Chapter 3: Karma Yoga – Transforming All Activities into Yoga: Verse 17
यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्च मानव: ।
आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते ।।
yas-tv-ātmaratir-eva syād-ātmatṛptaś-ca mānava:
ātmany-eva ca santuṣṭas-tasya kāryaṃ na vidyate – 3.17
But he who sports in his own Self, is content with himself, rejoices in his own Self, has nothing like a duty to perform.
Chapter 3: Karma Yoga – Transforming All Activities into Yoga - Verse 17
Swami Nirviseshananda Tirtha
Having described the “Wheel of Creation” to be adhered to by one and all, Krishna emphasizes that a spiritual Seer or Knower who delights in his own inner fullness and abundance, is free from all kinds of duty and compulsion. Whatever was said about yajµa is not applicable to him. Spiritual law transcends all physical laws.
Duty is a corollary to expectation. It is a persuasion or compulsion to gain or give something. Both arise from a state of ego and possessiveness, and cause only constriction and bondage, agitation and torment.
Mind attains its full expanse and depth, when freed from such constricting thoughts. The Knower is one in whom this innate freedom from the mind’s and intellect’s shackles reigns adequately. He is beyond all compulsions. His inner spiritual fullness liberates him from all physical and societal laws. As biophysical, biochemical and biological laws apply to his body, so the superior spiritual laws enrich his inner being.
