BG 3.6 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.6Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन् ।

इन्द्रियार्थान् विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचारः स उच्यते ॥

karmendriyāṇi saṃyamya ya āste manasā smaran

indriyārthān vimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate

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

meaning

Whoever holds the organs of action still yet sits inwardly rehearsing sense-pleasures with a deluded mind is called a hypocrite.

ekras · bhāṣya

The verse describes the false renunciate. "The one who restrains the karma-indriyas while sitting inwardly remembering the indriya-arthas — that vimudha-atma is called mithyachara." Two halves to a single failure. Outward — the hands are still, the mouth is silent, the body has the posture of restraint. Inward — the manas is rehearsing the very objects the body has set aside. The food is not eaten but is being savored in imagination. The wealth is not pursued but is being arranged in the mind. The form looks like discipline; the substance is the opposite.

Madhusudana names the precise mechanism. The man took samnyasa driven only by autsukya — eagerness, the desire to be on the renunciate path — without ashuddha-citta-cleansing first. Without the antahkarana-shuddhi that karma-yoga produces, the renunciation is unsupported. The mind keeps doing what the hands have stopped doing.

Madhva sharpens the polemic across 3.6 and 3.7: the manas is the true agent. Restraining only the karma-indriyas while leaving the manas free to wander among objects is not renunciation; it is the appearance of renunciation. The verse closes with a hard word — mithyachara. Falsifier-of-conduct. Not just unsuccessful; positively false. The renunciation is performance.

Vallabha extends the indictment to those who argue naishkarmya is reachable through restraining the karma-indriyas alone. The argument is wrong because the form does not match the substance. The verse is doing diagnostic work: before naming the right kind of renunciation, Krishna names the kind that looks right and isn't.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 3.5

No one stands still even for a moment; every creature is driven helplessly to act by the qualities of nature, sattva, rajas, and tamas.

What's going on

Whoever holds the organs of action still yet sits inwardly rehearsing sense-pleasures with a deluded mind is called a hypocrite.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

2.72Old-age renunciation is off topic here.───→here3.6───→3.15He refutes by saying na ca.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.6───→5.13Lay down all acts in mind; sit at ease, body free.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

3.5No one can stop acting even for a moment.───→here3.6───→3.8Even keeping the body alive requires action.

show all 73

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind───→here3.6───→3.30Offer all your acts

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.6───→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───→here3.6───→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───→here3.6───→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,───→here3.6───→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───→here3.6───→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.───→here3.6───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.6───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.6───→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.───→here3.6───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

3.4Both śruti and smṛti held in support.───→here3.6───→3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

2.50Nanu opens, smṛti runs nine deep.───→here3.6───→3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga literal, not external schools.───→here3.6───→3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

2.68Supply marks the chapter-seal gap.───→here3.6───→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.───→here3.6───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.6───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here3.6───→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.───→here3.6───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.6───→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.───→here3.6───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.6───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.6───→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

───→here3.6───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here3.6───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.6───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here3.6───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.6───→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───→here3.6───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.6───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.6───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.6───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.6───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.6───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.6───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.6───→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.───→here3.6───→3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here3.6───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here3.6───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.6───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.6───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here3.6───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.6───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.6───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.6───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here3.6───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here3.6───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

3.3Two paths, named───→here3.6───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

2.63Anger to ruin───→here3.6───→3.37Kāma is the enemy

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.───→here3.6───→3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.6───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here3.6───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here3.6───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here3.6───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.6───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.6───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.6───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.3Action without claim = worship.───→here3.6───→3.9Sacrifice-frame frees the act.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.6───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.───→here3.6───→3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

───→here3.6───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.6───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.6───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here3.6───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.6───→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.───→here3.6───→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.───→here3.6───→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.───→here3.6───→3.20Even Janaka acted; the wise still do.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.6───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.6───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.6───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 14 occurrences)

मनसा manas — mind (lower mind), the inner organ of perception · instrumental neuter singular noun
संयम्य saṃyam — to restrain (sam- + √yam 'restrain') · conv · also at 2.61, 3.7, 6.14, 8.12
स्मरन् √smṛ — to remember (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb
कर्मेन्द्रियाणि karmendriya — organ of action (karma + indriya) · accusative neuter plural noun · also at 3.7
आस्ते √ās — to sit, remain (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb · also at 5.13
उच्यते √vac — to speak (verbal root) · present indicative pass 3rd person singular verb

show all 14

यः yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine singular noun
इन्द्रिय indriya — sense, sense-organ; the eleven indriyas (5 jñānendriyas + 5 karmendriyas + manas) · compound
अर्थान् artha — meaning, purpose, wealth, goal · accusative masculine plural noun
विमूढ vi-√muh — to be utterly deluded (vi- + √muh) · compound participle (compound member)
आत्मा ātman — the Self, soul; one's own self · nominative masculine singular noun
मिथ्या mithyā — falsely, in vain
आचारः ācāra — conduct, observance (ā- + √car) · nominative masculine singular noun
सः tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If the mind cannot be stilled by outer restraint alone, what is the first inner act that must precede meaningful renunciation?
02Śaṅkara calls mithyācāra a 'compound lie' — to whom is the deception directed: the world, the self, or the divine?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja says unextinguished sin (avinaṣṭa-pāpatā) corrupts the entire path: at what point in practice does sin count as extinguished?
04Madhva's reading makes the mind the true agent (prayojaka): does this collapse the distinction between karma-yoga and sannyāsa, or sharpen it?
05Śrīdhara names the pose 'bhagavad-dhyāna-chala' — pretended devotion: how do we distinguish genuine meditation from its performance, from outside and from inside?
06Vallabha argues even naiṣkarmya is a mental act: does this imply that complete inaction is impossible, and that the only real question is what the mind is doing?
07All six commentators agree on the diagnosis but diverge on what cures it — jñāna, bhakti, prescribed duty, or grace: what does that divergence itself reveal about bounded polysemy in the Gītā?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before a meeting you put your phone away and sit still — but your mind is scrolling through the conversation you just had. Śaṅkara's point: the physical stillness is meaningless if the inner organ (antaḥkaraṇa) is still running. The practice is to notice the replay loop and drop it — not to manage its appearance.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

You commit to a course of self-improvement but have not worked through the resentments that drove you to it. Rāmānuja's warning: entering a formal path with an unconquered inner organ (ajita-antaḥkaraṇa) makes the commitment self-contradictory from the first step. Honest inventory of unresolved attachments before beginning is not procrastination — it is prerequisite.

show all 6

Dvaita

You step away from a responsibility ('I need a break') while mentally running every scenario of how it might go wrong. Madhva's diagnosis: the mind alone is the agent; the physical exit changes nothing. The practice is to reassign your specific duty (sva-dharma) consciously to the Lord and then actually stop the mental management — or stay and act.

Śuddhādvaita

You stop checking social media but spend the same hour thinking about what you are missing. Vallabha: the abstention is vyartha (wasted) because the mental engagement continues. The mārga here is not suppression but redirection — give the mind something it can genuinely delight in, so the craving finds a real object rather than a prohibited one.

Bhakti

You post about your meditation practice while your meditation itself has become a performance for an imagined audience. Śrīdhara names this kapata-ācāra — practice conducted under a pretense (chala). The corrective is to ask: is this sitting for bhagavad-dhyāna or for the image of bhagavad-dhyāna? The answer is felt, not argued.

Advaita-Bhakti

You renounce a habit out of pride ('I am someone who doesn't do that') rather than from genuine dispassion. Madhusūdana identifies the mechanism: autsukya-mātra (mere eagerness) without sattva-śuddhi (purity of the inner faculty) produces the self-conceit of the renunciant rather than actual freedom. The test is whether the absence of the habit brings quiet or a need to be noticed for its absence.

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 6: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga