यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्च मानवः । आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते ॥
yas tv ātma-ratir eva syād ātma-tṛptaś ca mānavas | ātmany eva ca santuṣṭas tasya kāryaṃ na vidyate ||
The fully self-realized person has no binding duty — their joy, satisfaction, and fullness come entirely from within.
Word by word (3)
- ātma-ratiḥ
- — delighting in the Self alone · Ratiḥ = delight, joy (from ram, to rejoice). Ātma-ratiḥ = one whose joy is entirely in the Ātman/Self. Not the ego-self but the transpersonal Self (Ātman = Brahman in Advaita). This is the jñāni's highest state: all pleasure, satisfaction, and delight are found within.
- ātma-tṛptaḥ
- — satisfied by the Self · Tṛpta = satisfied, full, content (from tṛp, to be satisfied). Ātma-tṛptiḥ = complete self-satisfaction, needing nothing external to feel full. This is the opposite of the indriyārāma (sense-delighter) of V16 — the one who needs endless external stimulation to feel anything.
- tasya kāryaṃ na vidyate
- — for that person there is no duty · Kārya = what needs to be done, duty, obligation. Na vidyate = does not exist. The profound exception: one fully established in Ātman has no binding duty — because they have already transcended the web of karmic obligation. V18 will elaborate this exception. V19-24 will then explain why even such a person should continue to act (for lokasaṃgraha).
But for the person who finds their delight only in the Self, who is satisfied by the Self alone, and content within themselves — for that person, there is no obligatory action.
A modern analogy
A master musician who has nothing left to prove. They no longer need applause, income from performances, or recognition from peers to feel whole. They are ātma-tṛpta — self-satisfied. If they perform, it is pure gift. If they don't, nothing is owed. Their performance is now an offering, not a need.
Take with you
- This verse describes liberation — not as a distant goal but as a recognizable state: self-satisfied, inwardly full.
- Most of us act from need: approval, security, identity, pleasure. The ātma-ratiḥ person acts from fullness.
- No binding duty (kāryaṃ na vidyate) does not mean no action — it means action is free, not driven by need.
- This is the destination that karma-yoga points toward: inner fullness that makes all action free.
V17 introduces the important exception to the karma-yoga teaching: the person fully established in Ātman has no binding karmic duty. Shankaracharya makes this the foundation of Advaita's position on action: the jñāni (fully realized sage) is technically beyond duty — they have realized their identity with Brahman and the karma-web no longer applies in the same way. But V17 then sets up the paradox that V18-24 will address: if such a person has no duty, why does Krishna (who is clearly such a person) act? Why does the realized master engage in the world at all? The answer (V18-20 and especially V21) is lokasaṃgraha — the welfare of all beings. Not duty, not need, not karma — but compassionate engagement for the benefit of all.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya uses V17 to argue that the ultimate state is beyond karma-yoga: one who is fully established in Brahman has no binding obligation. However, from the standpoint of appearance (vyavahāra), even such a one continues to act — as Krishna will explain — because their compassionate nature spontaneously produces action for others' welfare. This is jīvanmukti: liberated while living, acting freely from the fullness of Self-knowledge.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
But the man who rejoices only in the Self, who is satisfied with the Self, and is content in the Self only — for him nothing remains to be done. [1]
But the man who rejoices only in the Self, who is satisfied with the Self, who is content in the Self alone — for him there is no work that needs to be done. [4]
But for the man who rejoices in the Self alone, who is satisfied with the Self, who is content in the Self — for him there is no work. [6]
But for that man who rests and is content Within his soul, rejoicing in his soul, Who dwells self-satisfied, — for him there is No task to do. [7]
But for the man who is devoted only to the Self, who is satisfied with the Self, who is content in the Self alone — for him no duty exists. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Steady wisdom begins here: when all desires fall away and the Self finds fullness in itself alone.
For the fully realized: neither action nor inaction gains or loses anything. They depend on no being for any purpose.
Whatever the great one does, others follow. The standard they set — the world adopts. Lead by example.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
No being — neither on earth nor among the devas in heaven — is free from these three guṇas born of Prakṛti.
The duties of Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras are distributed by the guṇas born of their own nature.