Contents
Shri Sankara's Gita Bhashya
(Sri Sankaracharya's Commentary on the Gita)
CHAPTER -3
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16. He, who here follows not the wheel thus set revolving, he of sinful life and satisfied in the senses, in vain, O son of Prthā, does he live. He, who, being charged with the duty to perform action, here, in this world, follows not the wheel of the universe thus set revolving by Iśvara on the basis of the Veda and yajña (sacrifice), he of sinful life, i.e. he whose mode of living is sinful, and satisfied in the senses, and who delights in the pleasures of the senses, in vain uselessly, O son of Pfathā, does he live. The purport of this section is, therefore, that action must be performed by the un-illumined man, who has that duty. In the passage beginning from "By non-performance of works" (III-4) and ending with "Indeed, even the bare maintenance of the body.."[1], it was declared that before he becomes qualified for the practice of devotion to Sclf-Knowledge, devotion to works should be practised as the means thereto, by him who does not know the Self and has that duty (i.e. to perform works)' Also, incidentally, in the passage from "Except for action performed for the sake of Yaj&a"[2] to "In vain does he live"[3], many reasons[4] were set out as to why he who does not know the Self should perform action, and the censure[5] for failure to engage in action was also administered. |
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