BG 3.22 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.22Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Pārtha · anuṣṭubh

न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन । नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि ॥

na me pārthāsti kartavyaṃ triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana

nānavāptamavāptavyaṃ varta eva ca karmaṇi

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

meaning

There is nothing I must do in any of the three worlds, Pārtha, and nothing unattained that I need to attain, yet I remain engaged in action.

ekras · bhāṣya

Krishna offers himself as the living example. "Partha — there is nothing for me to do in the three worlds, nothing unattained that I have to attain. And yet I act." The verse turns the abstract argument personal. The shreshtha of 3.21 is now identified.

Krishna himself. The Lord who has nothing to gain, no purpose unfulfilled, no fruit unobtained — and yet keeps acting. The two negations are absolute. Na me kartavyam — for me there is nothing that must be done. Nanavaptam avaptavyam — nothing unattained that needs to be attained. By every metric the ordinary mind would use to motivate action, Krishna has no reason to act. And the verse closes with the simple defiance of that logic: varta eva cha karmani — yet I am engaged in action.

Vallabha's gloss for this verse is a single compact sutra — atra caham eva nidarshanam — here I myself am the exemplar. The argument needs no elaboration; the speaker is the proof.

Madhusudana reads the verse as a double instruction. The metaphysical point — nasti avaptavyam phalam — establishes the jnana-foundation: action is not for the doer's benefit. The address Partha is doing soft work alongside it: the mother's name reminds Arjuna of the kshatriya inheritance whose precedent Krishna himself, as Yadava and as Avatar, models. The verse closes Arjuna's last possible objection. If even the Lord with nothing to gain acts continuously, the argument that one might withdraw because one has nothing to gain has no purchase.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Pārtha

preceded by — BG 3.21

Whatever a great person does, others do too; whatever standard that person sets, the world follows.

What's going on

There is nothing I must do in any of the three worlds, Pārtha, and nothing unattained that I need to attain, yet I remain engaged in action.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

3.15He refutes by saying na ca.───→here3.22───→6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.22───→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.───→here3.22───→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───→here3.22───→3.30Offer all your acts

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.22───→5.13Nine-gated city, all karma laid down

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

3.21'Yad yad acharati shreshthas tat tad evetaro janah.' Whatever the leader does, o───→here3.22───→6.5'Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet.' Lift yourself by yourself, do not l

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

2.50Thumb. Kausalam. 'Yogah karmasu kausalam' is the line Gaurav opens the whole mne───→here3.22───→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,───→here3.22───→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───→here3.22───→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.───→here3.22───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.22───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldbetween

3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.───→here3.22───→3.25The wise act as the unwise, but unattached.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.22───→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.───→here3.22───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.───→here3.22───→4.11Mām is Viṣṇu, not generic absolute.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.───→here3.22───→7.5Parā-prakṛti backed by Pañcarātra.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.───→here3.22───→7.13Nanu vijñāna-rūpaṁ — canonical shape.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.───→here3.22───→7.5Surrounding clause picks literal Śrī.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

3.17Scope of na vidyate filled by iti śeṣaḥ.───→here3.22───→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.───→here3.22───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.22───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here3.22───→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.───→here3.22───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.22───→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.───→here3.22───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.22───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.22───→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

───→here3.22───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.22───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.22───→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───→here3.22───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.22───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.22───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.22───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.22───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.22───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.22───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.22───→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.───→here3.22───→3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here3.22───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here3.22───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.22───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.22───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here3.22───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.22───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.22───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.22───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here3.22───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here3.22───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

3.20Janaka, lokasangraha───→here3.22───→4.18Action in inaction

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionbetween · v2

3.21What the great one does───→here3.22───→3.25Wise act as the unwise act

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

2.63Anger to ruin───→here3.22───→3.37Kāma is the enemy

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.───→here3.22───→3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.22───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here3.22───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here3.22───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.22───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.22───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.22───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.9Sacrifice-frame frees the act.───→here3.22───→3.30Surrender every act.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.22───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.───→here3.22───→3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

───→here3.22───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.22───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.22───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here3.22───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.22───→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.───→here3.22───→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.───→here3.22───→3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

3.20Even Janaka acted; the wise still do.───→here3.22───→5.1Renouncing isn't quitting the householder's life.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.22───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.22───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.22───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (23 unique · 28 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
लोक·लोकेषु loka ×2 — world, realm; people · compound / locative masculine plural noun
त्रिषु tri — three · locative masculine plural noun
कर्मणि karman — action, deed, the law of action · locative neuter singular noun · also at 2.47, 3.1, 4.16, 4.18, 4.21, 14.9 +1

show all 23

न na ×3 — not (negation particle)
कर्तव्य·कर्तव्यम् kṛ ×2 — to do, make (verbal root) · compound gdv (compound member) / nominative neuter singular gdv noun · also at 3.9, 3.19, 4.16, 18.6
माम्·मे mad ×2 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · accusative singular noun / genitive singular noun
यदि yadi — if
अत्र atra — here, in this place
ते tvad — you (2nd person pronoun stem) · genitive singular noun
संग्रह saṃgraha — summary (sam- + √grah 'grasp together') · compound
तायाम् tā — (feminine suffix; or stem-form of various words — context-dependent) · locative feminine singular noun
विप्रतिपत्तिः vipratipatti — contradictory views, dispute (vi- 'apart' + prati- 'against' + √pad 'fall') · nominative feminine singular noun
तर्हि tarhi — then, in that case
किम् kim — what? why? (interrogative)
पश्यसि dṛś — to see (verbal root) · present indicative 2nd person singular verb
अस्ति √as — to be (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
किंचन kaścana — anyone, anything (with negation: no one) · nominative neuter singular noun
अनवाप्तम् anavāpta — unobtained (an- + avāpta past-pple. of ava-√āp 'attain') · nominative neuter singular noun
अवाप्तव्यम् avāp — to obtain (ava- + √āp 'reach') · nominative neuter singular gdv noun
वर्ता √vṛt — to be, exist, occur, turn (verbal root) · future indicative peri 3rd person singular verb
एव eva — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)

Praśna · so what (7)

01If even the omnipotent Kṛṣṇa — who has nothing to gain — continues to act, what does this imply about the claim that liberation (mokṣa) means cessation of activity?
02Śaṅkara and Vallabha both invoke Kṛṣṇa's action-without-need, yet arrive at opposite affective registers — austere niṣkāmatā vs rapturous līlā. What is the structural difference in their reading of the same half-verse?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja's addition 'avāpta-samasta-kāma' (all desires already fulfilled) is not in the mūla. Is this an interpolation, or does it express something the mūla's silence implies? What is at stake for loka-rakṣā theology?
04The verse is deployed as a dṛṣṭānta (exemplar argument) by Śrīdhara and Madhusūdana — but an exemplar argument only works if the audience can mirror the model. Can finite jīvas really mirror Kṛṣṇa's kartavya-śūnyatā, or does the argument collapse into impracticable idealism?
05How does the 'tri-loka' framing (three worlds, not 'this world') shift the scope of Kṛṣṇa's declaration — and does it strengthen or complicate the niṣkāma-karma teaching for ordinary householders?
06Dvaita's framework insists on eternal jīva-Brahman distinction; if Kṛṣṇa has no kartavya because He is svataḥ-siddha and the jīva is always dependent, does 3.22 become an unreachable ideal rather than a transferable model?
07Madhusūdana addresses Arjuna as 'Pārtha' (kṣatriya lineage) within 3.22's commentary — is role-specific dharma being used to close off the universalizability of the niṣkāma-karma teaching?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before beginning any complex task — a difficult conversation, a professional deliverable, a caregiving act — pause and ask: 'What outcome am I actually defending?' Śaṅkara's reading suggests the practitioner trains to distinguish between action proceeding from viveka (discernment) and action proceeding from kartā-abhimāna (the pride of being the doer). Concretely: complete the task fully, and notice whether residual anxiety attaches to 'how it reflects on me' — that residue is the object of practice, not the task itself.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's 'loka-rakṣā' framing reorients motivation from personal outcome to relational protection. In practice: identify one recurring action in your week that you perform only when you expect recognition, and perform it once without the cue — not as self-denial, but as rehearsal of pūrṇatā (acting from fullness). The Viśiṣṭādvaita practitioner is training the will to locate action's source in bhagavat-kainkarya (service to the Lord present in the community) rather than in transactional reciprocity.

show all 6

Dvaita

Dvaita's insistence that the jīva is always dependent (paratantra) reframes 3.22 as a call to honest role-occupancy. Ask: 'Am I avoiding this action because it feels beneath me, or because I genuinely lack capacity?' The Dvaita practitioner recognizes that acting in one's assigned station — without inflating agency or contracting into false humility — is the daily form of Hari-worship. Refusing kartavya on grounds of spiritual advancement is precisely the ahamkāra (ego-inflation) that Hari's sovereignty corrects.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's līlā-frame: choose one creative or relational act each day and perform it without a metric of success — not to cultivate detachment (that would still be goal-oriented) but to discover whether the act itself carries its own joy (sva-ānanda). This is the Puṣṭi-mārga training: grace (prasāda) is recognized, not manufactured. The practitioner is not striving toward Kṛṣṇa's playfulness — they are noticing where it is already operating and removing the self-monitoring that blocks it.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's pedagogical point converts into a simple behavioral test: if even Kṛṣṇa does not use completeness as an excuse to withdraw, then 'I have already done enough' is a red flag, not a spiritual achievement. The bhakti practitioner applies this as a daily checkpoint — not guilt-driven busyness, but honest inquiry: 'Am I disengaging from this relationship or responsibility because it is genuinely complete, or because engagement has become uncomfortable?'

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's synthesis — jñāna-foundation, bhakti-expression — suggests a two-movement practice: first, identify the action's phalāpekṣā (what fruit am I protecting?); second, dedicate the action explicitly as offering (arpaṇa) to the source of one's lineage or vocation. The 'Pārtha' address reminds practitioners that role-identity is not an obstacle to liberation — it is the specific channel through which the universal teaching becomes actionable for this person in this context.

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 22: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga