BG 3.31 — Karma-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 3.31Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

ये मे मतमिदं नित्यमनुतिष्ठन्ति मानवाः ।

श्रद्धावन्तो ऽनसूयन्तो मुच्यन्ते ते ऽपि कर्मभिः ॥

ye me matam idaṃ nityam anutiṣṭhanti mānavāḥ

śraddhāvanto 'nasūyanto mucyante te 'pi karmabhiḥ

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Those who faithfully follow this teaching of mine, finding no fault with it, are freed even by their very actions.

ekras · bhāṣya

Krishna names what the practice yields. "The men who continually live by this teaching of mine — shraddhavant, full of faith, anasuyant, without resentment — they too are freed by their karmas." Two qualifying conditions and one promised result. Shraddhavant — having shraddha. Not blind belief; the trained openness to take seriously what the shastra and the teacher are pointing at. Anasuyant — without asuya. Not without disagreement; without the fault-finding orientation that would say the teaching is too hard, that Krishna is being cruel by sending his shishya into difficult action, that the path itself is wrong. Both conditions are inner. The actions one performs are unchanged. The shraddha and the absence of asuya are what convert the same actions from binding karma to liberating karma.

Madhusudana names the precise mechanism. Action performed without phala-abhisandhi — without aiming at fruit — and offered to Bhagavan with bhagavadarpana-buddhi — purifies sattva. Sattva-shuddhi produces jnana. Jnana delivers freedom. The chain runs through karma, not around it. The te 'pi — even they — has subtle force. Even those who are still in the karma-stage, who have not renounced, who appear from outside to be fully embedded in the world, are mucyante karmabhih — freed by their karmas. The freedom is not waiting at the end of a withdrawal. It comes through the karmas themselves, when the inner conditions Krishna has named are present. The verse is the chapter's most reassuring sentence. The path Arjuna is being asked to walk does deliver. The freedom is not somewhere else; it is in the very acting Krishna is asking him to do.

Context

where

Chapter 3 · Karma-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 3.30

Lay all your actions at My feet, with your mind fixed on the Self; free of craving, free of mine-ness, shed the fever of grief and fight.

What's going on

Those who faithfully follow this teaching of mine, finding no fault with it, are freed even by their very actions.

Sūtras through this verse (73)

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

3.15He refutes by saying na ca.───→here3.31───→6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here3.31───→5.13Lay down all acts in mind; sit at ease, body free.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

3.8Even keeping the body alive requires action.───→here3.31───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

show all 73

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

3.30Offer all your acts───→here3.31───→6.1Renouncer and yogi together

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here3.31───→5.13Nine-gated city, all karma laid down

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

3.21'Yad yad acharati shreshthas tat tad evetaro janah.' Whatever the leader does, o───→here3.31───→6.5'Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet.' Lift yourself by yourself, do not l

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

3.27Palm, kartala. Akartritva, non-doership. 'Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani s───→here3.31───→5.18Ring finger. Samadrishti. 'Vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini, shuni ch

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

3.27Karma pillar. The 'ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate' line is where Gaura───→here3.31───→4.7Cyclic time. 'Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati Bharata.' Gaurav uses this l

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm───→here3.31───→5.4'Sankhya-yogau prithag balah pravadanti na panditah.' Only the immature say sank

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

3.3Two paths for two kinds — never combined.───→here3.31───→5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here3.31───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldbetween

3.25The wise act as the unwise, but unattached.───→here3.31───→4.18The post-knowledge actor does no action at all.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.───→here3.31───→4.13The four orders are the Puruṣa's own body.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

3.1Self in chapter two; sādhana opens here.───→here3.31───→4.1Three blocks named at the chapter head.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.───→here3.31───→4.11Mām is Viṣṇu, not generic absolute.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

3.15Citation closes: ity āgamāt.───→here3.31───→7.5Parā-prakṛti backed by Pañcarātra.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhabetween

3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.───→here3.31───→7.13Nanu vijñāna-rūpaṁ — canonical shape.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.───→here3.31───→7.5Surrounding clause picks literal Śrī.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

3.17Scope of na vidyate filled by iti śeṣaḥ.───→here3.31───→15.1Tat-prasaṅge alaukikaṁ — iti śeṣaḥ.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningbetween

3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.───→here3.31───→5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.───→here3.31───→5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

3.30Even a seeker not-yet-pure offers, drops fruit-claim.───→here3.31───→5.1Action for the ignorant: purification's only door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.───→here3.31───→6.1The fruit-unattached one is yogi and renouncer.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

3.1The grand architecture cannot mix the two.───→here3.31───→4.34Approach a knower; knowing is not earned by action.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.───→here3.31───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here3.31───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here3.31───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here3.31───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here3.31───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here3.31───→4.11Fruit proportional to the service offered.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaexit

2.11'Ashochyan anvashochas tvam prajna-vadamsh cha bhashase.' You grieve those not t───→here3.31───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.───→here3.31───→5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.───→here3.31───→5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.───→here3.31───→5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.───→here3.31───→4.18Action-in-inaction needs the typology.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.───→here3.31───→4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.───→here3.31───→7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.───→here3.31───→4.39Faith earns knowing; work readies that faith.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerbetween

3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.───→here3.31───→7.21I am the one who steadies your chosen faith.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

2.71The steady seer walks with no want, no mine.───→here3.31───→3.37One enemy alone: desire, only desire.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.───→here3.31───→3.33Even the wise act by their own nature.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here3.31───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.───→here3.31───→5.8The knower thinks, 'I do nothing at all.'

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here3.31───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here3.31───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here3.31───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here3.31───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineapproach

───→here3.31───→5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here3.31───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

3.20Janaka, lokasangraha───→here3.31───→4.18Action in inaction

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionbetween · v2

3.25Wise act as the unwise act───→here3.31───→18.41Duties divided by guṇa

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

3.27Modes act, ego claims───→here3.31───→5.13Nine-gated city

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

2.63Anger to ruin───→here3.31───→3.37Kāma is the enemy

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

3.30Drop the fruit, the mine, the doership — keep the act.───→here3.31───→5.1Arjuna asks the wrong question. first.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.───→here3.31───→4.1Four-verse prelude names avatāra-līlā.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.───→here3.31───→7.14Surrender is the only way past the Lord's māyā.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here3.31───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here3.31───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here3.31───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

3.30Surrender every act.───→here3.31───→4.24Brahman the offering, Brahman the offerer.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.───→here3.31───→7.21Whatever form is worshipped, I steady it.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here3.31───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

3.30Karma offered to the indweller becomes worship.───→here3.31───→4.33Knowledge-rite outranks mere material rites.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)approach

───→here3.31───→5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here3.31───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here3.31───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here3.31───→4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

3.1Knowing versus acting is the wrong cut.───→here3.31───→7.1Together they cover everything to be known.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.───→here3.31───→5.14The soul rules the inert; the Lord rules the soul.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

3.20Even Janaka acted; the wise still do.───→here3.31───→5.1Renouncing isn't quitting the householder's life.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here3.31───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here3.31───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here3.31───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 13 occurrences)

मुच्यन्ते √muc — to release, free (verbal root) · present indicative pass 3rd person plural verb
कर्मभिः karman — action, deed, the law of action · instrumental neuter plural noun
अनुतिष्ठन्ति anu-√sthā — to undertake, perform (anu- + √sthā 'stand') · present indicative 3rd person plural verb
मानवाः mānava — human, descendant of Manu · nominative masculine plural noun
नित्यम् nityam — constantly, always, eternally (from nitya) · also at 2.30, 9.33

show all 13

ये yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine plural noun
मे mad — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · genitive singular noun
मतम् mata — thought, opinion; held to be (past-pple. of √man) · accusative neuter singular noun
इदम् idam — this (proximal demonstrative) · accusative neuter singular noun
श्रद्धावन्तः śraddhāvat — endowed with faith (śraddhā + -vat 'possessor of') · nominative masculine plural noun
अनसूयन्तः anasūyat — not envying (an- + asūyat pres.-pple.) · nominative masculine plural noun
ते tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine plural noun
अपि api — also, even, although

Praśna · so what (7)

01If even non-practitioners who merely refrain from censure (Rāmānuja's third tier) eventually attain liberation, what is the soteriological weight of disagreement versus indifference — and does intellectual opposition to a teaching carry karmic cost beyond simple non-compliance?
02Madhva prohibits karma-jñāna samuccaya yet insists both serve aparokṣa-dṛṣṭi: how do Dvaita practitioners calibrate when karma-engagement has fulfilled its preparatory function and direct perception of Hari has actually commenced?

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03Śaṅkara specifies freedom from 'dharmādharmākhyaiḥ karmabhiḥ' — both merit and demerit are binding. Does niṣkāma performance neutralize virtue-karma along with sin-karma, and if so, what becomes of conventional moral striving on the Advaita account?
04Vallabha's compression ('karmaiva kṛtvā muktiṃ prāpnuvanti') removes the jñāna intermediary entirely. What distinguishes Puṣṭi-mārga action from ordinary śubha-karma (auspicious action) if both are physically identical — is the difference solely in the bhāva (inner disposition)?
05Śrīdhara names the specific objection that karma-yoga suppresses as 'duḥkhātmake karmaṇi pravartayatīti doṣadṛṣṭiḥ' (fault-seeing that calls karma a vehicle of suffering). Is this objection purely psychological resistance, or does it point to a genuine metaphysical problem about how binding karma can also be liberating?
06Madhusūdana's chain (karma → sattvaśuddhi → jñāna → mukti) makes liberation structurally dependent on epistemic purification. If a practitioner's intellect remains clouded despite sincere niṣkāma practice, is the fault in the practice, the teacher, or some deeper saṃskāra (latent impression) — and does any bhāṣya address this?
07All six schools agree that śraddhā is necessary, yet define it differently (Śaṅkara: trust in paramāguru; Rāmānuja: confidence in śāstrārtha; Madhusūdana: 'evamevaitad iti viśvāsaḥ' even before experience). Does the object of śraddhā determine which liberation-path activates, or is śraddhā a uniform threshold quality across schools?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When a professional executes demanding work without ego-investment in outcomes — reporting findings accurately regardless of career impact, acting from role-responsibility rather than personal gain — they are practicing the asūyā-free nityānuṣṭhāna (constant observance) Śaṅkara describes. The test is not whether the work is pleasant but whether 'dharmādharmākhyaiḥ' binding is being dissolved: if recognition and blame both pass through without residue, the sattva-clarification is operative.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's three-tier reading offers a practical entry ramp: the person who cannot yet practice systematically but holds goodwill toward those who do — the sympathetic observer, the person who listens without scoffing — is already on the liberation trajectory. In practical terms, choosing not to mock or undercut another person's sincere disciplined practice (whether a family member's ritual observance or a colleague's contemplative routine) qualifies as the minimum kainkarya-threshold the verse names.

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Dvaita

Madhva's aparokṣa-dṛṣṭi criterion means no technique, however long practiced, should be retained beyond the point where direct clarity about Hari's sovereign presence has emerged. In daily life this translates to honest audit: practices, routines, and communities that were once genuinely clarifying but have become habitual performance should be released without guilt — the Dvaita framework explicitly prohibits attachment to method once the method has served its function.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's 'karmaiva kṛtvā' principle reframes the relationship between ordinary labor and spiritual life: the cook preparing a meal with full attention, the craftsperson finishing a joint cleanly, the parent present during a difficult conversation — each is enacting prasāda-reception if the inner orientation is offering rather than acquisition. The application is not adding devotional ritual to one's day but transforming the existing texture of action into Kṛṣṇa's own movement through one.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's 'śanaiḥ' (gradual) qualifier is the everyday anchor: consistent modest practice over time outperforms intense unsustainable effort. Someone who maintains a small daily practice — even five minutes of genuine attention to a text, a mantra, or a quality of listening — while trusting the teaching enough not to demand immediate results, is enacting this verse's liberation mechanism. The enemy named in the bhāṣya is the specific complaint that the practice itself is painful and therefore wrong; recognizing that fatigue and that complaint as a separate movement from the practice dissolves the knot.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's causal chain (action → sattva-purification → knowledge → liberation) gives a diagnostic for stalled practice: if sustained effort is not generating greater clarity, the intervention point is the quality of offering, not the volume of effort. The specific asūyā he names — 'this teacher is cruel for prescribing difficult action' — shows up in modern life as resentment toward the structure of a discipline itself (the practice, the institution, the teacher's method). Releasing that resentment while continuing practice is the exact sattvaśuddhi mechanism the verse describes.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 3, Verse 31: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga