Bg. 18.48 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

सहजं कर्म कौन्तेय सदोषमपि न त्यजेत् । सर्वारम्भा हि दोषेण धूमेनाग्न‍िरिवावृता: ॥ ४८ ॥

Verse text

saha-jaṁ karma kaunteya sa-doṣam api na tyajet sarvārambhā hi doṣeṇa dhūmenāgnir ivāvṛtāḥ

Synonyms

saha-jam — born simultaneously ; karma — work ; kaunteya — O son of Kuntī ; sa-doṣam — with fault ; api — although ; na — never ; tyajet — one should give up ; sarva-ārambhāḥ — all ventures ; hi — certainly ; doṣeṇa — with fault ; dhūmena — with smoke ; agniḥ — fire ; iva — as ; āvṛtāḥ — covered.

Translation

Every endeavor is covered by some fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up the work born of his nature, O son of Kuntī, even if such work is full of fault.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

48. O son of Kuntī, one should not give up work, which is according to your nature, even if it has some fault. All undertakings are covered by fault, as fire is covered by smoke.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

48. O son of Kuntī, one should not give up work, which is according to your nature, even if it has some fault. All undertakings are covered by fault, as fire is covered by smoke.

Purport

In conditioned life, all work is contaminated by the material modes of nature. Even if one is a brāhmaṇa, he has to perform sacrifices in which animal killing is necessary. Similarly, a kṣatriya, however pious he may be, has to fight enemies. He cannot avoid it. Similarly, a merchant, however pious he may be, must sometimes hide his profit to stay in business, or he may sometimes have to do business on the black market. These things are necessary; one cannot avoid them. Similarly, even though a man is a śūdra serving a bad master, he has to carry out the order of the master, even though it should not be done. Despite these flaws, one should continue to carry out his prescribed duties, for they are born out of his own nature. A very nice example is given herein. Although fire is pure, still there is smoke. Yet smoke does not make the fire impure. Even though there is smoke in the fire, fire is still considered to be the purest of all elements. If one prefers to give up the work of a kṣatriya and take up the occupation of a brāhmaṇa, he is not assured that in the occupation of a brāhmaṇa there are no unpleasant duties. One may then conclude that in the material world no one can be completely free from the contamination of material nature. This example of fire and smoke is very appropriate in this connection. When in wintertime one takes a stone from the fire, sometimes smoke disturbs the eyes and other parts of the body, but still one must make use of the fire despite disturbing conditions. Similarly, one should not give up his natural occupation because there are some disturbing elements. Rather, one should be determined to serve the Supreme Lord by his occupational duty in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the perfectional point. When a particular type of occupation is performed for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, all the defects in that particular occupation are purified. When the results of work are purified, when connected with devotional service, one becomes perfect in seeing the self within, and that is self-realization.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

You should not think that only you have problems in executing your duties. There are problems in others’ duties also. You should not give up work according to your nature (sahajam), even with fault, because all actions performed now and in the future are covered by fault, just as fire is seen to be covered by smoke. Just as by removing the smoke, the heat of the fire is useful for removing darkness and cold, so by removing the faulty portion of your work, the good portion is useful for purification of your existence.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

There is never any fault in the activites of the lower varṇas such as fighting for the kṣatriya. The brāhmaṇa dharma is similar. Prescribed actions related to ones nature (arising from impressions of previous lives), even if mixed with faults such as violence, should never be rejected. Rather, they should be done, thinking that they are faultless, thinking of them as activities of brahmān. Because they are prescribed one should do them. The activities of all the varṇas, including those of the brāhmaṇa, are spread with some fault, since they are all composed of the guṇas and must be accomplished by material ingredients. It is just like smoke covering fire. By removing the smoke which is a portion of the fire, the heat portion is used to eliminate the cold. Thus removing the fault by offering the actions to the Lord, one should utilize the remaining portion which generates jṣāna in order to realize the ātmā.

Surrender Unto Me

Krsna here is telling Arjuna plainly, that he should fight. "Yes", Krsna is saying, "there may be some faults in what you are going to be doing, you'll have to kill so many people, from one point of view that is very faulty to kill relatives and friends, but one should not give up the work born of his own nature. Rather one should worship the Lord through that work and I'm telling you directly that you should fight!" Even though superficially Arjuna was saying that was better for him to live by begging because there is no killing involved in such act, so it seems to be a better occupation ‑ but Krsna is explaining here that is better to do one's own work rather than to perform the duty of others. REVIEW: Krsna begins to summarize the entire Bhagavad‑gita in the Eighteenth Chapter and He begins by starting with one of the main points of how to work in such a way that one can be free from reaction to that work; and the basic way is doing it in a detached way, which is called niskama karma. And to under that, Arjuna asked a question about sannyasa and tyaga and Krsna's conclusion was that, the renouncing order of life and renunciation of the fruits of one's activities, are exactly the same. Therefore one should work and do his duty. The second section describes how that same position of renunciation or rather freedom from reaction is obtained through jnana. The first was through karma and here is through analytical knowledge of action one can actually become free from the fruits of reaction ‑ that is jnana. And that jnana brings one to understand the sanctioner of all actions. Afte analyzes his actions minutely and breaks them up unto the five components parts, one understands that the ultimate sanctioner of all actions, is the Supersoul and He is the Supreme Lor one should surrender to that Supersoul, and then when one is free, naturally, from all reactions to his work. Then, if one understands that he is not the doer (because that 2nd section begins by describing that we are not the doer) the question is: 'who is doing it?'. So the third section describes how sacrifice, charity, austerity, determination, etc, which have been recommended earlier, can be done through the three modes of material nature, and the material nature is the doer. According to one's situation in the modes one acts or does in a particular way. After explaining in the 3rd section how the modes are doing everything, in the 4th section it describes how one can achieve liberation, or freedom from reactions, or elevate himself even though he is in the modes of material nature. We are talking about becoming free, becoming liberated and yet how one can do it because he is bound? The 4th section describes how, by acting properly as a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, any man by worshiping the Lord, through those prescribed duties, through acting according to the Vedic rites, through those modes of material nature which put him in a particular varna, then every man can become perfect. Therefore it is better to do one's own duty even if imperfectly, then to do the duty of another even if perfectly. [E. FROM JNANA‑YOGA TO PURE DEVOTIONAL SERVICE (18. 49‑55) 1. By following the process of self control, which includes purification of intelligence, giving up sense gratification, as well as attachment, hatred, and false ego, one realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully detached from all material things. This self‑realized position is called brahma‑bhuta, the joyous platform upon which pure devotional service is practiced. (49‑54) ] After describing in the previous section how one, through performance of his prescribed duty and worshiping of the Lord, in other words, niskama karma, one gets free from reactions then this section is how to become elevated further,from freedom of reactions to the higher stage of freedom.