Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 24
उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका न कुर्यां कर्म चेदहम्।
सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः।।
सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः।।
utsīdeyur ime lokā na kuryāṁ karma ced aham
sankarasya ca kartā syām upahanyām imāḥ prajāḥ
also searched as "utsideyur ime loka na kuryam karma ced aham"
Translation
If I do not do the work, these people will be lost; and I will be causing chaos in life and thereby ruining all these people.
Vāṇi's rendering
If I stopped, these worlds would collapse. I would breed chaos and destroy the very beings I sustain.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| उत्सीदेयुःutsīdeyuḥ | would fall apart, would sink into ruin (sandhi: utsīdeyuḥ + ime → utsīdeyur ime) |
| इमेime | these |
| लोकाःlokāḥ | worlds, the ordered realms of living beings (sandhi: lokāḥ + na → lokā na) |
| नna | not |
| कुर्याम्kuryām | were I to do, should I perform |
| कर्मkarma | work, action |
| चेत्cet | if (sandhi: cet + aham → ced aham) |
| अहम्aham | I |
| सङ्करस्यsankarasya | of confusion, of the blurring and jumbling of what should stay distinct |
| चca | and |
| कर्ताkartā | the maker, the one responsible |
| स्याम्syām | I would be (sandhi: syām + upahanyām → syām upahanyām) |
| उपहन्याम्upahanyām | I would destroy, I would strike down |
| इमाःimāḥ | these |
| प्रजाःprajāḥ | beings, the creatures born into the world |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 24 mean?
Krishna says that if he ceased to act, the worlds would come apart and the beings he sustains would be destroyed by the confusion that followed. He acts without needing anything from acting. The verse answers Arjuna's wish to step back by showing what stepping back costs when others are held up by your work.
What is the meaning of utsideyur ime loka na kuryam karma ced aham?
These worlds would sink into ruin, were I not to do the work. Krishna places himself under the same obligation he is asking of Arjuna. The one who has nothing left to gain still works — and that, not any reward, is the reason his working matters.
What is sankara in this verse?
Saṅkara means confusion — a blurring of what was meant to stay distinct, order collapsing into muddle. Krishna says that if he stopped, he would be the author of it. The point is not social rank but structure: withdraw the sustaining act and things do not stay still, they tangle.
Why does Krishna say he must work if he needs nothing?
Because need is not the only reason to act. Krishna works the way sunlight falls — not to gain, but because others live inside what the working holds open. If action were only for reward, the one beyond reward would rest. He does not. That is the model Arjuna is being given.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna is talking about himself here, and it should stop you. He wants nothing. There is no result he needs, no lack he is filling. And still he does not stop — because the moment he stopped, the pattern everything else keeps would go slack. Arjuna wants to withdraw and call it purity. Krishna shows him what withdrawal costs when the one withdrawing is holding something up. You are holding something up. A household, a shift, a person who eats because you went to work. Do not mistake your exhaustion for permission. Someone is standing inside the shelter of your ordinary work.