कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः । अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गतिः ॥
karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṃ boddhavyaṃ ca vikarmaṇaḥ | akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṃ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ ||
Three things must be understood: action, wrong-action, inaction. The nature of action is deep and impenetrable.
Word by word (3)
- karmaṇaḥ boddhavyam / vikarmaṇaḥ boddhavyam / akarmaṇaḥ boddhavyam
- — action must be understood / wrong-action must be understood / inaction must be understood · Boddhavya = must be understood, ought to be known (gerundive of budh — 'to be understood'). Three categories: karma (prescribed/right action), vikarma (vi+karma = wrong/forbidden action, action that violates dharma), akarma (a+karma = inaction, absence of action, or transcendence of action). Each must be understood in its depth.
- gahanā karmaṇaḥ gatiḥ
- — profound/impenetrable is the way of action · Gahanā = deep, impenetrable, thick (like dense forest — same root as gahana = deep/unfathomable). Karmaṇaḥ = of action. Gatiḥ = the way, movement, course. The honest admission: the nature and movement of karma is genuinely deep and difficult to penetrate. This is why careful understanding of all three categories is necessary.
- vikarma
- — vikarma = wrong-action/prohibited action (vi = against/opposed to + karma = action; vikarma is action that violates dharma, is prohibited by scripture, or produces negative karma); the three terms: karma (right/prescribed action), akarma (non-action/inaction in action), and vikarma (wrong action) form a complete typology; V17's point is that ALL three require understanding — gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ (profound is the path of action) precisely because the three are not always obvious
One must understand what action is, what wrong-action is, and what inaction is. The way of action is profound.
A modern analogy
In ethics, there are three categories: the right act, the wrong act, and the absence of action. But knowing which is which in any given situation is notoriously difficult. V17: the Gita doesn't simplify this — gahanā karmaṇaḥ gatiḥ — the path of action is genuinely deep. Respect the depth before claiming clarity.
Take with you
- Three categories, not two: karma (right action), vikarma (wrong action), akarma (inaction/transcendence of action).
- Gahanā gatiḥ — profound path. Don't rush to judgment about which applies in any given situation.
- All three must be understood, not just the one you're currently focused on.
- V17 sets up V18's wisdom: the truly wise see action in inaction and inaction in action — transcending all three categories.
V17 introduces the three-fold categorization that V18 will resolve. Karma here means nitya-karma — prescribed, dharmic action appropriate to one's station. Vikarma = actions prohibited by dharma, actions performed through ahaṅkāra and desire. Akarma = inaction OR, at the higher level, action that produces no karma — the action of the liberated. Shankaracharya: gahanā karmaṇaḥ gatiḥ is Krishna's honest acknowledgment that even knowing the categories, applying them in specific situations is difficult. The subtlety is real. V18 will give the principle that cuts through the subtlety, but V17 is correct to insist that all three must first be properly understood.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
For one must understand what action is, what wrong action is, and what inaction is; the nature of action is profound. [1]
For, verily, even what is action should be known, and what is wrong action should be known, and what is inaction should be known; the true nature of action is profound. [4]
For the nature of right action should be known, as also of wrong action, and of inaction; the path of action is hard to understand. [6]
For one must understand of act, and then Of wrong act, and of non-act — hard and deep The matter lieth. [7]
For even the true nature of action should be known, and the true nature of unlawful action should be known, and the true nature of inaction should be known; the nature of action is profound. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Seeing inaction in action, action in inaction — that one is wise, a yogi, a complete doer of all actions.
Even the wise are confused about action vs. inaction. I will explain — knowing this frees you from all wrong.
Learn these five causes of all action from Me, O Mighty-armed — as declared in the Sāṃkhya final teaching.
Whatever action a person initiates with body, speech, and mind — right or the reverse — these five are its causes.
One who — given the five causes — sees the self alone as doer due to unrefined intellect sees not; that is durmati.
Three-fold impulse to action: knowledge, knowable, knower. Three-fold action-structure: organ, act, agent.