The Gita

Chapter 3 · Verse 30 of 43

The Yoga of Action

कर्मयोग

Meaning

Supreme God Krishna spoke

Remaining stable in divine consciousness and consecrating all actions to Me, fight the battle unshackled by ego and expectations, free from the fever {of anxieties}. (3:30)

Sanskrit

श्रीभगवान् उवाच

मयि सर्वाणि कर्माणि सन्न्यस्याध्यात्मचेतसा ।

निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः॥

Word-by-word

मयि सर्वाणि कर्माणि सन्नयस्य अध्यात्म-चेतसा,

निर्-आशीः निर्-ममः भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगत-ज्वरः।।

Commentary

Consecrating or dedicating one's actions to God is sometimes given a weird twist of interpretation. The warriors of the ISIS in Syria raped thousands of captured women, sometimes in the presence of their husbands. Before raping, however, they would prostrate themselves on the ground, pray and dedicate their act of rape to God, and then engage in forcible sex so that they would incur no sin.

Immoral actions must be avoided; dedicating them to God to stop incurring sin will not do. The Bhagavad-Gitā, to preclude such misinterpretation, distinguishes between desirable and avoidable actions. The Lord clarifies that one must understand the difference between "actionlessness" (akarma), action (karma), and sinful actions (vikarma) (4:17). Rape is a vikarma and dedicating it to God while engaging in it will do no good, and won't save one from damnation.

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