• Get The Book
  • Home
  • About
  • Daily Prayer
  • Resources For Further Study

A simple, modern translation and explanation of the Bhagavad Gita with shloka (verse) meaning

~ Gita Journey is a straightforward, modern, contemporary, basic explanation and commentary of the Bhagawat Gita, with Sanskrit to English word meanings. Each shloka (verse) is explained in detail. An introduction to the Bhagavad Gita along with study resources can also be found here. A summary of each chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is also included. It does not matter whether you are a student, a retiree, a professional, a mom, a dad or a housewife – no prior knowledge is needed.

A simple, modern translation and explanation of the Bhagavad Gita with shloka (verse) meaning

Category Archives: aavritaahaa

Bhagavad Gita Verse 48, Chapter 18

06 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by skr_2011 in 18.48, aavritaahaa, agnihi, chapter 18 verse 48, doshena, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, karma, kaunteya, sadosham, sahajam, sarvaarambhaa, tyajet

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 48, Chapter 18

sahajam karma kaunteya sadoshamapi na tyajet |
sarvaarambhaa hi doshena dhoomenaagnirivaavritaahaa || 48 ||

 
Natural duty, even though fraught with defect, should not be abandoned. For, all undertakings are covered with defect, like fire by smoke.
 
sahajam : natural
karma : duty
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
sadosham : with defect
api : even
na : not
tyajet : abandoned
sarvaarambhaa : all undertakings
hi : for
doshena : with defect
dhoomen : by smoke
agnihi : fire
iva : like
aavritaahaa : covered
 
Some people in this world are perfectionists. Either we know such people as friends or co-workers, or we may be one ourselves. Perfectionism is a recipe for constant sorrow, because no matter who performs the actions, they will never be perfect. As we have seen earlier, an action is based on several factors, including the mental state of the performer, the instruments used, the state of the outside world and so on. It is next to impossible to expect all these factors to line up in such a manner that the action and its result will be perfect.
 
Shri Krishna says that any undertaking, any project, any action will always have some imperfection built into it, just like any fire will have some smoke covering it. So there is no point giving up our actions and our duties because they contain some imperfection or the other. Even the human body, the most intricate organism on this earth, has some minor defect in one form or the other, in the form of ill health or deformity and so on. Therefore, we have to accept this fact and continue to perform our best actions, not focus too much on the result.
 
With this shloka, the topic of karma yoga is concluded. If we recall, this topic was prompted by Arjuna in the beginning of this chapter, when he wanted to know the difference between sanyaasa and tyaaga. Tyaaga was redefined by Shri Krishna to mean karma yoga, and was analyzed in great detail. Tyaaga or karma yoga, combined with bhakti, is a process, is a means to get us to a destination. When practised properly, it lifts us from our materialistic life and places us on the path towards liberation. So then, if tyaaga is the means, what is the goal? This is taken up next.

New! Youtube Channel

Watch our YouTube videos!

All shokas (verses) available here:

Most Visited Verses

  • Summary Of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1
  • Bhagavad Gita Verse 17, Chapter 13
  • Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 12
  • Bhagavad Gita Verse 62-63, Chapter 2
  • Summary of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15
  • Bhagavad Gita Verse 5, Chapter 6
  • Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 6
  • Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 6
  • Bhagavad Gita Verse 6, Chapter 4
  • Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 4

Give Feedback

Email the author: gkmdisc at hotmail.com

Books By The Author

The entire Gita book written by the author of this blog, as well as shorter, easier to read versions of the Gita are available here.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • A simple, modern translation and explanation of the Bhagavad Gita with shloka (verse) meaning
    • Join 118 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • A simple, modern translation and explanation of the Bhagavad Gita with shloka (verse) meaning
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar