BG 3.20 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.20Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

कर्मणैव हि संसिद्धिमास्थिता जनकादयः ।

लोकसंग्रहमेवापि संपश्यन् कर्तुमर्हसि ॥

karmaṇaiva hi saṃsiddhim āsthitā janakādayaḥ

loka-saṃgraham evāpi saṃpaśyan kartum arhasi

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

meaning

Janaka and the royal sages reached their highest through action alone; seeing how the world holds together, you too should act.

ekras · bhāṣya

Two reasons given, each independently sufficient. First, the precedent: King Janaka, the famous rishi-king of Mithila, attained perfection through karma. Not through retreating to the forest. Through performing his kingly duty in the world while standing in jnana. The list of janakadayah — Janaka and the others like him — places Arjuna among kings who lived this way.

Ramanuja makes a pointed claim: even those eligible for jnana-yoga find karma-yoga superior as a means to atma-darshana. Janaka was not a partial example; he was the ideal. The path through action is not the lesser path. Second, the public reason: loka-samgraha. The holding-together of the social order.

Shridhara reads this tightly: when the wise act, the unwise follow their example; when the wise withdraw, the unwise lose the model and the order frays. The behavior of those at the front of the social ladder is not their private business; it is the pattern those behind them will copy.

Madhusudana addresses an obvious objection. Could even a jijnasu — a knowledge-seeker — renounce karma to pursue shravana-manana-nididhyasana? The answer is no. The work of holding the world together is not optional even at the threshold of full knowing; it falls away only after that knowing has fully arrived. The two reasons converge on the same instruction: act.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 3.19

Keep acting without clinging to results, and that freedom from attachment itself carries you to the highest.

What's going on

Janaka and the royal sages reached their highest through action alone; seeing how the world holds together, you too should act.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

3.15He refutes by saying na ca.───→here3.20───→6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.20───→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.───→here3.20───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

show all 73

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldstation · anchor

───→here3.20───→

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind───→here3.20───→3.30Offer all your acts

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.20───→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───→here3.20───→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───→here3.20───→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,───→here3.20───→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───→here3.20───→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.───→here3.20───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.20───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.20───→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.───→here3.20───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.───→here3.20───→4.11Mām is Viṣṇu, not generic absolute.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.───→here3.20───→7.5Parā-prakṛti backed by Pañcarātra.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.───→here3.20───→7.13Nanu vijñāna-rūpaṁ — canonical shape.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.───→here3.20───→7.5Surrounding clause picks literal Śrī.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

3.17Scope of na vidyate filled by iti śeṣaḥ.───→here3.20───→15.1Tat-prasaṅge alaukikaṁ — iti śeṣaḥ.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.───→here3.20───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.20───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here3.20───→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.───→here3.20───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.20───→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.───→here3.20───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.20───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.20───→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

───→here3.20───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.20───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.20───→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───→here3.20───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.20───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.20───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.20───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.20───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.20───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.20───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.20───→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.───→here3.20───→3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here3.20───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here3.20───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.20───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.20───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here3.20───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.20───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.20───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.20───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here3.20───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here3.20───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathstation · v2 · station 3/9

───→here3.20───→

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionstation · v2 · station 1/11

───→here3.20───→

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

2.63Anger to ruin───→here3.20───→3.37Kāma is the enemy

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.───→here3.20───→3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.20───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here3.20───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here3.20───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.20───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.20───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.20───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.9Sacrifice-frame frees the act.───→here3.20───→3.30Surrender every act.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.20───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.───→here3.20───→3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

───→here3.20───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.20───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.20───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here3.20───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.20───→4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsstation

───→here3.20───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

3.1Knowing versus acting is the wrong cut.───→here3.20───→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.───→here3.20───→3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.20───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.20───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.20───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 14 occurrences)

कर्तुम् kṛ — to do, make (verbal root) · infinitive
अर्हसि √arh — to be worthy, deserve (verbal root) · present indicative 2nd person singular verb
संसिद्धिम् saṃsiddhi — perfection (sam- + √sidh 'attain') · accusative feminine singular noun
संपश्यन् saṃ-√dṛś — to behold, see together (sam- + √dṛś) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb

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एव eva ×2 — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
कर्मणा karman — action, deed, the law of action · instrumental neuter singular noun
हि hi — for, indeed, because (particle)
आस्थिताः ā-√sthā — to take a stand on, resort to (ā- + √sthā) · nominative masculine plural participle noun
जनक janaka — (jana + -ka: person) · compound
आदयः ādi — beginning, origin; first; (suffix: 'X and so on') · nominative masculine plural noun
लोक loka — world, realm; people · compound
संग्रहम् saṃgraha — summary (sam- + √grah 'grasp together') · accusative masculine singular noun
अपि api — also, even, although

Praśna · so what (7)

01Śaṅkara holds that karma can be either post-jñāna residue or pre-jñāna purification — does this make karma-yoga a provisional path that dissolves once jñāna is attained, or does the verse endorse it as permanently valid for the wise?
02Rāmānuja claims karma-yoga is superior even for those eligible for jñāna-yoga — what does it mean to say a path is better for someone already qualified for a higher one, and how does this reshape the Gītā's teaching on adhikāra (qualification)?

show all 7

03Madhva insists aparokṣa-jñāna is the sole cause of mokṣa, with karma as mere auxiliary — how then should we read Janaka's example: does his kingship demonstrate karma's power or merely illustrate that even kings must pass through jñāna's gate?
04All six schools agree on loka-saṃgraha as a reason to act, but the schools differ on whose welfare is protected and why it matters — is loka-saṃgraha primarily social stability, cosmic order, or devotional contagion?
05Śuddhādvaita's saṃyoga-pṛthaktva-nyāya (dual-fruition logic) implies a single act can yield jñāna and mukti simultaneously — does this dissolve the usual karma-jñāna sequence, and if so, what distinguishes Puṣṭi-mārga action from ordinary worldly conduct?
06Madhusūdana's constitutional argument ties the path to varṇa — Arjuna must act because kṣatriyas cannot take saṃnyāsa — does this make the prescription contingent on a social structure, and how portable is the verse's authority across different social contexts?
07Janaka is referenced as a pratyakṣa (visible) authority across all schools, yet each school's Janaka is a different man — does the verse gain or lose force when its exemplar is so variously interpreted by the tradition?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

A scientist who has seen through ego-construction continues publishing and teaching not from personal ambition but because prārabdha — the force of an already-launched life — and the world's need for clear thought both pull her forward. She acts while remaining inwardly unmoved, demonstrating that viveka (discernment) does not end a career but reorients it.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

A doctor who treats each patient as the Bhagavān present in a suffering body turns clinical work into kainkarya — the karma-yoga of loving service. He does not abandon medicine for private contemplation even when spiritually mature; his very competence becomes an act of devotion that draws patients and junior physicians alike toward integrous conduct.

show all 6

Dvaita

A teacher in a school governed by Haribhakti (devotion to Hari as absolute Lord) performs her pedagogical duties with full professional rigor, understanding that her students' welfare is her service to Hari and that no shortcut — neither ritual nor retreat — replaces the karma of honest daily teaching as a vehicle for jñāna.

Śuddhādvaita

A craftsperson in the Puṣṭi tradition makes each object — a pot, a garment, a meal — as an offering within Kṛṣṇa's līlā (divine play). The work is not a means to a later spiritual reward; the prasāda of skillful, loving craftsmanship is itself the ripening. There is no gap between the making and the freedom.

Bhakti

A community elder continues participating in local governance, festivals, and neighborhood mediation long after personal ambitions have quieted, knowing that if respected figures withdraw, those around them lose their orientating examples. Her presence in the market and the council hall is itself a form of loka-saṃgraha — keeping the community's dharmic compass steady.

Advaita-Bhakti

An entrepreneur who recognizes both the constitutional facts of his life — obligations to employees, family, community — and the inner jijñāsā (desire to know) that drives him does not abandon his company to pursue an ashram. Like Janaka ruling Mithilā while remaining inwardly a jñānī, he governs his organization as both a practical necessity and a site of self-refinement, holding the tension rather than resolving it by flight.

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 20: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga