अभ्यासेऽप्यसमर्थोऽसि मत्कर्मपरमो भव।मदर्थमपि कर्माणि कुर्वन् सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसि ॥
abhyāse'pyasamartho'si matkarmaparamo bhava|madarthamapi karmāṇi kurvan siddhimavāpsyasi ||
If even abhyāsa is beyond you — hold My work as supreme; performing actions for My sake, you will attain perfection!
Word by word (3)
- abhyāse'py asamartho'si
- — if you are unable even for abhyāsa (practice) · abhyāse = in/for abhyāsa (locative; the domain of difficulty: the practice of V9). api = even (emphatic: 'even in THIS'). asamarthaḥ = unable, incapable (a = not; samarthaḥ = capable, equal to; the compound means 'not-capable' = 'unable to do this'). asi = you are (2nd person singular of √as = to be). The phrase acknowledges the most common spiritual difficulty: even consistent abhyāsa (regular return of the mind to Krishna) may be too much for someone overwhelmed by life, grief, distraction, or habit. No judgment — just the next step down offered with the same care.
- mat-karma-paramo bhava
- — become one who has My work as the supreme · mat = My (genitive of aham; mat- = 'My' as a prefix). karma = work, action (from √kṛ = to do; karma = the doing, the work, the action). parama = supreme, highest (from √pṛ = to cross beyond; parama = that which is beyond all else = the supreme, the highest priority). mat-karma-parama = one for whom 'My work' (actions oriented toward Krishna, service to the Divine, actions done for His sake) is the supreme value. bhava = become (imperative of √bhū = to be/become; bhava = 'be you,' 'become'). This is the instruction: even if steady practice is impossible, one can at least orient activity toward Krishna — make God-directed action the supreme priority of the day, even if the mind wanders. The karma continues but its direction changes.
- mad-artham api karmāṇi kurvan siddhim avāpsyasi
- — even performing actions for My sake, you will attain perfection · mad-artham = for My sake, for My purpose (mad = My; artham = purpose, sake, meaning; mad-artham = 'for Me-as-the-purpose' = with Krishna as the intention behind the action; the actions may be mundane — cooking, working, speaking — but their artham (purpose/intention) is dedicated to the Divine). api = even (reinforces the concession: 'even merely doing this'). karmāṇi = actions (plural; the full range of activity). kurvan = while performing (present participle of √kṛ = to do; kurvan = 'while doing,' 'by doing'). siddhim = perfection, attainment, fulfillment (siddhi from √sidh = to succeed, to accomplish; siddhi = accomplishment, perfection, the fulfilled state; here it refers to the ultimate spiritual attainment = liberation, dwelling in Krishna). avāpsyasi = you will attain (future 2nd person of ava + √āp = to obtain, attain; avāpsyasi = you-will-obtain; the future tense carries the same assurance as na saṃśayaḥ in V8: this is a promise, not a maybe).
V10 is the third step of the staircase. Even if you cannot maintain the regular practice of abhyāsa-yoga (V9), Krishna offers yet another path: hold My work as supreme, and perform all actions for My sake. This is karma-yoga at its simplest — not renouncing action but redirecting it: every action, no matter how ordinary, can be offered to Krishna. And this too leads to siddhi (perfection/liberation).
A modern analogy
If you can't meditate daily, at least dedicate your work to something larger than yourself. A doctor who works 'for the good of patients' rather than 'for personal gain' — even without formal meditation — is practicing a form of this. Krishna's step is: make Me that larger-than-yourself, and the ordinary work becomes sacred.
Sit with this: V10 says performing actions 'for My sake' leads to perfection — even without steady practice or full mind-fixation. Does this suggest that intention transforms action? What would it look like in your own work to shift the 'for-whose-sake' from personal gain to something larger?
V10 is the third step of the V8-V11 staircase and represents the widest gate in Ch.12's teaching: even those who cannot manage steady meditation (V8) or regular practice (V9) can walk through this gate — by reorienting the intention behind ordinary action. Mad-artham (for My sake) is the karma-yoga of Ch.3 applied devotionally: the same karma that ordinarily binds (karmabandhana) becomes the instrument of liberation when dedicated to the Divine. This verse implicitly solves the paradox of the working life: one need not retreat from the world to practice — the world itself becomes the field of practice when mad-artham is the operating principle.
Advaita lens
For Śankara, mad-artham karma is the beginning of action-purification: when karma loses its self-directed quality and becomes offered to Brahman-as-Krishna, it generates no new saṃskāras (impressions that fuel rebirth). The karma-phala-tyāga (renunciation of fruit) in V11 follows naturally from this: if the action was FOR Krishna, the fruit was always His. The staircase is thus a gradual dissolution of the ahaṃkāra (I-maker): V8 = no 'I' in the mind; V9 = even the practice of returning is impersonal; V10 = even the fruits of work are not 'mine.'
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
[V10 missing from SH indexed] [1]
If also thou art unable to practise Abhyasa, be thou intent on doing actions for My sake. Even by doing actions for My sake, thou shalt attain perfection. [4]
And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly, / Work for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me! / For he that laboureth right for love of Me / Shall finally attain! [7]
If you are unequal even to continuous meditation, then let acts for (propitiating) me be your highest (aim). Even performing actions for (propitiating) me, you will attain perfection. [9]
If thou beest unequal to even (this) continuous application, then let actions performed for me be thy highest aim. Even performing all thy acts for my sake, thou wilt obtain perfection. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Action done as an offering (yajna) does not bind. All other action creates bondage. Do your work as offering.
Whatever you do, eat, offer, give, or practise as austerity — do it all as mad-arpaṇam, an offering to Me.
Unable even to act for My sake? Then take refuge in Me, abandon all fruits of action — with self-restraint.
No effort on this path is ever wasted — even a little progress protects you from great fear.
Even the wise are confused about action vs. inaction. I will explain — knowing this frees you from all wrong.
Do the work rooted in yoga, unattached. Equanimity in success and failure — that IS yoga.