the pleasant) · accusative neuter singular noun
अवाप्स्यथ √avāp — to obtain (ava- + √āp 'reach') · future indicative 2nd person plural verb

show all 10

कथम् katham — how?
अनेन idam — this (proximal demonstrative) · instrumental masculine singular noun
ते tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine plural noun
वः tvad — you (2nd person pronoun stem) · accusative plural noun
परस्परम् paraspara — mutual, reciprocal (para + spara) · accusative masculine singular noun
परम् para — highest, supreme, beyond, other · accusative neuter singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If Śaṅkara treats yajña as merely preparatory for jñāna, does performing it with full attention already constitute jñāna in action — or does the ladder metaphor imply yajña is dispensable once jñāna dawns?
02Rāmānuja's claim that devas are the body of Bhagavān transforms ecology into theology: does the mutual-nourishment circuit (rain → grain → oblation → rain) describe a natural process, a theological one, or is that distinction itself the thing being dissolved?

show all 7

03Madhva flags the verse as arthavāda (laudatory context); what is at stake theologically if the mutual-nourishment passage is praise-poetry rather than injunction — does it weaken or strengthen the case for yajña?
04All six schools converge on 'paraṃ śreyas' as the endpoint, yet Śaṅkara reads mokṣa, Madhusūdana reads svarga-then-mokṣa, and Śrīdhara reads abhīṣṭa-artha (desired aim). What does the word śreyas itself preserve that 'good' or 'welfare' flattens out?
05Vallabha insists this is niyata-karma (ordained action) not kāmya-karma (desire-action): is the recipient of the fruit the same person in both cases, or does niyata-karma erase the very subject who desires?
06The verse encodes a reciprocal economy (bhāvayata → bhāvayantu). Which contemporary systems — ecological, economic, communal — still run on explicit reciprocity logic, and what breaks when that explicitness is lost?
07Madhusūdana's two-level reading (tṛpti for devas, svarga for humans) suggests different beings have different grades of śreyas from the same act. Does this gradation validate hierarchy or does it describe differentiated participation in a single event?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When performing any obligatory act — filing taxes, caring for aging parents, showing up to routine work — do it fully without auditing the return. Śaṅkara's logic: the action maintains the world's fabric; your non-attachment is the inner yajña that quietly erodes the ego. The gain is not the result but the loosening of grasping itself.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Treat every institution you serve — team, family, community — as part of a larger living body in which Bhagavān is the inner Self. Your effort sustains it; it sustains you. Rāmānuja's contribution: the service is not transactional but participatory — you are not trading with the body, you are the body serving itself.

show all 6

Dvaita

Acknowledge dependence clearly: you are not self-sufficient. Madhva's practical edge is epistemic humility — your abilities, your rain, your bread are not yours by right. Build gratitude into every routine by naming the actual sources of what sustains you, then act from that named dependence rather than assumed autonomy.

Śuddhādvaita

Perform your household duties — cooking, earning, child-rearing — as prasāda (grace-offering) rather than as transactions. Vallabha's point: the ordained tasks of your station are already the path; no separate spiritual practice is required. The ātyantikaṃ śreyas (absolute good) is available inside the ordinary, not beyond it.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's reciprocity is practical: whatever you receive — a meal, a salary, a sunny day — was produced by someone else's labor or grace. Build reciprocity into daily life explicitly: acknowledge it, return it, pass it forward. The devotional coloring is gratitude as a living posture, not a one-time transaction.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's two-register reading suggests you can hold both pragmatic and transcendent frames simultaneously. Attend fully to the practical exchange — do your work well, honor your obligations — while inwardly orienting toward the larger aim. The svarga (immediate flourishing) and mokṣa (liberation) are not competing goals but nested ones: excel at the near, hold the far.

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 11: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga