If the jñānin has no kartavya (duty) remaining, does this verse sanction quietism — and how do Madhva's and Rāmānuja's readings resist that reading while Śaṅkara's appears to accept it?

One who finds joy, fullness, and contentment in the self alone has no duty left to perform. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/17.

The three terms — ātma-rati, ātma-tṛpti, ātma-santoṣa — are they synonyms, or do Madhva and Madhusūdana treat them as a genuine ascending triad of inner states?

One who finds joy, fullness, and contentment in the self alone has no duty left to perform. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/17.

Madhusūdana's claim that ātma-rati is upacārāt (figurative attribution) implies the state transcends the subject-object structure of rati itself — does this dissolve the verse's apparent positive claim, or sharpen it?

One who finds joy, fullness, and contentment in the self alone has no duty left to perform. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/17.

Rāmānuja's category of the sādhanā-independent aspirant (svata-siddha) has no parallel in Śaṅkara's structure — is this a genuine Viśiṣṭādvaita contribution or a re-description of jīvanmukti under different terms?

One who finds joy, fullness, and contentment in the self alone has no duty left to perform. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/17.

Madhva anchors mānava in the root √man (to know/understand), making it a marker of the epistemic category 'jñānin' rather than merely 'human being' — how does this affect the universality claim of the verse?

One who finds joy, fullness, and contentment in the self alone has no duty left to perform. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/17.

Vallabha's grammatical argument (the 'tu' separates sāṃkhya-mārga from karma-mārga structurally, not just by context) — does this reading hold against Śaṅkara, who assimilates the sāṃkhya-jñānin into sannyāsa rather than keeping it as a parallel track?

One who finds joy, fullness, and contentment in the self alone has no duty left to perform. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/3/17.

BG 3.17 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.17Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

यस् त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश् च मानवः ।

आत्मन्येव च संतुष्टस् तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते ॥

yas tv ātma-ratir eva syād ātma-tṛptaś ca mānavaḥ

ātmany eva ca saṃtuṣṭas tasya kāryaṃ na vidyate

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

meaning

One who finds joy, fullness, and contentment in the self alone has no duty left to perform.

ekras · bhāṣya

The verse names the rare exception. "But the man who is atma-rati alone, atma-tripta, contented in the atman alone — for him there is no karya. Nothing remains to be done." Three terms describe one inner condition, each layer deeper. Atma-rati — delighting in the atman alone, no longer needing the senses for delight. Atma-tripta — satiated by the atman, no longer hungry for what objects could provide. Atmany eva santushta — content in the atman alone, no longer reaching elsewhere for completion.

Madhusudana distinguishes the three precisely as grades of inner state: rati is relishing, tripti is satiation, santosha is contentment. The indriyarama of 3.16 finds these three nowhere — every relish is partial, every satiation is fleeting, every contentment is conditional on the next thing. The atmarama finds all three in one place. The conclusion is sharp: tasya karyam na vidyate. For him, no action remains to be done. The man whose interior is full has no more work because the work was always for filling the interior.

Ramanuja restricts the application carefully: this is the rare adhikarin who stands independent of both karma-yoga and jnana-yoga sadhana — not a path-walker but one who has already arrived.

Krishna is naming the destination. Not Arjuna's current state. The verse is doing structural work for what comes next: it lays down the only condition under which the requirement of action falls away, and then 3.18 will explore that condition further before 3.19 brings Arjuna firmly back into the karya zone.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 3.16

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

What's going on

One who finds joy, fullness, and contentment in the self alone has no duty left to perform.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

3.15He refutes by saying na ca.───→here3.17───→6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.17───→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.───→here3.17───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

show all 73

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

───→here3.17───→

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥstation

───→here3.17───→

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind───→here3.17───→3.30Offer all your acts

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.17───→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───→here3.17───→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───→here3.17───→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,───→here3.17───→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───→here3.17───→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.───→here3.17───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.17───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.17───→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.───→here3.17───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.───→here3.17───→4.11Mām is Viṣṇu, not generic absolute.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.───→here3.17───→7.5Parā-prakṛti backed by Pañcarātra.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.───→here3.17───→7.5Surrounding clause picks literal Śrī.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.───→here3.17───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.17───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here3.17───→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.───→here3.17───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.17───→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.───→here3.17───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.17───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.17───→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

───→here3.17───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here3.17───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.17───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.17───→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───→here3.17───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.17───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.17───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.17───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.17───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.17───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.17───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.17───→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.───→here3.17───→3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here3.17───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here3.17───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.17───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.17───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here3.17───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.17───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.17───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.17───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here3.17───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here3.17───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

3.3Two paths, named───→here3.17───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

2.63Anger to ruin───→here3.17───→3.37Kāma is the enemy

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.───→here3.17───→3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.17───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here3.17───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here3.17───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here3.17───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.17───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.17───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.17───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.9Sacrifice-frame frees the act.───→here3.17───→3.30Surrender every act.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.17───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.───→here3.17───→3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

───→here3.17───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.17───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.17───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here3.17───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.17───→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.───→here3.17───→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.───→here3.17───→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.───→here3.17───→3.20Even Janaka acted; the wise still do.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.17───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.17───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.17───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 18 occurrences)

तस्य tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · genitive masculine singular noun
विद्यते √vid — to know; to find (verbal root) · present indicative pass 3rd person singular verb
मानवः mānava — human, descendant of Manu · nominative masculine singular noun

show all 14

आत्म·आत्मनि ātman ×3 — the Self, soul; one's own self · compound / locative masculine singular noun
एव eva ×2 — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
च ca ×2 — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
यः yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine singular noun
तु tu — but, on the other hand (particle)
रतिः rati — delight, pleasure, attachment · nominative masculine singular noun
स्यात् √as — to be (verbal root) · present optative 3rd person singular verb
तृप्तः √tṛp — to be satisfied (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular participle noun
संतुष्टः saṃ-√tuṣ — to be content (sam- + √tuṣ 'be satisfied') · nominative masculine singular participle noun
कार्यम् kārya — to be done, duty, effect · nominative neuter singular noun
न na — not (negation particle)

Praśna · so what (6)

01If the jñānin has no kartavya (duty) remaining, does this verse sanction quietism — and how do Madhva's and Rāmānuja's readings resist that reading while Śaṅkara's appears to accept it?
02The three terms — ātma-rati, ātma-tṛpti, ātma-santoṣa — are they synonyms, or do Madhva and Madhusūdana treat them as a genuine ascending triad of inner states?

show all 6

03Madhusūdana's claim that ātma-rati is upacārāt (figurative attribution) implies the state transcends the subject-object structure of rati itself — does this dissolve the verse's apparent positive claim, or sharpen it?
04Rāmānuja's category of the sādhanā-independent aspirant (svata-siddha) has no parallel in Śaṅkara's structure — is this a genuine Viśiṣṭādvaita contribution or a re-description of jīvanmukti under different terms?
05Madhva anchors mānava in the root √man (to know/understand), making it a marker of the epistemic category 'jñānin' rather than merely 'human being' — how does this affect the universality claim of the verse?
06Vallabha's grammatical argument (the 'tu' separates sāṃkhya-mārga from karma-mārga structurally, not just by context) — does this reading hold against Śaṅkara, who assimilates the sāṃkhya-jñānin into sannyāsa rather than keeping it as a parallel track?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When sitting in meditation and the instruction is 'rest as awareness itself,' the Advaita reading of this verse is the warrant: one is not suppressing the desire for external things but recognizing that the one who would desire them is already the fullness sought. The practitioner who finds stillness not as effortful calm but as the ātman's natural condition has, in Śaṅkara's framing, fulfilled the verse — and can drop the burden of religious or social obligation not by negligence but by recognition.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

The Rāmānuja reading speaks to the practitioner who has — through sustained bhakti or grace — arrived at a point where formal sādhanā feels redundant, not because they are slack but because the ātman is continually self-disclosed in daily life. In practice this looks like someone who no longer needs retreats or rituals to feel connected: the ātman's presence pervades cooking, conversation, and work equally, making all of these kainkarya (service) without effortful reframing.

show all 6

Dvaita

Madhva's reading disciplines the practitioner against premature claims of contentment: the santoṣa of this verse is available only in the depth of Viṣṇu-focused absorption, not in casual equanimity. The everyday implication is a critique of cheap contentment — the Dvaita practitioner is called to keep discriminating whether their present satisfaction is genuine Paramātman-rati or merely the absence of gross irritation, and to regard ordinary calm as a good beginning, not the destination.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's grammatical 'tu' teaches that self-knowledge and devotional action are not stages on the same path but parallel tracks suited to different adhikāris (qualified practitioners). The everyday application for the Puṣṭi-mārga devotee is liberating: one need not aspire to the detached ātma-rati of the jñānin to be on a valid path — Kṛṣṇa's 'but' explicitly carves out that this verse is about a different type of person, freeing the bhakta to remain in active, love-saturated service without self-judgment.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's restrained reading offers a diagnostic tool: the question is not 'have I attained ātma-rati?' but 'is my antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument) sufficiently purified that external enjoyments no longer carry imperative force?' The practitioner uses this verse as a self-assessment: when bhoga-apekṣā (the expectation of enjoyment) quietly drops from a decision — not because it was suppressed but because it simply did not arise — that is the edge Śrīdhara is pointing at.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's upacāra (figurative) reading rescues contemplatives from the trap of hunting for a felt experience of 'ātman-as-object' — since technically no such experience exists in non-dual realization. In practice this means: do not evaluate your meditative depth by whether you 'feel bliss in the self'; instead, notice whether the compulsive pull of sensory alternatives has lost its gravity. The absence of dvaita-darśana (the compulsion to see a gap between self and world) is the signal, not a positive inner glow named ātma-rati.

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 17: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga