Bhagavad Gita 3.18
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 18 of 43
नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन । न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रयः ॥
naiva tasya kṛtenārtho nākṛteneha kaścana | na cāsya sarva-bhūteṣu kaścid artha-vyapāśrayaḥ ||
For the fully realized: neither action nor inaction gains or loses anything. They depend on no being for any purpose.
Word by word (3)
- kṛtena arthaḥ nāsti
- — by action, there is no purpose served (for such a one) · Kṛtena = by what is done, by action. Arthaḥ = purpose, benefit, gain. Nāsti (naiva...kaścana) = there is none. For the fully self-realized person, action produces no additional gain — they already have everything (being Brahman itself).
- akṛtena api na kaścana
- — by inaction also no loss · Akṛtena = by what is not done, by inaction. No loss either. The realized one is beyond gain and loss — their being is not augmented by doing nor diminished by not doing. This complete symmetry of action-inaction is the mark of genuine liberation.
- sarva-bhūteṣu na artha-vyapāśrayaḥ
- — no dependence on any being for any purpose · Artha-vyapāśrayaḥ = dependence on (anyone) for (any) purpose. The liberated one has no need from any creature — human, divine, or otherwise. This is radical self-sufficiency: not isolation but the natural consequence of being the Self that underlies all beings.
For such a person, there is nothing to be gained by action, and nothing lost by inaction. They have no dependence on any living being for any purpose whatsoever.
A modern analogy
A billionaire who has everything they could ever need — more money from one project or less from another does not change their fundamental condition. Now extend that to inner wealth: the ātma-tṛpta person has infinite Ātman — no action can add to it, no inaction diminish it. This is genuine independence, not indifference.
Take with you
- The fear of loss (by inaction) and desire for gain (by action) that drives most of us are absent in the realized person.
- Artha-vyapāśrayaḥ = depending on beings for purpose. Self-inquiry: how much of your action is driven by needing something from others?
- This verse is descriptive, not prescriptive — it describes the liberated state, not a method to achieve detachment artificially.
- The path to this state is karma-yoga — the verses that follow turn back to the prescription: do your required action without attachment. Not bypassing action but purifying it.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
For him no purpose of any sort is gained by what is done, nor any by what is left undone; nor has he any dependence on all beings for any purpose. [1]
For him there is no object to attain by the things done, nor any by the things left undone here; nor has he any dependence on any being for any purpose. [4]
He has nothing to gain by performing or refraining from action; and for no object, however small, need he depend upon any being. [6]
No hope of gain is his who does or leaves undone; No weal of all living things is his woe. He needs nor those, nor these. [7]
For him there is no purpose to be served, either by doing or not doing anything in this world; nor does he depend upon any creature for any object. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The fully self-realized person has no binding duty — their joy, satisfaction, and fullness come entirely from within.
Therefore: do your required action without attachment — this is the path that leads to the Supreme.
Attachment to fruits abandoned, ever content, no dependence — fully active yet truly doing nothing at all.
These acts do not bind Me — I sit as one uninvolved, unattached to them, O Dhananjaya.
Rājasic tyāga: abandoning action as painful/from fear of body-trouble — obtains no fruit of tyāga.
Do My work, hold Me supreme, be My devotee, attachment-free, without enmity toward all — such a one comes to Me!
Verse 18 of 43 · back to Chapter 3