3.25
सक्ताः कर्मण्यविद्वांसो यथा कुर्वन्ति भारत ।
कुर्याद्विद्वांस्तथासक्तश्चिकीर्षुर्लोकसंग्रहम् ॥
saktāḥ karmaṇy avidvāṃso yathā kurvanti bhārata
kuryād vidvāṃs tathāsaktaś cikīrṣur lokasaṃgraham
śrībhagavān (श्रीभगवान्) is speaking, and yathā (यथा) with tathā (तथा) sets the unwise and the wise in one frame.
The verse
As the unwise act, attached to action, Bhārata (भारत), so the wise one should act, unattached, wanting to hold the world together.
नेपालीमा
अज्ञानीहरू जसरी कर्ममा टाँसिएर कर्म गर्छन्, हे भारत, त्यसरी ज्ञानीले आसक्ति नराखी, संसारलाई एकसाथ राख्ने चाहना राखेर कर्म गर्नुपर्छ।
Where it sits
Kṛṣṇa's (कृष्ण) reason in 3.23 and 3.24 is now the wise man's reason, and the act can look like the attached man's act. asaktaḥ (असक्तः) and cikīrṣuḥ (चिकीर्षुः) make it a different act, which 3.26 says he must not use as a speech that stops their work.
Split: सक्ताः + कर्मणि + अविद्वांसः + यथा + कुर्वन्ति + भारत + कुर्यात् + विद्वान् + तथा + असक्तः + चिकीर्षुः + लोक-संग्रहम्
saktāḥ + karmaṇi + avidvāṃsaḥ + yathā + kurvanti + bhārata + kuryāt + vidvān + tathā + asaktaḥ + cikīrṣuḥ + loka-saṃgraham
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| सक्ताः | saktāḥ | nominative plural | attached. |
| कर्मणि | karmaṇi | locative | to action, in action. |
| अविद्वांसः | avidvāṃsaḥ | nominative plural | the unwise. Those without vidyā (विद्या). |
| यथा | yathā | indeclinable | as. |
| कुर्वन्ति | kurvanti | present, 3rd plural | they do. |
| भारत | bhārata | vocative | Bhārata (भारत). Arjuna (अर्जुन). |
| कुर्यात् | kuryāt | optative, 3rd singular | he should do. |
| विद्वान् | vidvān | nominative | the wise one. |
| तथा | tathā | indeclinable | so. |
| असक्तः | asaktaḥ | nominative | unattached. |
| चिकीर्षुः | cikīrṣuḥ | nominative | wanting to do. A desiderative from kṛ (कृ). |
| लोक-संग्रहम् | loka-saṃgraham | accusative | the holding-together of the world. |
The phrases
saktāḥ karmaṇi avidvāṃsaḥ yathā kurvanti bhārata (सक्ताः कर्मणि अविद्वांसः यथा कुर्वन्ति भारत) is the model he is not told to copy in its clinging, only in its activity. As the unwise act, attached to the action. कर्मणि + अविद्वांसः karmaṇi + avidvāṃsaḥ is karmaṇy avidvāṃsaḥ (कर्मण्यविद्वांसः). avidvāṃsaḥ (अविद्वांसः) before yathā (यथा) is avidvāṃso (अविद्वांसो).
kuryāt vidvān tathā asaktaḥ cikīrṣuḥ lokasaṃgraham (कुर्यात् विद्वान् तथा असक्तः चिकीर्षुः लोकसंग्रहम्) is the wise man's version of the same outward act. He should act so, unattached, wanting to hold the world together. कुर्यात् + विद्वान् kuryāt + vidvān is kuryād vidvān (कुर्याद्विद्वान्). विद्वान् + तथा vidvān + tathā is vidvāṃs tathā (विद्वांस्तथा). तथा + असक्तः tathā + asaktaḥ is tathāsaktaḥ (तथासक्तः). असक्तः + चिकीर्षुः asaktaḥ + cikīrṣuḥ is asaktaś cikīrṣuḥ (असक्तश्चिकीर्षुः). cikīrṣuḥ (चिकीर्षुः) before loka (लोक) is cikīrṣur (चिकीर्षुर्).
Sanskrit in this line
cikīrṣuḥ (चिकीर्षुः) is "one who wants to do." kṛ (कृ) makes a desiderative stem चिकीर्ष cikīrṣ, "want to do," and --u (उ) makes the person who wants it. He does not want the fruit. He wants the doing that holds the world. lokasaṃgraham (लोकसंग्रहम्) is the object of that want.
Say it back
How the unwise do it, how the wise one should do it. The line fails if asaktaḥ (असक्तः) is swapped onto the first group, or saktāḥ (सक्ताः) onto the second.