Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 15
कर्म ब्रह्मोद्भवं विद्धि ब्रह्माक्षरसमुद्भवम्।
तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम्।।
तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम्।।
karma brahmodbhavaṁ viddhi brahmākṣara-samudbhavam
tasmāt sarva-gataṁ brahma nityaṁ yajñe pratiṣṭhitam
also searched as "karma brahmodbhavam viddhi brahmaksharasamudbhavam"
Translation
Know that activity springs from Brahman, i.e., the physical body; Brahman arises from the imperishable Self; therefore, the all-pervading Brahman is ever established in sacrifice.
Vāṇi's rendering
Action springs from the sacred word, the word from the imperishable. So the all-pervading rests in every offering.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कर्मkarma | action, work that is done |
| ब्रह्मbrahma | the sacred word, the Veda (joined to the next word by sandhi: brahma + udbhavam → brahmodbhavam) |
| उद्भवम्udbhavam | arising from, having its birth in |
| विद्धिviddhi | know this, understand |
| ब्रह्मbrahma | the sacred word itself (joined to the next by sandhi: brahma + akṣara → brahmākṣara) |
| अक्षर-समुद्भवम्akṣara-samudbhavam | springing from the imperishable, born of what never decays |
| तस्मात्tasmāt | therefore, for that reason |
| सर्व-गतम्sarva-gatam | gone everywhere, all-pervading |
| ब्रह्मbrahma | the sacred, the vast |
| नित्यम्nityam | always, without interruption |
| यज्ञेyajñe | in the offering, in sacrifice |
| प्रतिष्ठितम्pratiṣṭhitam | firmly set, resting, established |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 15 mean?
It traces action to its root. Work comes from the sacred word, and the word from the imperishable — so nothing you do stands alone at the top of the chain. Because the source is everywhere, it is present wherever something is offered rather than seized. Yajña is not a ceremony here; it is the shape of unselfish action.
What does karma brahmodbhavam viddhi mean?
Know that action arises from brahma. Krishna is not making work sacred by decoration — he is saying it already came from there. The impulse to act, the order that makes action possible, the fitness of one deed to one moment: none of it originates in you. You inherit the capacity and spend it.
Why is Brahman said to rest in sacrifice?
Because sacrifice is where the flow turns outward again. What is all-pervading cannot be located in one place, yet Krishna says it is established in the offering — meaning the offering is where you can meet it. Give the work away as you finish it, and you are standing where he says he already is.
How do I apply Bhagavad Gita 3.15 in daily life?
Stop treating your work as something you produced from nothing. Every skill in your hands was handed to you. When the task ends, release it the way it was given — without clutching the credit. The ordinary hour, done that way, is an offering, and Krishna says the vast rests there.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna is tracing a chain backwards. Action does not begin with you. It rises from the sacred word, and the word rises from what never perishes — so the smallest thing you do is fed by a source you did not make. This is why he says the all-pervading rests in every offering. Not in the grand ritual only. The meal cooked, the work finished without grasping at where it lands — these too. Arjuna wanted to know why he should act at all. Because the act was never his invention. Something older is already moving through the hands you are wringing.