3.22 I need nothing, and I act Krishna speaks
न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन
नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि
na me pārthāsti kartavyaṁ triṣhu lokeṣhu kiñchana
nānavāptam avāptavyaṁ varta eva cha karmaṇi
There is nothing in the three worlds that I must do, son of Pritha, nothing I lack and nothing I need to gain — and yet I act.
Explanation
Krishna's own position, and it is a strange one to state.
There is nothing in the three worlds he needs, nothing to gain, nothing lacking — and yet I act.
He has just described, in 3.17 and 3.18, the person for whom nothing must be done. He then places himself in that category and acts anyway, which is the chapter's real answer to 3.1.
Going further
Word by word
- na
- not
- me
- mine
- pārtha
- Arjun
- asti
- is
- kartavyam
- duty
- triṣhu
- in the three
- lokeṣhu
- worlds
- kiñchana
- any
- na
- not
- anavāptam
- to be attained
- avāptavyam
- to be gained
- varte
- I am engaged
- eva
- yet
- cha
- also
- karmaṇi
- in prescribed duties
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Krishna's own position, and it is a strange one to state: there is nothing in the three worlds he needs, nothing to gain — and yet I act.
He has just told Arjuna to work without attachment to the fruit. Here he offers himself as the limiting case: action with no fruit whatsoever, and still action. Whether or not you read this theologically, it completes the argument. Working without needing the result is not a lesser form of working; it is the only kind he does.