Bhagavad Gita · Karma YogaChapter 3, Shloka 30 (3.30)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
मयि सर्वाणि कर्माणि सन्न्यस्याध्यात्मचेतसा
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः
॥ 3.30 ॥
mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi sannyasyādhyātmacetasā
nirāśīrnirmamo bhūtvā yudhyasva vigatajvaraḥ
Translation
"Offering all actions to me with a mind set on the self, free from hope and free from the sense of 'mine', give up your anguish and fight."
Interpretation
Five words — one outlook on life. (1) Mayi … sannyasya — entrusting to the Lord; (2) adhyātma-cetasā — with knowledge of the self; (3) nirāśīḥ — without hope for the fruit; (4) nirmamaḥ — without "mine"; (5) vigata-jvaraḥ — without anguish. The nirmama of 2.71 appears here again.
Shankaracharya — the attitude of a servant. Mayi vāsudeve parameśvare sarvajñe sarvātmani — in me, Vasudeva, the Supreme Lord, all-knowing, the self of all; the actions are nikṣipya — laid down. The attitude: "ahaṃ kartā īśvarāya bhṛtyavat karomi" — "I act for Ishvara like a servant." Vigata-jvaraḥ = vigata-santāpaḥ vigata-śokaḥ — free from anguish and grief.
Acharya Ramanuja — the Lord who dwells within. Ramanuja shows from several Upanishadic texts that the self is the body of the Supreme Person and that he is the antaryamin (the inner controller) — as in the Brihadaranyaka's yasyātmā śarīraṃ … sa ta ātmāntaryāmy amṛtaḥ and in Gita 15.15 and 18.61. So the attitude should be: svakīyena ātmanā kartrā svakīyaiḥ eva karaṇaiḥ svārādhanaika-prayojanāya parama-puruṣaḥ … svayam eva sva-karmāṇi kārayati — the Supreme Person himself has his own actions done, making his own self (me) the doer, through his own instruments (the senses), solely for his own worship. And vigata-jvaraḥ: free from the inner fever of "what will become of me, with the endless sins of beginningless time?", remembering that parama-puruṣa eva karmabhiḥ ārādhito bandhāt mocayiṣyati — the Supreme Person himself, worshipped through actions, will free me from bondage — sukhena karma-yogam eva kuruṣva — practise karma-yoga with ease.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.