नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मणः । शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येदकर्मणः ॥
niyataṃ kuru karma tvaṃ karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ | śarīra-yātrāpi ca te na prasiddhyed akarmaṇaḥ ||
Do your prescribed duty. Action is better than inaction — even the body cannot be maintained without it.
Word by word (3)
- niyataṃ karma
- — prescribed / ordained / necessary action · Niyata = fixed, prescribed, ordained (from ni+yam, to hold in place). The action that is proper to one's nature, role, and circumstances — svadharma in practical form. Not any random action but the right action in the right context.
- karma jyāyo akarmaṇaḥ
- — action is superior to inaction · Jyāyas = superior, better (comparative of jya). The direct instruction that closes the argument of V4-V8: after establishing that inaction is impossible (V5) and that inner-controlled action excels (V7), the command is simple — do your prescribed action. It is better than inaction.
- śarīra-yātrā
- — the journey / maintenance of the body · Śarīra = body. Yātrā = journey, maintenance, sustenance. Even the body's basic sustenance cannot happen without action. The most fundamental argument for karma-yoga: life itself is action. Inaction = death, literally and spiritually.
Perform your prescribed action — action is better than inaction. Even the basic maintenance of your body would be impossible without action.
A modern analogy
You can't 'decide not to eat' indefinitely and stay healthy. At the most basic level, being alive requires action. The verse drives home what V5 established: inaction is not a real option. Given that action is unavoidable, do the right action — your niyataṃ karma (prescribed duty).
Take with you
- When paralysis or indecision strikes, this verse is the practical directive: do your prescribed action. Just begin.
- Inaction is not neutral — it has consequences (even the body fails without sustenance).
- The 'prescribed action' (niyataṃ karma) means the action that is right for you, now, given who and where you are.
- Action is better than inaction — this is the Gita's most practical, unambiguous instruction.
V8 closes the first teaching block of Ch.3 (V1-8) with a direct instruction: niyataṃ kuru karma. The word niyataṃ is important: not arbitrary action but prescribed action — action fitting one's nature and role. Shankaracharya reads niyataṃ karma as the action determined by one's svadharma (nature-given duty) — the same concept that will culminate in V35's celebrated verse about svadharma. The argument is now complete: inaction is impossible (V5), inaction brings no perfection (V4), external restraint without inner discipline is hypocrisy (V6), inner-disciplined action excels (V7), therefore do your prescribed action (V8). The logic is airtight.
Modern parallels
Behavioral activation therapy (for depression) is built on this exact principle: action precedes motivation, not the reverse. The depressed person waiting to feel motivated before acting is caught in akarmaṇaḥ (inaction). The clinical intervention: small, prescribed actions first; mood follows action, not the other way around.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Do thou perform thy prescribed action; for action is better than inaction. Even the maintenance of thy body would not be possible for thee without action. [1]
Do thou perform thy prescribed action, for action is superior to inaction. Even the maintenance of thy body would not be possible for thee by inaction. [4]
Perform thy prescribed action, for action is preferable to inaction. Without action even the maintenance of the body is impossible. [6]
Do thine allotted task! Better to do thine own task with fault Than do another's well. Death is better far To do another's work than thine own undone. [7]
Perform obligatory action; for action is better than inaction. Even the support of the body is not possible for thee without action. [9]
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.
Your own imperfect path beats another's perfect path. Death in your own dharma is better. Another's dharma brings fear.
One's own dharma even imperfectly done is better than another's well done; svabhāva-ordained karma incurs no sin.
Treat pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as equal — then engage. No sin follows from this.
If even I stopped acting, humans would follow. The great one's withdrawal is never neutral.
Even yajña-dāna-tapas must be performed having abandoned attachment and fruits — my settled, highest opinion.