If the cosmic wheel sustains all life, what exactly is the individual's minimum contribution — is any conscientious action sufficient, or is only yajña-intended action (sacrifice-oriented action) valid?

Whoever will not keep this wheel turning lives in sin, Arjuna; gratifying only the senses, his life is wasted. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/16.

Śaṅkara reserves wheel-participation as a preparatory discipline for the ajñānin alone — does the jñānin (Self-knower) who has dropped action also 'turn the wheel' in some subtler sense, or are they genuinely exempt?

Whoever will not keep this wheel turning lives in sin, Arjuna; gratifying only the senses, his life is wasted. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/16.

Rāmānuja links indriyārāma to rajasic-tamasic thickening that forecloses ātmadarśana — is the blockage mechanical (diet and sense-satiation physically suppress sattvic capacity) or moral (desire closes the will)?

Whoever will not keep this wheel turning lives in sin, Arjuna; gratifying only the senses, his life is wasted. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/16.

Madhva reads the wheel as expressing Hari's akṣarāṇi (imperishable principles) — what does it mean for the jīva's eternal distinctness from Brahman that refusing the wheel is described as world-destruction rather than personal sin?

Whoever will not keep this wheel turning lives in sin, Arjuna; gratifying only the senses, his life is wasted. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/16.

Vallabha frames the karma-cakra as Kṛṣṇa's anuśāsana (sacred injunction) within a grace-structure — can a puṣṭi-mārgin (follower of the grace-path) ever legitimately step out of the cycle through direct divine override, or is the cycle itself grace?

Whoever will not keep this wheel turning lives in sin, Arjuna; gratifying only the senses, his life is wasted. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/16.

Madhusūdana says death would be preferable to a life of sense-indulgence — is this a rhetorical intensification or a doctrinal claim that karmic reset (next birth) is genuinely superior to a wasted present life?

Whoever will not keep this wheel turning lives in sin, Arjuna; gratifying only the senses, his life is wasted. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/16.

All six schools converge on the futility of indriyārāma — what is the shared structural logic that makes sense-pleasure specifically the marker of wheel-abandonment, rather than, say, excessive contemplation or social withdrawal?

Whoever will not keep this wheel turning lives in sin, Arjuna; gratifying only the senses, his life is wasted. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/16.

BG 3.16 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.16Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Pārtha · anuṣṭubh

एवं प्रवर्तितं चक्रं नानुवर्तयतीह यः ।

अघायुरिन्द्रियारामो मोघं पार्थ स जीवति ॥

evaṃ pravartitaṃ cakraṃ nānuvartayatīha yaḥ

aghāyur indriyārāmo moghaṃ pārtha sa jīvati

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

meaning

Whoever will not keep this wheel turning lives in sin, Arjuna; gratifying only the senses, his life is wasted.

ekras · bhāṣya

The verse names what becomes of the man who refuses the wheel. "He who does not turn the wheel set in motion here lives an aghayu — a sin-life. Indriyaramah — reveling in the senses — that man, Partha, lives in vain." Three judgments delivered in succession. Aghayu — his very life is sin-shaped. Indriyarama — he revels in the senses, makes the senses themselves his arama, his pleasure-garden. Mogham jivati — he lives uselessly. The verse sums up the cosmological argument of 3.10-3.15 with one stark consequence. The cakra — the wheel of Veda → karma → yajna → rain → food → being — has been turning since Prajapati emitted creatures with sacrifice. The man who is qualified for action and refuses to take his place in the wheel is not just neglecting an option. He is removing his weight from the wheel that fed him.

Ramanuja sharpens it: the body that consumes yajna-shishta food is what suppresses the rajasic and tamasic impulses that would otherwise dominate the antahkarana. Without the food's source in yajna, the body cannot become the vehicle of the inner work. Indriyarama is therefore not just a moral failing but a structural one — the senses, ungoverned by the cycle, become the place the man lives.

Madhusudana names the loss: the purushartha — the goal of human life — is unfulfilled. Whatever years the man passes are mogha — empty in the precise sense of not producing the result a human life is for.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Pārtha

preceded by — BG 3.15

Know that action arises from the Veda, and the Veda from the imperishable; therefore the all-pervading brahma is forever grounded in sacrifice.

What's going on

Whoever will not keep this wheel turning lives in sin, Arjuna; gratifying only the senses, his life is wasted.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

3.15He refutes by saying na ca.───→here3.16───→6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.16───→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.───→here3.16───→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───→here3.16───→3.30Offer all your acts

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.16───→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───→here3.16───→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───→here3.16───→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,───→here3.16───→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───→here3.16───→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.───→here3.16───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.16───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.16───→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.───→here3.16───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.───→here3.16───→4.11Mām is Viṣṇu, not generic absolute.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.───→here3.16───→7.5Parā-prakṛti backed by Pañcarātra.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

2.50Nanu opens, smṛti runs nine deep.───→here3.16───→3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.───→here3.16───→7.5Surrounding clause picks literal Śrī.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

3.15Iti viṣṇoḥ iti śeṣaḥ supplies referent.───→here3.16───→3.17Scope of na vidyate filled by iti śeṣaḥ.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.───→here3.16───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.16───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here3.16───→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.───→here3.16───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.16───→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.───→here3.16───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.16───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.16───→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

───→here3.16───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here3.16───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.16───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.16───→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───→here3.16───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.16───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.16───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.16───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.16───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.16───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.16───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.16───→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.───→here3.16───→3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here3.16───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here3.16───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.16───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.16───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here3.16───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.16───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.16───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.16───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here3.16───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here3.16───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

3.3Two paths, named───→here3.16───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

2.63Anger to ruin───→here3.16───→3.37Kāma is the enemy

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.───→here3.16───→3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.16───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here3.16───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here3.16───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here3.16───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.16───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.16───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.16───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.9Sacrifice-frame frees the act.───→here3.16───→3.30Surrender every act.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.16───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.───→here3.16───→3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

───→here3.16───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.16───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.16───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here3.16───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.16───→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.───→here3.16───→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.───→here3.16───→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.───→here3.16───→3.20Even Janaka acted; the wise still do.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.16───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.16───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.16───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 14 occurrences)

पार्थ pārtha — son of Pṛthā (Kuntī); epithet of Arjuna · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 1.25, 1.26, 1.28, 1.29, 1.30, 2.3 +40
जीवति √jīv — to live (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb

show all 14

एवम् evam — thus, in this way
प्रवर्तितम् pra-√vartay — to set in motion, propel (caus. of pra- + √vṛt) · accusative neuter singular participle noun
चक्रम् cakra — wheel, discus · accusative neuter singular noun
न na — not (negation particle)
अनुवर्तयति anu-√vartay — to follow, conform (caus. of anu- + √vṛt) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
इह iha — here, in this world, in this life
यः yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine singular noun
अघायुः aghāyu — wishing to harm, malicious (agha + āyu) · nominative masculine singular noun
इन्द्रिय indriya — sense, sense-organ; the eleven indriyas (5 jñānendriyas + 5 karmendriyas + manas) · compound
आरामः ārāma — delight, garden, pleasure-grove (ā- + √ram) · nominative masculine singular noun
मोघम् mogha — vain, fruitless · accusative neuter singular noun
स tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If the cosmic wheel sustains all life, what exactly is the individual's minimum contribution — is any conscientious action sufficient, or is only yajña-intended action (sacrifice-oriented action) valid?
02Śaṅkara reserves wheel-participation as a preparatory discipline for the ajñānin alone — does the jñānin (Self-knower) who has dropped action also 'turn the wheel' in some subtler sense, or are they genuinely exempt?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja links indriyārāma to rajasic-tamasic thickening that forecloses ātmadarśana — is the blockage mechanical (diet and sense-satiation physically suppress sattvic capacity) or moral (desire closes the will)?
04Madhva reads the wheel as expressing Hari's akṣarāṇi (imperishable principles) — what does it mean for the jīva's eternal distinctness from Brahman that refusing the wheel is described as world-destruction rather than personal sin?
05Vallabha frames the karma-cakra as Kṛṣṇa's anuśāsana (sacred injunction) within a grace-structure — can a puṣṭi-mārgin (follower of the grace-path) ever legitimately step out of the cycle through direct divine override, or is the cycle itself grace?
06Madhusūdana says death would be preferable to a life of sense-indulgence — is this a rhetorical intensification or a doctrinal claim that karmic reset (next birth) is genuinely superior to a wasted present life?
07All six schools converge on the futility of indriyārāma — what is the shared structural logic that makes sense-pleasure specifically the marker of wheel-abandonment, rather than, say, excessive contemplation or social withdrawal?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before you quit a demanding role citing 'spiritual growth,' ask honestly whether you have attained the inner purity (antaḥkaraṇa-śuddhi) that earns renunciation — or whether you are simply fleeing difficulty. The Śaṅkara reading insists that premature withdrawal from one's station is not liberation but agha (sin); do your work without craving its fruit, until the fitness for deeper inquiry genuinely matures.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Monitor what you eat and how you spend leisure time not as moralizing but as system-maintenance: Rāmānuja's bhāṣya makes a direct physiological claim — unsanctified consumption thickens rajasic-tamasic disposition and forecloses the quietness needed for inward attention. Treating meals as yajña-śiṣṭa (sanctified remainder) is a concrete daily practice, not a metaphor.

show all 6

Dvaita

Understand your professional role, family duty, and civic function as expressions of Hari's order in the world — your participation is not optional self-improvement but structural: Madhva's wheel-as-akṣarāṇi framing means your absence is not neutral, it is a small act of world-destruction. Doing your part is worship; not doing it is a claim to independence from Hari that the jīva does not actually possess.

Śuddhādvaita

Receive every task — including tedious, repetitive, or thankless work — as prasāda (grace-gift) flowing from Kṛṣṇa's līlā rather than as burden or obligation. Vallabha's frame reorients motivation entirely: you are not grinding through karma to escape it, you are participating in Bhagavān's own unfolding delight. The indriyārāma who opts out is not resting — he is simply ungrateful.

Bhakti

Use Śrīdhara's diagnostic in everyday decision-making: ask, 'does this action terminate at my senses, or does it point toward Īśvara?' A project pursued purely for personal pleasure or status fits the indriyārāma profile regardless of how virtuous it looks from outside. Reorienting even small daily actions — conversation, cooking, exercise — as Īśvara-ārādhana (worship through action) converts routine into the wheel-turning the verse demands.

Advaita-Bhakti

When you notice yourself stuck in a spiral of sense-gratification — binge consumption, endless distraction, hedonic treadmill — take Madhusūdana's stark claim seriously: such a life is worth less than the reset of death. This is not morbid counsel but a calibration tool: if you would not trade your current pattern for rebirth into a life of dharma-practice, something is structurally wrong. Identify one structural change — schedule, environment, relationship — that reinstates dharma-momentum.

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 16: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga