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Bhagavad Gita 3.17

By Bhagavan Sri Krishna | Published 08/25/2005
Category: The Gita: Chapter 3
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Text 17

yas tv atma-ratir eva syad
atma-trptas ca manavah
atmany eva ca santustas
tasya karyam na vidyate

Translation

But for one who takes pleasure in the self, whose human life is one of self-realization, and who is satisfied in the self only, fully satiated—for him there is no duty. 

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada 

A person who is fully Krishna conscious, and is fully satisfied by his acts in Krishna consciousness, no longer has any duty to perform. Due to his being Krishna conscious, all impiety within is instantly cleansed, an effect of many, many thousands of yajna performances. By such clearing of consciousness, one becomes fully confident of his eternal position in relationship with the Supreme. His duty thus becomes self-illuminated by the grace of the Lord, and therefore he no longer has any obligations to the Vedic injunctions. Such a Krishna conscious person is no longer interested in material activities and no longer takes pleasure in material arrangements like wine, women and similar infatuations.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

It has now been stated that if you cannot be without desires, you can perform actions with desires. But he who reaches the stage of jnana because of purity of heart never does actions out of desire. That is expressed in two verses.

Because he is enjoying in the self, is blissful by realization of the bliss of the atma, he does not engage at all in the pleasure of material objects. Being engaged only in the atma (atmany eva) he does not have any actions related to the external objects (tasya karyam na vidyate).


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