Chapter 3: The Path of Action · Verse 25

सक्ताः कर्मण्यविद्वांसो यथा कुर्वन्ति भारत |

कुर्याद्विद्वांस्तथासक्तश्चिकीर्षुर्लोकसंग्रहम् ॥२५॥

saktāḥ karmaṇyavidvāṃso yathā kurvanti bhārata |

kuryādvidvāṃstathāsaktaścikīrṣurlokasaṃgraham ||25||

As the ignorant act with attachment to results, O Bharata, so should the wise act without attachment, desiring the welfare of the world.

loka-sangraha inner-attitude wise-action service transformation-of-perspective

Synthesis

Krishna draws a striking parallel: the ignorant and the wise perform the same actions outwardly, but their inner orientation is opposite. The ignorant are driven by selfish attachment; the wise act from selfless concern for universal welfare (loka-sangraha). This means the wise person does not withdraw into an ivory tower of enlightenment but remains fully engaged in the same world, doing the same work — just with a fundamentally different consciousness. The external action is identical; the internal freedom is everything. Madhva's Dvaita sees the wise soul's inner orientation — toward God rather than self — as the distinguishing factor. Abhinavagupta recognizes expanded versus contracted awareness as the entire difference between liberation and bondage, with external actions identical. Vallabhacharya reads loka-sangraha as the spontaneous overflow of divine love. Tilak instructs the wise to maintain the same outward life with a transformed inner orientation. Vivekananda emphasizes that enlightenment is entirely internal, assessable only by freedom and service.

Commentaries 8 traditions

Advaita Vedanta/Adi Shankaracharya

Shankara underscores the critical insight: the difference between bondage and freedom is not in the action but in the attitude. The wise person's detachment transforms identical physical actions into instruments of liberation rather than bondage. External observers may see no difference at all.

Apply This Verse

Personal Growth

Maturity is not doing different things — it is doing the same things with a different awareness. The task you disliked when done for ego becomes fulfilling when done as service. The action hasn't changed; you have.

Questions this verse answers

  • ?"Can changing my attitude change my experience of the same routine?"
  • ?"How do I shift from doing things out of obligation to doing them out of love?"
  • ?"What would change if I did my daily tasks as service?"
  • ?"Is spiritual growth about doing different things or doing things differently?"