Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 3 › Verse 25
Bhagavad Gītā 3.25: Work hard, for everyone
सक्ताः कर्मण्यविद्वांसो यथा कुर्वन्ति भारत ।
कुर्याद्विद्वांस्तथासक्तश्चिकीर्षुर्लोकसङ्ग्रहम् ॥
saktāḥ karmaṇyavidvāṃso yathā kurvanti bhārata
kuryādvidvāṃstathāsaktaścikīrṣurlokasaṅgraham
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
As the unwise act from attachment to action, O Bhārata, so should the wise act without attachment, desiring the welfare of the world. The outward energy may look the same; the difference is in the motive: self-interest in one case, lokasaṅgraha in the other.
For children
Krishna says: “Work as hard as people who want prizes, but do it to help everyone, not for the prize.”
Kṛṣṇa turns from his own example (3.22–3.24) to how the wise should act.
Word by word
सक्ताः कर्मण्यविद्वांसो — Just as the unwise, attached to their work
- sakta: attached
- karmaṇi: to action
- avidvas: one who does not know, unwise
यथा कुर्वन्ति भारत — act with energy, Arjuna
- yathā: just as
- kurvanti: they act
- bhārata: descendant of Bharata (Arjuna)
कुर्याद्विद्वांस्तथासक्तश् — so the wise should act, without clinging
- kuryāt: should act
- vidvas: the wise
- tathā: so
- asakta: unattached
चिकीर्षुर्लोकसङ्ग्रहम् — wishing for the good of the world
- cikīrṣu: wishing to bring about
- lokasaṅgraha: the good of the world
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.