एवं प्रवर्तितं चक्रं नानुवर्तयतीह यः।
अघायुरिन्द्रियारामो मोघं पार्थ स जीवति।।3.16।।
।।3.16।।हे पार्थ जो मनुष्य इस लोकमें इस प्रकार परम्परासे प्रचलित सृष्टिचक्रके अनुसार नहीं चलता वह इन्द्रियोंके द्वारा भोगोंमें रमण करनेवाला अघायु (पापमय जीवन बितानेवाला) मनुष्य संसारमें व्यर्थ ही जीता है।
3.16 O Partha, sah, he; jivati, lives; mogham, in vain; yah, who, though competent for action; na anuvartayati, does not follow; iha, here, in the world; cakram, the wheel of the world; evam, thus; pravartitam, set in motion, by God, on the basis of the Vedas and the sacrifices; aghayuh, whose life (ayuh) is sinful (agham), i.e. whose life is vile; and indriya-aramah, who indulges in the senses-who has his arama, sport, enjoyment, with objects, indriyaih, through the senses. Therefore, the gist of the topic under discussion is that action must be undertaken by one who is alified (for action) but is unenlightened. In the verses beginning from, (A person does not attain freedom from action by adstaining from action (4) and ending with, You perform the obligatory duties৷৷.And, through inaction, even the maintenance of your body will not be possible (8), it has been proved that before one attains fitness for steadfastness in the knowledge of the Self, it is the bounden duty of a person who is alified for action, but is not enlightened, to undertake Karma-yoga for that purpose. And then, also in the verses commencing from (This man becomes bound) by actions other than that action meant for God (9) and ending with O Partha, he lives in vain, many reasons [Such as, that it pleases God, secures the affection of the gods, and so on.] have been incidentally stated as to why a competent person has to undertake actions; and the evils arising from their non-performance have also been emphatically declared. Such being the conclusion, the estion arises whether the wheel thus set in motion should be followed by all, or only by one who is ignorant of the Self and has not attained to the steadfastness which is fit to be practised by the Sankhyas, the knowers of the Self, through the Yoga of Knowledge only, and which is acired by one ignorant of the Self through the means of the practice of Karma-yoga mentioned above? Either anticipating Arjunas estion to this effect, or in order to make the meaning of the scripture (Gita) clearly understood, the Lord, revealing out of His own accord that the following substance of the Upanisads-Becoming freed from false knowledge by knowing this very Self, the Brahmanas renounce what is a compulsory duty for those having false knoweldge, viz, desire for sons, etc., and then lead a mendicant life just for the purpose of maintaining the body; they have no duty to perform other than steadfastness in the knowledge of the Self (cf. Br. 3.5.1)-has been presented here in the Gita, says:
3.16 Evam etc. On the other hand, he, who does not accept as stated above, is full of sins. For, he enjoys only in the sense-organs and not in the Self.
3.16 Thus this wheel is set in motion by the Supreme Person: From food arise embodied selves which are denoted by the word beings: from rain food; from sacrifice rain; sacrifice from activities which constitute the exercise of an agent; and activity from the embodied self; and again the body endowed with life from food. In this manner there is a seence which revolves like a wheel through the mutual relations of cause and effect. Hence, He who is engaged in spiritual practice - whether one is alified for Karma Yoga or Jnana Yoga - if he does not follow, i.e., does not keep in motion the wheel which revolves in a circle through mutual relation of cause and effect - that person by not maintaining his bodily subsistence by means of the remainder of sacrifice, lives in sin. His life begins in sin or develops in sin, or is of both these kinds; he lives the life of sin. Thus he is a reveller in his senses and not in his self. The senses become the pleasure-gardens of one whose mind and body are not nourished by the remainders of sacrifices. Rajas and Tamas preponderate in his body. Being thus turned away from the vision of the self, he rejoices only in the enjoyment of the senses. Therefore, even if he were to attempt for the vision of the self, it will be fruitless. So he lives in vain, O Arjuna. Sri Krsna now says that there is no need for the performance of the great sacrifices etc., according to his station and stage of life, only in respect of a liberated person whose vision of the self does not depend on any external means.
Evam pravartitam chakram naanuvartayateeha yah; Aghaayur indriyaaraamo mogham paartha sa jeevati.
evam—thus; pravartitam—set into motion; chakram—cycle; na—not; anuvartayati—follow; iha—in this life; yaḥ—who; agha-āyuḥ—sinful living; indriya-ārāmaḥ—for the delight of their senses; mogham—vainly; pārtha—Arjun, the son of Pritha; saḥ—they; jīvati—live
