Bhagavad Gita 18.48
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 48 of 78
सहजं कर्म कौन्तेय सदोषम् अपि न त्यजेत् । सर्वारम्भा हि दोषेण धूमेनाग्निर् इवावृताः ॥
saha-jaṃ karma kaunteya sa-doṣam api na tyajet | sarvārambhā hi doṣeṇa dhūmenāgnir ivāvṛtāḥ ||
Do not abandon one's innate duty even if imperfect — all undertakings are enveloped by fault as fire by smoke.
Word by word (3)
- saha-jaṃ karma kaunteya sa-doṣam api na tyajet
- — the karma born-with-oneself (saha-jam = born-together, innate; saha = with + ja = born = born-simultaneously with the person) even (api) if with faults (sa-doṣam = sa + doṣa = with-fault, imperfect), one should not abandon (na tyajet = should not let go), O son of Kuntī (Kaunteya, Arjuna)
- sarvārambhā hi doṣeṇa dhūmenāgnir ivāvṛtāḥ
- — for (hi) all undertakings/initiatives (sarva-ārambhāḥ = all beginnings/commencements) are enveloped (āvṛtāḥ = covered, from ā + vṛ = to cover) by evil/fault (doṣeṇa) as (iva) fire (agniḥ) is by smoke (dhūmena) — the universally applicable simile: all action has inherent imperfection, as all fire produces smoke
- dhūmena agniḥ iva āvṛtāḥ
- — covered by smoke as fire is; the agni-dhūma (fire-smoke) simile is precise: you cannot have fire (action/result) without smoke (imperfection/doṣa); trying to do svadharma perfectly is like trying to have fire without smoke — impossible; the proper response is: accept that all karma has doṣa (smoke), keep doing the karma (keep the fire burning), do not abandon the fire because of the smoke
One should not abandon one's innate duty, O son of Kuntī, even though it has faults; for all undertakings are enveloped by faults as fire by smoke.
A modern analogy
Every honest profession has its occupational faults. Doctors cause pain. Warriors cause death. Farmers kill insects. Merchants profit from others' needs. These are the 'smokes' of the respective 'fires' of svadharma (one's own innate duty). This verse says: do not use these inevitable faults as reasons to abandon your innate calling. The smoke does not negate the fire — it is an inevitable companion of the fire.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
The duty born with oneself, O son of Kunti, though faulty, one ought not to abandon; for, all undertakings are surrounded with evil, as fire with smoke. [1]
One should not relinquish, O son of Kunti, the duty to which one is born, though it is attended with evil; for, all undertakings are enveloped by evil, as fire by smoke. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
One must not abandon, O son of Kunti, one's natural duty though tainted with evil, for all actions are enveloped by evil like fire by smoke. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sāttvic tyāga: niyata karma done ONLY because 'this must be done,' having abandoned attachment and fruit.
One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.
Even yajña-dāna-tapas must be performed having abandoned attachment and fruits — My settled, highest opinion.
Learn these five causes of all action from Me, O Mighty-armed — as declared in the Sāṃkhya final teaching.
The duties of Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras are distributed by the guṇas born of their own nature.
One's own dharma even imperfectly done is better than another's well done; svabhāva-ordained karma incurs no sin.
Verse 48 of 78 · back to Chapter 18