BG 3.2 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.2Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे ।

तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयो ऽहमाप्नुयाम् ॥

vyāmiśreṇeva vākyena buddhiṃ mohayasīva me

tad ekaṃ vada niścitya yena śreyo 'ham āpnuyām

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

meaning

Your words mix praise of knowledge with a command to act, and my mind cannot find its footing. Tell me clearly which one path leads to the highest good.

ekras · bhāṣya

Arjuna asks the question more pointedly. "You confuse my buddhi as if with mixed words. Tell me one thing, decided, by which I shall reach shreyas." The verb mohayasi — you confuse me — is doing real work. Arjuna is not accusing Krishna of incoherence; he is naming his own state. The teaching has been compounded — vyamishra — and his mind cannot yet hold both halves together. The student asks for a nishcaya, a single decided thing.

Madhusudana reads the confusion as Arjuna's correct intuition that something is missing — but the missing thing is not in Krishna's teaching; it is the adhikari-distinction Arjuna has not yet been given. One person, performing both jnana and karma in the same breath, would be self-contradicting; one person at a particular stage of the path, performing the appropriate discipline for that stage, is not. The teaching is not two; the audience is two.

Shridhara hears compassion in the question's structure. A truly compassionate teacher cannot leave a student in confusion; therefore the speech that produces oscillation must be doing something other than what it appears to be doing. Arjuna's complaint is also a request for the next teaching — please tell me ekam, nishcitya. One. Decided.

Vallabha sharpens the verse to a single instruction: resolve the ambiguity. The next verse is Krishna's response. The chapter's whole architecture flows from this exchange — Arjuna's request for clarity, Krishna's answer that the apparent two are one teaching distributed across two adhikaris.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 3.1

Arjuna asks: if you hold wisdom higher than action, Krishna, why do you drive me into this terrible fight?

What's going on

Your words mix praise of knowledge with a command to act, and my mind cannot find its footing. Tell me clearly which one path leads to the highest good.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

2.72Old-age renunciation is off topic here.───→here3.2───→3.15He refutes by saying na ca.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.───→here3.2───→3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

2.47Only a human body can do new action.───→here3.2───→3.5No one can stop acting even for a moment.

show all 73

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind───→here3.2───→3.30Offer all your acts

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

2.10Thesis flat───→here3.2───→3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

2.63'Krodhad bhavati sammohah, sammohat smriti-vibhramah, smriti-bhramshad buddhi-na───→here3.2───→3.5'Na hi kashchit kshanam api jatu tishthaty akarma-krit.' No one stays inactive e

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

2.50Thumb. Kausalam. 'Yogah karmasu kausalam' is the line Gaurav opens the whole mne───→here3.2───→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,───→here3.2───→3.27Karma pillar. The 'ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate' line is where Gaura

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

3.1If insight is higher, why this dreadful work?───→here3.2───→3.3Two paths for two kinds — never combined.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

2.69Action holds only while ignorance still holds.───→here3.2───→3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.───→here3.2───→3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

3.1Self in chapter two; sādhana opens here.───→here3.2───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

2.62Smṛti pins each link of the chain.───→here3.2───→3.4Both śruti and smṛti held in support.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

2.50Nanu opens, smṛti runs nine deep.───→here3.2───→3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga literal, not external schools.───→here3.2───→3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

2.68Supply marks the chapter-seal gap.───→here3.2───→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.───→here3.2───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.───→here3.2───→3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here3.2───→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.───→here3.2───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.2───→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.───→here3.2───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.2───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.2───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here3.2───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here3.2───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here3.2───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.2───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here3.2───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.2───→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───→here3.2───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.───→here3.2───→3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

2.55Same words: fruit for one, means for one.───→here3.2───→3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.2───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.───→here3.2───→3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

2.48Yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi: stand and act.───→here3.2───→3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.2───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.───→here3.2───→3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

2.71The steady seer walks with no want, no mine.───→here3.2───→3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here3.2───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here3.2───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.2───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.2───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here3.2───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.2───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.2───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.2───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here3.2───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here3.2───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

2.47Right to action───→here3.2───→3.3Two paths, named

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

2.63Anger to ruin───→here3.2───→3.37Kāma is the enemy

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.───→here3.2───→3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.2───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here3.2───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here3.2───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here3.2───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.2───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.2───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.2───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.───→here3.2───→3.3Action without claim = worship.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.2───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.───→here3.2───→3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

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

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.2───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.2───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here3.2───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.2───→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.───→here3.2───→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.───→here3.2───→3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

2.49Action without wisdom is the lower zone.───→here3.2───→3.3Two registers, one task, told two ways.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.2───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.2───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.2───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 15 occurrences)

निश्चित्य niści — to ascertain, determine (nis- + √ci) · conv
वाक्येन vākya — sentence, statement (from √vac) · instrumental neuter singular noun

show all 13

इव iva ×2 — like, as if
मे·अहम् mad ×2 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · genitive singular noun / nominative singular noun
व्यामिश्रेण vyāmiśra — mixed up, confusing (vi- + ā- + miśra) · instrumental neuter singular noun
बुद्धिम् buddhi — intellect, intelligence, discriminating faculty · accusative feminine singular noun
मोहयसि √mohay — to bewilder, delude (caus. of √muh) · present indicative 2nd person singular verb
तत् tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · accusative neuter singular noun
एकम् eka — one, alone, single · accusative neuter singular noun
वद √vad — to speak (verbal root) · present imperative 2nd person singular verb
येन yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · instrumental neuter singular noun
श्रेयः śreyas — better, superior; the higher good (vs preyas, the pleasant) · accusative neuter singular noun
आप्नुयाम् √āp — to obtain, reach (verbal root) · present optative 1st person singular verb

Praśna · so what (7)

01When a teacher gives you two apparently contradictory instructions, how do you distinguish genuine ambiguity from a teaching that requires you to first determine your own eligibility (adhikāra) before the instruction resolves?
02Śaṅkara and Madhusūdana both say Arjuna's confusion is his own, not Kṛṣṇa's — but Arjuna asks the question anyway. What does it reveal about the student's role to name confusion aloud even when the teacher is not at fault?

show all 7

03All six schools agree Arjuna wants one answer, not two. Does the desire for a single prescribed path reflect clarity of purpose or a flight from complexity?
04Rāmānuja reads jñāna-niṣṭhā and karma as strictly opposed; Madhusūdana reads them as sequential stages of a single niṣṭhā. What is at stake in that disagreement for how you decide which practices belong to your life right now?
05Śrīdhara's 'pendulum' image — understanding oscillating between karma-praise and jñāna-praise — describes a state many practitioners recognize. What is the right move when you are in that pendulum: ask for one answer, sit with both, or discover that the oscillation itself is the teaching?
06Madhva left no commentary here. What does a commentator's silence on a verse communicate, and how should a student handle lacunae in their tradition's guidance?
07Arjuna says 'I' want to attain śreyas — the highest good. All schools agree on this goal but disagree on the path. How much of your confusion about practice is actually confusion about what śreyas means for you specifically?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When facing two demanding commitments — say, deep contemplative practice and active professional work — do not try to honor both at the same quality level simultaneously. Honestly assess your current adhikāra: which mode are you actually equipped for right now? Act from that honest reading rather than performing both badly out of indecision.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

When a mentor's guidance feels self-contradictory, the Rāmānuja move is to ask for one clear instruction rather than silently attempting to honor both and failing at both. Clarify before acting. The respect shown in asking for precision is itself a form of kainkarya (service) — it honors the teacher's meaning more than guessing does.

show all 6

Dvaita

When your path feels unclear, Dvaita's anchor is that the outcome does not depend on your cleverness in resolving the ambiguity — it depends on Hari's grace and your sincere dependence. The practical move: stop optimizing the decision and take the action that most directly expresses surrender and gratitude, even while the intellectual question remains open.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha would say the mixing of praise-for-action and praise-for-renunciation in daily life resolves when you stop treating them as strategic options and start treating every action as Kṛṣṇa's līlā-prasāda flowing through you. The question 'which path is mine?' dissolves when you recognize you did not choose the path — Kṛṣṇa chose you for it.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's compassion note is directly applicable: when you are genuinely confused by a teacher's oscillating messages, assume benevolence first (the teacher is not trying to confuse you) and then ask with the explicit goal of being able to practice. Confusion named in a spirit of seeking practice — not debate — gets answered differently than confusion named as a complaint.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's two-stage insight applies directly to career and study decisions: if you are still building foundational skills and habits (aśuddha antaḥkaraṇa, in his terms), commit to the active, structured, karma-yoga track — courses, accountability, output. Do not aspire to the contemplative or 'pure insight' mode before the foundations are clean. The synthesis is sequential, not simultaneous.

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 2: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga