Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 3 › Verse 24
Bhagavad Gītā 3.24: The world needs my work
उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका न कुर्यां कर्म चेदहम् ।
सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः ॥
utsīdeyurime lokā na kuryāṃ karma cedaham
saṅkarasya ca kartā syāmupahanyāmimāḥ prajāḥ
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
If I did not perform action, these worlds would perish; I would be the author of confusion (saṅkara) and would ruin these beings. The order of the world, which Kṛṣṇa sustains, depends on action; withdrawal by the one everyone follows would unravel it.
For children
Krishna says: “If I stopped doing my work, the whole world would get muddled up and people would be hurt.”
Continuing from 3.23, Kṛṣṇa describes what would happen if he stopped acting.
Word by word
उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका — These worlds would fall apart
- utsīdeyuḥ: would fall into ruin
- ime: these
- loka: world
न कुर्यां कर्म चेदहम् — if I did not do my work
- kuryām: I would do
- cet: if
- aham: I
सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्याम् — I would cause confusion
- saṅkara: confusion, disorder
- kartṛ: the one who causes
- syām: I would be
उपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः — and bring harm to all these people
- upahanyām: I would harm
- prajā: people, creatures
Kṛṣṇa speaks this verse. The Sanskrit is checked against four editions; meanings and word notes are simple learning aids written for MahaPrabha Gurukul, awaiting review by a Sanskrit teacher.