Verse-17
Chapter 3 — Karma Yoga
Verse 17
🕉 Original Sanskrit Shloka
yastvātmaratireva syādātmatṛptaśca mānavah
ātmanyeva ca santuṣṭastasya kāryaṁ na vidyate
🕉 English Translation
📜 Translation
English
But the man who delights in the Self alone, and is content and satisfied in the Self, for him there exists no duty that needs to be done.
See once again the divine dignity of the Gita. After warning about non abidance to the creation cycle and merely indulging in the senses, now is presented in the words of the Blessed Lord the splendid, unearthly and a high aspect of life.
Lord Shri Krishna is stating in clear terms that this is the unfortunate and the lower state of existence. The divine aspect of existence is this–'yaha tu atmarati eva siyat'–but one who rejoices in the self. One will have one's delight somewhere, either in the world or in the extroversion meaning sensual objects or in the Self and Supreme. Indulgence in sensual objects can never be instrumental in any state, from any viewpoint, in any manner to bring about contentment and satisfaction.
Contentment does not exist in sensual objects. The sensual pleasure outwardly increases the greed for more such pleasures, but on enjoying the same it causes the happiness to diminish, complete contentment and satisfaction whenever, wherever and to whomsoever happens. It will be due to delight and affection in the Soul principle. The outward allurements drag the being towards themselves but in place of contentment one receives disappointment, dejection, peacelessness as an outcome.
The abidance in the Soul Principle is the state of total fulfilment and transcendence of all desires, inclination towards it, and is the contentment and satisfaction of life–the goal of life for this very reason is this only. 'Tasya karyam na vidyate'–for him nothing remains to be done. Ordinary life appears to be in the grip of three knots of entanglement–ignorance, desire and action. Revelling in self and contentment and satisfaction in that, is direct onslaught on ignorance. Once this happens, it is as if ignorance will lose its head. Ignorance was uprooted from its root. Once ignorance is absent then how can the question of worldly desires arise?