yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas
tat tad evetaro janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaḿ kurute
lokas tad anuvartate

Translation

Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.

na me pārthāsti kartavyaḿ
triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana
nānavāptam avāptavyaḿ
varta eva ca karmaṇi

Translation

O son of Pritha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything—and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.

yadi hy ahaḿ na varteyaḿ
jātu karmaṇy atandritaḥ
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

Translation

For if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O Partha, certainly all men would follow My path.

utsīdeyur ime lokā
na kuryāḿ karma ced aham
sańkarasya ca kartā syām
upahanyām imāḥ prajāḥ

Translation

If I did not perform prescribed duties, all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would be the cause of creating unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all living beings.

saktāḥ karmaṇy avidvāḿso
yathā kurvanti bhārata
kuryād vidvāḿs tathāsaktaś
cikīrṣur loka-sańgraham

Translation

As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, the learned may similarly act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.

na buddhi-bhedam´ janayed
ajñanam´ karma-sanginam
jos?ayet sarva-karman?i
vidvan yuktah? samacaran

Translation

So as not to disrupt the minds of ignorant men attached to the fruitive results of prescribed duties, a learned person should not induce them to stop work. Rather, by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts of activities [for the gradual development of Krishna consciousness].

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahańkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

Translation

Te spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.

tattva-vit tu mahā-bāho
guṇa-karma-vibhāgayoḥ
guṇā guṇeṣu vartanta
iti matvā na sajjate

Translation

One who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth, O mighty-armed, does not engage himself in the senses and sense gratification, knowing well the differences between work in devotion and work for fruitive results.

prakṛter guṇa-sammūḍhāḥ
sajjante guṇa-karmasu
tān akṛtsna-vido mandān
kṛtsna-vin na vicālayet

Translation

Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage themselves in material activities and become attached. But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to the performers’ lack of knowledge.

mayi sarvan?i karman?i
sannyasyadhyatma-cetasa
nirasir nirmamo bhutva
yudhyasva vigata-jvarah?

Translation

Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.