Why the foremost one keeps working: his example becomes the path everyone walks.
It is easy to think that one who has nothing left to gain has earned the right to rest. Krishna answers that the conduct of the most looked-up-to person quietly becomes the rule others live by, so that even a single lapse would spread.
For if I did not keep working, tirelessly and always, people would follow my path in every way, Arjuna.
The verse before this said that Krishna has nothing in the three worlds left to gain and nothing he must do, and yet still he acts; here he gives the reason, picturing what would follow if he ever stopped.
Where they agreethe convergence
Across schools and centuries the commentators come to the same ground. These are the points they share, and the voices that hold each one.
Hear the plain case he sets before you: were he to lay down his work even once, untiring as he is, people everywhere would follow that, and stop too.
Across Advaita, Bhedābheda, Bhakti, Śuddhādvaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and the modern voicesŚaṅkara · Madhusūdana · Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · Bhāskara · Śrīdhara · Baladeva · Tilak · Jñāneśvar · Puruṣottama · Vedānta DeśikaIn Śaṅkara, Madhusūdana, and 9 others’ words
Krishna here states a plain hypothetical to make his point: if he himself were ever to stop acting, even for a moment, then people everywhere would imitate him and stop acting too. The verse hinges on the word 'jatu' (ever, at any time) and 'atandritah' (untiring, free from sloth, alert and not slack). Krishna is saying that he works without ever flagging, and that his own conduct sets the pattern; were he to drop action even once, the whole world would follow that example. This continues the argument begun in the previous verse, where Krishna pointed out that he has nothing in the three worlds left to gain and nothing he must do, and yet still he acts.
His acting is not for himself, for he has nothing left to gain; he works so that the order of the world holds and ordinary people are not misled by his example.
Across Advaita, Śuddhādvaita, Bhakti, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and the modern voicesĀnandagiri · Madhusūdana · Vallabha · Śrīdhara · Vedānta Deśika · RamsukhdasIn Ānandagiri, Madhusūdana, and 4 others’ words
Several commentators frame the verse as answering an objection raised by the previous verse. If Krishna has no duty to perform and no goal to attain, why hold the world together at all, since for him such action is fruitless? The answer is that his action is not for himself but for others. He acts so that the order of the world will not collapse and so that ordinary people will not be misled by his example. His own working is undertaken for the world's preservation, and his withholding of action would bring on the world's ruin.
See how heavily a great being's example weighs: what the one you look up to does becomes, in effect, the law you live by, and his way spreads in every direction.
Across Advaita, Bhakti, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and the modern voicesŚaṅkara · Dhanapati · Tilak · Nīlakaṇṭha · Baladeva · RāmānujaIn Śaṅkara, Dhanapati, and 4 others’ words
The reason this matters is the power of a great being's example over everyone else. People take their cue from the one they look up to, so what the foremost person does becomes, in effect, the law that others live by. 'Mama vartma' means 'My path,' the path of the foremost one, and 'sarvashah' means 'in every way' or 'in all respects.' If the highest model went inactive, that inactivity would spread universally and people would copy it. Krishna names Arjuna 'Partha' (son of Pritha) here, and one reading hears astonishment in the address: even strangers follow my way, so how could you, my own kinsman, fall short of it?
And he teaches by showing the other side: not only that your work is good in itself, but that its abandonment by the best would itself drag the world down.
Across Śuddhādvaita, Bhakti, and the modern voicesRamsukhdas · Vallabha · ŚrīdharaIn Ramsukhdas, Vallabha, and 1 others’ words
The verse forms one half of a two-part demonstration. The previous verse made the case positively, by showing directly that one should do one's duty; this verse makes the same case negatively, by showing the disaster that would follow if duty were abandoned. The point is not merely that doing one's work is good in itself, but that the failure to do it would itself drag the world down. So the verse is teaching by consequence: it asks the reader to picture what the world would look like if its best people stopped working, and lets the ruin in that picture argue for action.
This is the shared ground; it can be carried as it is. Below is where they differ.
Where they differthe divergence
Advaita Vedānta, in their fuller words
These commentators read the verse straightforwardly as Krishna, the foremost being, modeling tireless action so that men will not abandon their work in imitation of him. They take the previous verse's objection head-on: holding the world together is not strictly Krishna's 'duty' and brings him no fruit, yet he does it anyway, precisely because of the consequence this verse names. 'Atandritah' is glossed as un-fatigued and un-idle, and 'sarvashah' as 'in all ways.' One source adds that the address Partha carries a note of astonishment: even people unrelated to Krishna follow his path, so surely his own kinsman should not fail to.
Viśiṣṭādvaita, in their fuller words
These commentators stress that Krishna is the Lord of all, of true and unfailing resolve, whose mere play brings about the rise, flourishing, and dissolution of the world, and who has by his own will descended as a mortal in the house of Vasudeva. The point of the descent is not force but teaching: he could govern by sheer will, but he has come as a man in order to give knowledge through teaching, so his action is 'svacchandatah,' by his own free will and not karma-bound. If he failed to perform the action befitting that family, the consequence would be specific and severe. The exemplary men of incomplete knowledge would follow his path, take 'this alone is the law,' and by abandoning their own duties and incurring the sin of that non-performance, they would fail to attain the self and become goers to hell. One source supports this with scriptural recollections, including the unborn Lord being born in many ways and the Vishnu-Purana on the Lord's body grasped by his own will, and notes that 'mama' brings out Krishna's fitness as a teacher.
Bhedābheda, in their fuller words
This commentator gives the verse a terse, direct reading: if Krishna were ever, at any time, not to engage, being free from sloth, then men would follow his path in every way. Distinctively, this source specifies that the path men would then follow is one 'marked by non-action.' That is, the danger is not vague imitation but the spread of inactivity itself: were the model to go still, the way that propagates is precisely the way of not-acting.
Śuddhādvaita, in their fuller words
These commentators agree the Lord's own action is undertaken for the world's preservation and that his withholding would bring the world's collapse. But one source draws out a striking and distinctive twist: if Krishna withdrew from action, men would not simply go idle. They would in every way 'take to the way of bhakti alone,' sweeping universally toward devotion. The problem is that only the qualified are ready for that path. So Krishna performs work precisely in order to turn ordinary, unready people away from a premature rush to bhakti and to set them instead on the path of work suited to them; his activity is a deliberate model for those not yet fit for the higher way.
Kashmir Śaiva, in their fuller words
This commentator reframes the verse in terms of the inner danger to ordinary people. If one who has already known what is to be known were to give up action, that would be a hard breach for the people, leaving them unable to take root. Such people can neither release the deep latent impression of action that drives them, nor yet take refuge in the steady stream of knowledge. They live by holding onto the side of action that is well-known to them. If the realized one abandons that familiar side, their grip loosens, and they fall away from both action and knowledge, left adrift between the two. The harm is thus psychological and developmental, not merely social.
Bhakti, in their fuller words
These commentators read the verse as showing 'the destruction of the world through non-action.' 'Jatu' is ever, 'atandritah' is alert and not slack, and the verb means men 'would follow' Krishna's path. One source develops the Lord's status: though he is the Lord of all with every purpose already accomplished, he descended into the family of the Yadus, and if he failed to do the scripturally-taught action befitting that family, men would make him their example and follow his path, which would then take the form of abandoning the conduct prescribed for the family, and thereby they would fall away. One devotional source, the Marathi Jnaneshwari, voices Krishna in the first person walking the path of his own religion as mortals do, 'for the same high purpose, that all these creatures, who live by my will, shall not stray from the right way.'
A modern reading, in their fuller words
These commentators keep the social and moral force of the verse plain for a contemporary reader. If Krishna remained inactive, people would imitate him and lapse; one source describes this vividly as everyone becoming tamasic and passing into a state of inertia. Another renders the verse simply: giving up idleness, Krishna takes part in action, so that all men will follow in all respects the path he follows. A third frames the whole structure logically: the previous verse argued for duty positively, by anvaya (positive showing); this verse argues by vyatireka (showing what would follow if one did not act). The combined force is that doing one's duty is not only good in itself, but that not doing it would itself drag the world into ruin.
A few questions to carry
These ask for understanding, not recall; each answer is settled by the commentary itself.
For a second sitting
Carry this with youwhat stays
Notice the shape of Krishna's argument and let it land on your own life. He is not only saying that doing your duty is a good thing in itself; he is showing you the other side, what would actually happen if you stopped. Picture it honestly: if the most capable, most looked-up-to people simply downed tools and went inactive, the order around them would unravel and others would follow them into that collapse. Your work, then, is never only your own private affair. Whether you keep faith with your duty or abandon it sends a ripple outward to everyone who watches you. So when the pull toward giving up arises, hold both sides together: the quiet good of doing what is yours to do, and the real ruin that your withdrawal would help set in motion. That double seeing is itself a steadying reason to stay at your post, untiring, like the example Krishna sets.
When the pull to set your work down arises, hold both sides together: the quiet good of doing what is yours, and the real ruin your withdrawal would help begin; and so stay at your post, untiring.
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Convergence
rishna here states a plain hypothetical to make his point: if he himself were ever to stop acting, even for a moment, then people everywhere would imitate him and stop acting too. The verse hinges on the word 'jatu' (ever, at any time) and 'atandritah' (untiring, free from sloth, alert and not slack). Krishna is saying that he works without ever flagging, and that his own conduct sets the pattern; were he to drop action even once, the whole world would follow that example. This continues the argument begun in the previous verse, where Krishna pointed out that he has nothing in the three worlds left to gain and nothing he must do, and yet still he acts.
Braided from 11 commentators
Śaṅkarācārya · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Bhāskara · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Śrīla Baladeva · Lokmanya Tilak · Sant Jñāneśvar · Śrī Puruṣottama · Vedānta Deśika
Several commentators frame the verse as answering an objection raised by the previous verse. If Krishna has no duty to perform and no goal to attain, why hold the world together at all, since for him such action is fruitless? The answer is that his action is not for himself but for others. He acts so that the order of the world will not collapse and so that ordinary people will not be misled by his example. His own working is undertaken for the world's preservation, and his withholding of action would bring on the world's ruin.
Braided from 6 commentators
Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Vallabhācārya · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Vedānta Deśika · Swami Ramsukhdas
The reason this matters is the power of a great being's example over everyone else. People take their cue from the one they look up to, so what the foremost person does becomes, in effect, the law that others live by. 'Mama vartma' means 'My path,' the path of the foremost one, and 'sarvashah' means 'in every way' or 'in all respects.' If the highest model went inactive, that inactivity would spread universally and people would copy it. Krishna names Arjuna 'Partha' (son of Pritha) here, and one reading hears astonishment in the address: even strangers follow my way, so how could you, my own kinsman, fall short of it?
Braided from 6 commentators
Śaṅkarācārya · Dhanapati Sūri · Lokmanya Tilak · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Śrīla Baladeva · Rāmānujācārya
The verse forms one half of a two-part demonstration. The previous verse made the case positively, by showing directly that one should do one's duty; this verse makes the same case negatively, by showing the disaster that would follow if duty were abandoned. The point is not merely that doing one's work is good in itself, but that the failure to do it would itself drag the world down. So the verse is teaching by consequence: it asks the reader to picture what the world would look like if its best people stopped working, and lets the ruin in that picture argue for action.
Swami Ramsukhdas · Vallabhācārya · Śrīdhara Svāmī
Divergence
Advaita Vedānta
These commentators read the verse straightforwardly as Krishna, the foremost being, modeling tireless action so that men will not abandon their work in imitation of him. They take the previous verse's objection head-on: holding the world together is not strictly Krishna's 'duty' and brings him no fruit, yet he does it anyway, precisely because of the consequence this verse names. 'Atandritah' is glossed as un-fatigued and un-idle, and 'sarvashah' as 'in all ways.' One source adds that the address Partha carries a note of astonishment: even people unrelated to Krishna follow his path, so surely his own kinsman should not fail to.
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri
Viśiṣṭādvaita
These commentators stress that Krishna is the Lord of all, of true and unfailing resolve, whose mere play brings about the rise, flourishing, and dissolution of the world, and who has by his own will descended as a mortal in the house of Vasudeva. The point of the descent is not force but teaching: he could govern by sheer will, but he has come as a man in order to give knowledge through teaching, so his action is 'svacchandatah,' by his own free will and not karma-bound. If he failed to perform the action befitting that family, the consequence would be specific and severe. The exemplary men of incomplete knowledge would follow his path, take 'this alone is the law,' and by abandoning their own duties and incurring the sin of that non-performance, they would fail to attain the self and become goers to hell. One source supports this with scriptural recollections, including the unborn Lord being born in many ways and the Vishnu-Purana on the Lord's body grasped by his own will, and notes that 'mama' brings out Krishna's fitness as a teacher.
Rāmānujācārya · Vedānta Deśika
Bhedabheda
This commentator gives the verse a terse, direct reading: if Krishna were ever, at any time, not to engage, being free from sloth, then men would follow his path in every way. Distinctively, this source specifies that the path men would then follow is one 'marked by non-action.' That is, the danger is not vague imitation but the spread of inactivity itself: were the model to go still, the way that propagates is precisely the way of not-acting.
Śrī Bhāskara
Dvaita
The Dvaita commentary on hand here does not comment on this verse; Jayatirtha leaves it without gloss, so this school offers no distinct reading for 3.23 in the supplied sources.
Śrī Jayatīrtha
Śuddhādvaita
These commentators agree the Lord's own action is undertaken for the world's preservation and that his withholding would bring the world's collapse. But one source draws out a striking and distinctive twist: if Krishna withdrew from action, men would not simply go idle. They would in every way 'take to the way of bhakti alone,' sweeping universally toward devotion. The problem is that only the qualified are ready for that path. So Krishna performs work precisely in order to turn ordinary, unready people away from a premature rush to bhakti and to set them instead on the path of work suited to them; his activity is a deliberate model for those not yet fit for the higher way.
Vallabhācārya · Śrī Puruṣottama
Kashmir Shaivism
This commentator reframes the verse in terms of the inner danger to ordinary people. If one who has already known what is to be known were to give up action, that would be a hard breach for the people, leaving them unable to take root. Such people can neither release the deep latent impression of action that drives them, nor yet take refuge in the steady stream of knowledge. They live by holding onto the side of action that is well-known to them. If the realized one abandons that familiar side, their grip loosens, and they fall away from both action and knowledge, left adrift between the two. The harm is thus psychological and developmental, not merely social.
Ācārya Abhinavagupta
Bhakti
These commentators read the verse as showing 'the destruction of the world through non-action.' 'Jatu' is ever, 'atandritah' is alert and not slack, and the verb means men 'would follow' Krishna's path. One source develops the Lord's status: though he is the Lord of all with every purpose already accomplished, he descended into the family of the Yadus, and if he failed to do the scripturally-taught action befitting that family, men would make him their example and follow his path, which would then take the form of abandoning the conduct prescribed for the family, and thereby they would fall away. One devotional source, the Marathi Jnaneshwari, voices Krishna in the first person walking the path of his own religion as mortals do, 'for the same high purpose, that all these creatures, who live by my will, shall not stray from the right way.'
Śrīdhara Svāmī · Śrīla Viśvanātha · Śrīla Baladeva · Sant Jñāneśvar
Modern
These commentators keep the social and moral force of the verse plain for a contemporary reader. If Krishna remained inactive, people would imitate him and lapse; one source describes this vividly as everyone becoming tamasic and passing into a state of inertia. Another renders the verse simply: giving up idleness, Krishna takes part in action, so that all men will follow in all respects the path he follows. A third frames the whole structure logically: the previous verse argued for duty positively, by anvaya (positive showing); this verse argues by vyatireka (showing what would follow if one did not act). The combined force is that doing one's duty is not only good in itself, but that not doing it would itself drag the world into ruin.
Swami Sivananda · Lokmanya Tilak · Swami Ramsukhdas
A Seeker Asks
If Krishna has nothing to gain and no duty to fulfill, isn't his 'acting only for the sake of others' example' a bit of a performance, and does that really give me a reason to keep doing my own ordinary work?
The verse is precisely an answer to that suspicion. The objection it takes up is that since Krishna has no goal and no obligation, his holding the world together is 'fruitless,' so why bother? The reply is that the value of his action is not measured by what it gets him; it is measured by what it does for others. His acting is undertaken for the world's preservation, and that is a genuine reason, not a pose.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Vallabhācārya
And the same logic reaches down to you. The power of example is real: people take their cue from those they look up to, and what the foremost person does effectively becomes the law others live by. Your work is part of that web. If even the best people stopped, the world would slide into inertia, with others copying that inertia in every way.
Śaṅkarācārya · Dhanapati Sūri · Swami Sivananda · Lokmanya Tilak
So the reason to keep at your ordinary work is the one Krishna models: not personal reward, but the consequence of the alternative. The teaching is given in two directions. Doing your duty is good in itself, and not doing it would itself drag the world into ruin. Seeing both sides together is what turns 'why bother' into a steady reason to stay active and untiring.
Swami Ramsukhdas · Śrīdhara Svāmī
Contemplation
Notice the shape of Krishna's argument and let it land on your own life. He is not only saying that doing your duty is a good thing in itself; he is showing you the other side, what would actually happen if you stopped. Picture it honestly: if the most capable, most looked-up-to people simply downed tools and went inactive, the order around them would unravel and others would follow them into that collapse. Your work, then, is never only your own private affair. Whether you keep faith with your duty or abandon it sends a ripple outward to everyone who watches you. So when the pull toward giving up arises, hold both sides together: the quiet good of doing what is yours to do, and the real ruin that your withdrawal would help set in motion. That double seeing is itself a steadying reason to stay at your post, untiring, like the example Krishna sets.
Sit with this · Swami Ramsukhdas
All the translations and commentary
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