Bhagavad Gita 3.1

"Arjuna said: O Janardana, O Keshava, why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?"

Bhagavad Gita 3.2

"My intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively which will be most beneficial for me."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.3

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O sinless Arjuna, I have already explained that there are two classes of men who try to realize the self. Some are inclined to understand it by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others by devotional service."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.4

"Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.5
Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.6
"One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.7
On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga [in Krishna consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.8
"Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain one's physical body without work."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.9

"Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.10

"In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Vishnu, and blessed them by saying, "Be thou happy by this yajna [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.""

» Bhagavad Gita 3.11

"The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you, and thus, by cooperation between men and demigods, prosperity will reign for all."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.12

"In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajna [sacrifice], will supply all necessities to you. But he who enjoys such gifts without offering them to the demigods in return is certainly a thief."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.13

"The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.14

"All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.15

"Regulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.16

"My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin. Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.17

"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."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.18

"A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.19

"Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme."

» Bhagavad Gita 3.20

"Kings such as Janaka attained perfection solely by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work."
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Bhagavad Gita 3.21

"Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues."