एवं प्रवर्तितं चक्रं नानुवर्तयतीह यः । अघायुरिन्द्रियारामो मोघं पार्थ स जीवति ॥
evaṃ pravartitaṃ cakraṃ nānuvartayatīha yaḥ | aghāyur indriyārāmo moghaṃ pārtha sa jīvati ||
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
Word by word (3)
- pravartitaṃ cakram
- — the wheel thus set in motion · Pravartita = set in motion, put into motion. Cakra = wheel. The cosmic yajna-cycle described in V9-15 is a wheel — continuously rotating through karma → yajna → rain → food → beings → action again. This wheel was set in motion at creation (V10) and continues as the fundamental structure of life.
- nānuvartayati
- — does not follow / does not turn · Na + anuvartayati (from anu+vṛt, to follow, to keep turning). The person who does not participate in the cosmic wheel — who takes without giving, who acts without yajna-orientation — is not turning the wheel. They are free-riding on the cosmic system.
- aghāyuḥ indriyārāmaḥ moghaṃ jīvati
- — living in sin, sense-pleasures, vainly · Aghāyus = one whose life is sin-based (agha = sin, āyus = life). Indriyārāma = delighting in senses alone (indriya = senses, ārāma = garden/delight). Mogham = in vain, to no purpose. The devastating verdict: a life of pure sense-pleasure without yajna participation is life lived in vain.
The one who does not help to turn this wheel that has been set in motion — living sinfully, delighting only in the senses — that person, O Arjuna, lives in vain.
A modern analogy
Someone who consumes products without asking how they are made, benefits from society without contributing, uses natural resources without thought of sustainability, and lives entirely for personal pleasure — moghaṃ jīvati. Their life is not necessarily immoral by law; but by the cosmic accounting, it is empty — because they have not participated in the sustaining cycle of existence.
Take with you
- Moghaṃ jīvati — 'lives in vain' — is the Gita's verdict on pure sense-pleasure living disconnected from contribution.
- The cosmic wheel needs turning: your participation matters for the whole, not just for your own liberation.
- Aghāyuḥ (sin-life) is defined specifically as non-participation in the yajna cycle, not as breaking religious rules.
- This verse is the culminating motivation for karma-yoga: participate in the cosmic wheel or your life is empty.
V16 is the key verse of the yajna-cosmology section (V9-16) and one of the Gita's most pointed social statements. The cakra (wheel) image echoes the dharma-cakra (wheel of righteousness) and the cosmic order. One who does not anuvartayati (keep it turning) is described in three damning terms: aghāyus (sin-life), indriyārāma (sense-pleasure-garden), mogham jīvati (lives in vain). Shankaracharya reads 'in vain' as the ultimate condemnation: not eternal punishment but existential emptiness — the life that did not fulfill its purpose. Tilak used this verse as a call to social and political action: the freedom fighter who refuses to turn the wheel of liberation-action while others suffer under colonial oppression is committing the same sin as the pure sense-pleasurist — refusing to participate in the cosmic/social wheel.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya sees the failure to turn the wheel not just as social irresponsibility but as a failure of self-knowledge. The Atman, in its infinite nature, is engaged in the cosmic order. When the ego-self acts as if it can live in isolation from the web of life, it is acting from ignorance (avidyā) — mistaking itself for a separate entity that owes nothing. Mogham (in vain) is the natural consequence of living from this false separateness.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti, V16's cakra (wheel of cosmic giving) is ultimately a cycle of love: the Divine creates, humans worship, the Divine nourishes, humans are sustained. The one who does not turn this wheel — who only takes, who lives only for the senses — is described as aghāyur (one whose life is sin/waste). For the bhakta, this wheel is not a duty to fulfil mechanically but a love-relationship to participate in. Every act of worship, every offering, every expression of gratitude IS the wheel turning. The bhakta turns the cakra not because they must but because love naturally gives — the devoted heart cannot help but offer back to the Source from which all nourishment flows.
Karma-Yoga lens
Tilak cited V16 as the Gita's mandate for engaged social action. The 'wheel' is not just the cosmic sacrifice-cycle but the wheel of dharmic social order. Every person of knowledge and capacity who retreats into personal comfort while the social wheel needs turning is committing the aghāyus error. The karma-yogi's duty is to turn the wheel wherever they stand — in family, in community, in the larger world.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
He who, in this world, does not help to turn the wheel thus set in motion, lives a sinful life rejoicing in the senses, O son of Pritha, and lives in vain. [1]
He who does not, in this world, help to turn the wheel thus set revolving, is sinful, is sensual, and lives in vain, O son of Pritha. [4]
He in this mortal world who does not keep the wheel revolving thus set in motion, lives in sin, devoted to the senses: he lives in vain, O son of Pritha. [6]
But whoso serves not in the appointed task, Glutting the senses merely — he lives in sin; For the vile wretch who lives but for himself — He lives in vain. [7]
He who does not follow here the wheel thus set in motion, lives in sin, is sensual, and, O son of Pritha, lives in vain. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Action arises from Brahman, Brahman from the Imperishable. The all-pervading ultimate is present in every act of yajna.
Whatever the great one does, others follow. The standard they set — the world adopts. Lead by example.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
Enjoy the gifts of existence without giving back — the Gita calls that theft. Participate, don't just consume.
For the protection of the good, destruction of wickedness, establishment of dharma — I come, age after age.
I am Time, the world-destroyer — even without you, none of these warriors shall survive; they are already slain!