Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 3
आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं कर्म कारणमुच्यते।
योगारूढस्य तस्यैव शमः कारणमुच्यते।।
योगारूढस्य तस्यैव शमः कारणमुच्यते।।
ārurukṣor muner yogaṁ karma kāraṇam ucyate
yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva śamaḥ kāraṇam ucyate
also searched as "arurukshor muner yogam karma karanam uchyate"
Translation
Action is said to be the means for the sage who seeks to climb the heights of Yoga; but when he has climbed the heights of Yoga, tranquility is said to be the means.
Vāṇi's rendering
For the one climbing toward yoga, action is the ladder. For the one arrived, stillness is.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आरुरुक्षोःārurukṣoḥ | of one wishing to climb, of the aspirant still ascending (sandhi: ārurukṣor before muneḥ) |
| मुनेःmuneḥ | of the silent one, the sage (sandhi: muner before yogaṁ) |
| योगम्yogam | yoga, the union he is climbing toward |
| कर्मkarma | work, action |
| कारणम्kāraṇam | the means, the cause |
| उच्यतेucyate | is said to be |
| योगारूढस्यyoga-ārūḍhasya | of one who has climbed up into yoga, of the arrived |
| तस्यtasya | for him, that same one |
| एवeva | indeed, that very one (sandhi: tasya + eva = tasyaiva) |
| शमःśamaḥ | stillness, quiet, the settling of activity |
| कारणम्kāraṇam | the means, the cause |
| उच्यतेucyate | is said to be |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 3 mean?
It means the path changes under your feet. While you are still ascending toward yoga, action is what carries you; once you have arrived, quiet does. Krishna gives one teaching with two applications, and which one is yours depends entirely on where you actually stand, not where you would like to stand.
What does arurukshor muner yogam karma karanam uchyate teach us?
That work is not a lower thing to be escaped. For the one still climbing, karma is the ladder itself — the rungs of ordinary duty, done without grasping, that wear away the restlessness in you. Remove the ladder early and you do not arrive at stillness. You arrive at idleness wearing stillness as a costume.
How do I know whether I should be working or resting in stillness?
Watch what your quiet is made of. If sitting still leaves you agitated, planning, replaying — you are still climbing, and work is your medicine. Śama is not a technique you adopt; it is what remains when the wanting has thinned. Krishna does not ask you to guess. He asks you to be honest.
Does this verse mean action eventually becomes unnecessary?
It means action stops being the means. The one established in yoga still moves, still acts, still lives among people. But the doing is no longer the instrument of arrival. What was once the ladder becomes simply the day. Nothing is discarded; something in you has stopped needing it to get anywhere.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
The same word — yoga — asks two opposite things depending on where you stand on it. Climbing, you need work: hands busy, the day structured, the self worn down by doing. Arrived, work would only stir what has finally settled. Krishna is telling Arjuna that stillness is not available on demand; it is earned by the ladder. This matters because the seeker who reads about silence and abandons his work has taken the second instruction with the first man's legs. Ask honestly where you are standing. Then do what that place asks of you, not what the higher place asks.