Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 22
न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन।
नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि।।
नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि।।
na me pārthāsti kartavyaṁ triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana
nānavāptam avāptavyaṁ varta eva ca karmaṇi
also searched as "na me parthasti kartavyam trishu lokeshu kinchana"
Translation
For me, Arjuna, there is nothing in all the three worlds that ought to be done, nor is there anything unaccomplished that ought to be accomplished. Yet I continue to work.
Vāṇi's rendering
Nothing in the three worlds is left for me to do, nothing to gain — and still I work.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नna | not |
| मेme | for me |
| पार्थpārtha | Arjuna, son of Pṛthā (sandhi: pārtha + asti) |
| अस्तिasti | there is |
| कर्तव्यम्kartavyam | anything that must be done |
| त्रिषुtriṣu | in the three |
| लोकेषुlokeṣu | worlds |
| किञ्चनkiñcana | anything whatsoever |
| नna | nor (sandhi: na + anavāptam) |
| अनवाप्तम्anavāptam | anything not already obtained |
| अवाप्तव्यम्avāptavyam | anything still to be obtained |
| वर्तेvarte | I remain engaged (sandhi: varte + eva) |
| एवeva | even so, indeed |
| चca | and |
| कर्मणिkarmaṇi | in work, in action |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 22 mean?
Krishna says he has no unfinished business anywhere — nothing to do, nothing to acquire — and yet he keeps working. It answers Arjuna's suspicion that action is only for the needy and the unfinished. Work does not require a lack behind it. It can simply be done, freely, by one who wants nothing from it.
What does na me parthasti kartavyam trishu lokeshu kinchana mean?
Kartavyam is what ought to be done, what is owed. Krishna says no such debt exists for him in the three worlds. Nothing anavāptam — nothing ungained — waits for him either. The line empties out both motives we know for acting: obligation and desire. And still the next words are: I work.
If Krishna has nothing to gain, why does he work at all?
Because action is not caused only by need. Krishna acts the way the sun rises — not to become something, but because that is his nature turned outward. The next verse makes the stakes plain: if he stopped, the worlds would follow him into stopping. He works so that working stays possible for you.
How do I work without wanting anything from my work?
Do not begin by killing the wanting; begin by noticing it. Watch how much of a task is the task, and how much is the hoped-for reward folded inside it. The task survives without that filling. What falls away is the anxiety, not the competence. Then do today's work, and let the outcome be the field's business.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Krishna is not describing duty. He is describing freedom — and then working anyway. Nothing is owed, nothing missing, nothing to be won in any of the three worlds, and still the hands move. Arjuna has been arguing that action binds, that the wise man should step back. Here stands one with no reason at all to act, acting. Which means work was never the problem. What binds is not the doing but the wanting — the small hunger folded into every task. Take that out and the same task remains, lighter. You already know the difference: the letter written for something, and the letter simply written.