Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 13
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी।
नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन्।।
नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन्।।
sarva-karmāṇi manasā sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśī
nava-dvāre pure dehī naiva kurvan na kārayan
also searched as "sarva karmani manasa sannyasyaste sukham vashi"
Translation
The embodied self, mentally resigning all actions as belonging to the city of nine gates (i.e., the body) and becoming self-controlled, dwells happily, neither acting himself nor causing the body to act.
Vāṇi's rendering
Setting all doing aside in the mind, the self rests at ease in the nine-gated city of the body.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सर्वकर्माणिsarva-karmāṇi | all actions, everything done |
| मनसाmanasā | in the mind, by the mind |
| संन्यस्यsannyasya | having set aside, having laid down (joins with āste as sannyasyāste) |
| आस्तेāste | sits, rests, abides |
| सुखंsukhaṁ | at ease, happily |
| वशीvaśī | the one who holds himself in hand, self-mastered |
| नवद्वारेnava-dvāre | nine-gated |
| पुरेpure | in the city |
| देहीdehī | the one wearing a body, the embodied self |
| नna | not (na + eva = naiva) |
| एवeva | indeed, at all |
| कुर्वन्kurvan | doing, acting |
| नna | nor |
| कारयन्kārayan | causing to be done, making another act |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 13 mean?
It means the renunciation Krishna praises happens in the mind, not in the schedule. Actions go on; the sense of being their author is laid down. The body is described as a nine-gated city, and the one who lives there rests — neither doing nor arranging for others to do.
What does sarva karmani manasa sannyasyaste sukham vashi teach about renunciation?
That you need not abandon work to be free of it. Sannyāsa here is inward: the hands keep moving, the claim of ownership dissolves. Krishna calls such a person vaśī, self-held. Ease follows not from fewer duties but from a self no longer wedged inside them.
Why is the body called a city with nine gates?
Because a city is inhabited, not identical with its inhabitant. The nine gates are the openings through which the senses come and go — eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, and the lower two. Traffic passes constantly. The dehī who lives inside is neither the traffic nor the wall.
Does this verse mean I am not responsible for what I do?
No. Krishna is not offering an excuse; he spends the whole Gītā insisting you act. What ends is the fevered ownership — the counting of credit, the dread of blame. Duty is performed cleanly, and the one performing it is no longer bruised by every result.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Nine gates — two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, and the two below. Krishna counts them and calls the body a city, not a self. Something lives in it, and the traffic through the gates is not its doing. Notice what is renounced here: not the actions, which continue, but the mind's claim on them. Arjuna wants to put down the bow. Krishna shows him a man who keeps the bow and puts down the doership. Breath goes on. Food is eaten, work is done, the gates stay busy. You dwell inside, at ease, neither pushing nor being pushed.