Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 4
न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते।
न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति।।
न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति।।
na karmaṇām anārambhān naiṣkarmyaṁ puruṣo ’śnute
na ca sannyasanād eva siddhiṁ samadhigacchati
also searched as "na karmanam anarambhan naishkarmyam purusho ashnute"
Translation
No one experiences freedom from action (Naiskarmya) by abstaining from work; and no one ever attains success through mere renunciation of work.
Vāṇi's rendering
You do not reach freedom from action by refusing to act, nor perfection by renouncing alone.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नna | not |
| कर्मणाम्karmaṇām | of actions, of works |
| अनारम्भात्anārambhāt | by not beginning them, by refusing to start (the final t appears as n before the following n) |
| नैष्कर्म्यम्naiṣkarmyam | freedom from action, the state where work no longer binds |
| पुरुषःpuruṣaḥ | a person (the ḥ becomes o before the next word) |
| अश्नुतेaśnute | reaches, comes to enjoy (the initial a is swallowed after puruṣo) |
| नna | not |
| चca | and |
| संन्यसनात्sannyasanāt | by laying work down, by renouncing |
| एवeva | merely, by that alone |
| सिद्धिम्siddhim | perfection, the thing actually sought |
| समधिगच्छतिsamadhigacchati | arrives at, fully attains |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 4 mean?
It means the exit you are eyeing is not an exit. Krishna tells Arjuna that refusing to begin work does not produce freedom from work, and that laying everything down does not by itself produce perfection. Withdrawal only changes the scenery. What binds you is not the doing — it is the claiming.
What does 'na karmanam anarambhan naishkarmyam purusho ashnute' teach?
That naiṣkarmya cannot be reached by subtraction. You may abandon the office, the family, the field — and carry the whole restless machinery with you. Krishna is naming a real state, but it arrives inside action, not outside it. The tools stay in your hands; the grasping loosens.
Is the Gita against renunciation then?
No. It is against renunciation mistaken for a shortcut. Krishna says eva — by renunciation alone. Dropping the work while the appetite for results still burns is a costume change. Genuine renunciation happens in the middle of doing, when you stop needing the outcome to belong to you.
What if my work feels meaningless — should I keep doing it?
Krishna does not ask whether your work feels meaningful. He points out that stepping away will not deliver the peace you are imagining, because the ache does not live in the task. Do the thing in front of you. Watch what loosens when you stop demanding that it pay you back.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has just heard of two paths and quietly chosen the one that looks quieter. If knowledge is higher, surely the way out is to stop. Krishna closes that exit at once. Not acting is still acting — a choice made, with consequences already running. The stillness you imagine on the far side of quitting is not stillness; it is the same restlessness in plainer clothes. Naiṣkarmya is not the absence of work. It is the absence of the one who claims it. You cannot get there by putting the tools down. Put down the ownership instead, and pick the tools back up.