Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 11
कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि।
योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मशुद्धये।।
योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मशुद्धये।।
kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalair indriyair api
yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṁ tyaktvātma-śuddhaye
also searched as "kayena manasa buddhya kevalair indriyair api"
Translation
Yogins, renouncing attachment, do actions with merely the body, mind, intellect, and senses, for the purification of the self.
Vāṇi's rendering
With body, mind, understanding — even the bare senses — yogis act unattached, to purify themselves.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कायेनkāyena | with the body |
| मनसाmanasā | with the mind |
| बुद्ध्याbuddhyā | with the understanding |
| केवलैःkevalaiḥ | with the bare, the merely-instrumental (sandhi: kevalair before indriyaiḥ) |
| इन्द्रियैःindriyaiḥ | with the senses (sandhi: indriyair before api) |
| अपिapi | even, also |
| योगिनःyoginaḥ | the yogis |
| कर्मkarma | action, work |
| कुर्वन्तिkurvanti | perform, do |
| सङ्गम्saṅgam | clinging, attachment |
| त्यक्त्वाtyaktvā | having let go of (sandhi: tyaktvā + ātma-) |
| आत्म-शुद्धयेātma-śuddhaye | for the cleansing of oneself |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 11 mean?
It means work can be done with the whole self — body, mind, understanding, senses — without the self claiming it. Krishna is not describing withdrawal but ownership released mid-action. The purpose given is ātma-śuddhaye: the doing cleans the doer. Action becomes the bath rather than the burden.
What does kayena manasa buddhya kevalair indriyair api teach?
That the instruments are only instruments. Your hands, your thoughts, your judgement, your seeing and hearing — kevala, bare, used without the added claim of I am the one behind this. Krishna lists them precisely so that you notice none of them is you.
How can I act without attachment in ordinary daily work?
Begin with the work you already have. Do it fully — attention, skill, care — and let go of the part that wants to be credited or feared for it. Krishna does not ask for less effort. He asks for less clinging. The task stays; the tightness around it goes.
Why does Krishna say action is for purification of the self?
Because the self here is not the ātman but the instrument-cluster — the mind and senses still cloudy with grasping. Work done unattached rinses them. So the fruit of such action is not success outside but clarity inside, and that clarity was the point all along.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice the list. Body, mind, understanding, senses — Krishna names the instruments, not the doer. The yogi does not stop acting; he stops standing behind the action as its owner. Kevala — bare, only — the senses working without the extra weight of mine. And the aim is small and honest: ātma-śuddhaye, to become clean. Not to win, not to arrive. The work itself is the washing. Which means the office, the kitchen, the difficult phone call are not obstacles to your practice. They are the water. Act with your hands, and leave your claim at the door.