śhrī-bhagavān uvācha (śhrī-bhagavān uvācha) — the Blessed Lord said; loke (loke) — in the world; asmin (asmin) — this; dvi-vidhā (dvi-vidhā) — two kinds of; niṣhṭhā (niṣhṭhā) — faith; purā (purā) — previously; proktā (proktā) — explained; mayā (mayā) — by me (Shree Krishna); anagha (anagha) — sinless; jñāna-yogena (jñāna-yogena) — through the path of knowledge; sānkhyānām (sānkhyānām) — for those inclined toward contemplation; karma-yogena (karma-yogena) — through the path of action; yoginām (yoginām) — of the yogis;
Translation (English)
The Blessed Lord said, "In this world, there is a twofold path, as I said before, O sinless one: the path of knowledge of the Sankhyas and the path of action of the Yogins."
Translation (Hindi)
।।3.3।। श्री भगवान् ने कहा हे निष्पाप (अनघ) अर्जुन इस श्लोक में दो प्रकार की निष्ठा मेरे द्वारा पहले कही गयी है ज्ञानियों की (सांख्यानां) ज्ञानयोग से और योगियों की कर्मयोग से।।
Verse Summary(English)
The Blessed Lord said, "In this world, there is a twofold path, as I said before, O sinless one: the path of knowledge of the Sankhyas and the path of action of the Yogins." It clarifies Karma Yoga by aligning action with duty and inner detachment.
Verse Summary(Hindi)
श्री भगवान् ने कहा हे निष्पाप (अनघ) अर्जुन इस श्लोक में दो प्रकार की निष्ठा मेरे द्वारा पहले कही गयी है ज्ञानियों की (सांख्यानां) ज्ञानयोग से और योगियों की कर्मयोग से।। यह श्लोक बताता है कि कर्म से बचना संभव नहीं, इसलिए कर्तव्य को योगभाव से करना ही उचित मार्ग है।
This verse of Chapter 3 advances Krishna's teaching on Karma Yoga through a practical lens. It says: The Blessed Lord said, "In this world, there is a twofold path, as I said before, O sinless one: the path of knowledge of the Sankhyas and the path of action of the Yogins.". The key themes include selfless action, inevitability of action, duty, discipline. Krishna is not proposing passivity; he is refining the motive and orientation of action.
The verse shows that the real challenge is not whether we act, but how we act. When action is driven by possession, fear, or reward, it binds the mind. When action is performed as duty, with discipline and offering, it purifies intention and stabilizes understanding. Chapter 3 repeatedly insists that right action can become a spiritual practice when egoic ownership is reduced.
For serious practice, this verse asks us to examine our inner posture before acting. Are we acting for status, control, and anxiety relief, or from responsibility and clarity. The Gita's practical answer is to keep acting, but to align action with dharma, reduce attachment to outcomes, and cultivate inner steadiness.
In Gita 3.3, Krishna deepens the architecture of Karma Yoga by relocating the center of action from egoic claim to dharmic clarity. The verse states: The Blessed Lord said, "In this world, there is a twofold path, as I said before, O sinless one: the path of knowledge of the Sankhyas and the path of action of the Yogins.". Its Sanskrit frame, "श्री भगवानुवाच", situates the teaching within lived conflict rather than abstract speculation, and foregrounds selfless action; inevitability of action; duty.
From a non-dual perspective, the verse undermines identification with the compulsive doer by showing how attachment to result manufactures bondage. A devotional reading complements this by treating action as offering, where agency is disciplined through remembrance and surrender rather than self-assertion. An ethical-political reading adds that Karma Yoga is not private asceticism alone; it sustains social coherence through responsible participation, especially when others model their conduct on visible actors.
The verse therefore belongs to a larger synthesis: knowledge clarifies what is real, disciplined action reshapes habit, and devotion softens appropriation. Chapter 3 is radical precisely because it refuses both escapist renunciation and desire-driven activism. It asks for lucid engagement: to act fully in prakritic conditions while refusing psychological captivity to gain, loss, praise, blame, and personal myth. In contemplative terms, this verse is an invitation to examine the subtle motive-force behind every action, and to transform compulsion into consecrated duty. This transformation is the hinge between moral effort and spiritual freedom: the same action that once reinforced ego can become a vehicle of purification when intention, discernment, and offering are integrated.
इस श्लोक में श्रीकृष्ण कर्मयोग की शिक्षा को व्यावहारिक रूप में स्पष्ट करते हैं। श्लोक का भाव है: श्री भगवान् ने कहा हे निष्पाप (अनघ) अर्जुन इस श्लोक में दो प्रकार की निष्ठा मेरे द्वारा पहले कही गयी है ज्ञानियों की (सांख्यानां) ज्ञानयोग से और योगियों की कर्मयोग से।।। इसका केंद्र selfless action, inevitability of action, duty, discipline जैसे विषय हैं, जिनके माध्यम से गीता यह बताती है कि सही कर्म केवल बाहरी गतिविधि नहीं, बल्कि सही आंतरिक दृष्टि भी है।
कर्म से भागना समाधान नहीं है, क्योंकि मनुष्य प्रकृति के प्रभाव में निरंतर किसी न किसी प्रकार से कर्म करता ही है। मुख्य प्रश्न यह है कि कर्म का आधार क्या है: अहंकार, फल-लालसा और असुरक्षा, या कर्तव्य, विवेक और समत्व। जब कर्म को यज्ञभाव और उत्तरदायित्व से किया जाता है, तब वही कर्म मन को शुद्ध करता है और बुद्धि को स्थिर बनाता है।
जीवन में यह शिक्षण बहुत उपयोगी है। परिवार, कार्यक्षेत्र और समाज में निर्णय लेते समय हमें देखना चाहिए कि हमारा कर्म केवल लाभ के लिए है या व्यापक हित और धर्म के लिए। कर्मयोग का सार है: कर्म करते रहना, पर फल पर अधिकार-बोध छोड़ना; अपने दायित्व को ईमानदारी से निभाना, पर मन को आसक्ति से मुक्त करना।