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Shloka 6

Karma, Jñāna, and Bhakti: Vedic Dharma, Piety and Sin, and the Boat of Human Life

श्रीभगवानुवाच योगास्‍त्रयो मया प्रोक्ता नृणां श्रेयोविधित्सया । ज्ञानं कर्म च भक्तिश्च नोपायोऽन्योऽस्ति कुत्रचित् ॥ ६ ॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca yogās trayo mayā proktā nṝṇāṁ śreyo-vidhitsayā jñānaṁ karma ca bhaktiś ca nopāyo ’nyo ’sti kutracit

သခင်ဘုရားက မိန့်တော်မူသည်—အုဒ္ဓဝါ၊ လူသားတို့ အမြင့်ဆုံးကောင်းကျိုးရစေလို၍ ငါသည် ယောဂလမ်းသုံးပါးကို ဟောပြောခဲ့သည်—ဉာဏ၊ ကမ္မ၊ နှင့် ဘက္တိ။ ဤသုံးပါးမှတပါး အခြားနည်းလမ်း မရှိ။

śrī-bhagavānthe Blessed Lord
śrī-bhagavān:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootśrī (प्रातिपदिक) + bhagavat (प्रातिपदिक)
Formकर्मधारयसमासः: ‘श्रीमान्’ + ‘भगवान्’; पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्
uvācasaid
uvāca:
Kriyā (क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Root√vac (धातु)
Formलिट् (Perfect) परस्मैपदम्; प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd person) एकवचनम्
yogāḥpaths (yogas)
yogāḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootyoga (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्
trayaḥthree
trayaḥ:
Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Roottraya (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्; संख्याविशेषणम् (numeral adjective)
mayāby me
mayā:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootasmad (प्रातिपदिक)
Formतृतीया (3rd/Instrumental) एकवचनम्; सर्वनाम
proktāḥhave been taught
proktāḥ:
Kriyā (क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootpra-√vac (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
Formकर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्तः (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्; ‘योगाः ... प्रोक्ताः’
nṝṇāmof men/people
nṝṇām:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
TypeNoun
Rootnṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे षष्ठी (6th/Genitive) बहुवचनम्
śreyo-vidhitsayāwith the intention of granting the highest good
śreyo-vidhitsayā:
Hetu (हेतु/Cause)
TypeNoun
Rootśreyas (प्रातिपदिक) + vidhitsā (प्रातिपदिक; desiderative noun from √dhā/√vidh)
Formतत्पुरुषसमासः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः): ‘श्रेयसः’ + ‘विधित्सा’ (desire to bestow/arrange); स्त्रीलिङ्गे तृतीया एकवचनम्
jñānamknowledge (path of knowledge)
jñānam:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootjñāna (प्रातिपदिक)
Formनपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनम्; गणनायाम् (as one of the three)
karmaaction (path of action)
karma:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootkarman (प्रातिपदिक)
Formनपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनम्
caand
ca:
Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootca (अव्यय)
Formसमुच्चयार्थक-निपातः (conjunction)
bhaktiḥdevotion (path of devotion)
bhaktiḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootbhakti (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्
caand
ca:
Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootca (अव्यय)
Formसमुच्चयार्थक-निपातः (conjunction)
nanot
na:
Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootna (अव्यय)
Formनिषेधार्थक-निपातः (negation particle)
upāyaḥmeans
upāyaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootupāya (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्
anyaḥother
anyaḥ:
Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootanya (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्; ‘उपायः’ इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणम्
astiexists/is
asti:
Kriyā (क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Root√as (धातु)
Formलट् (Present) परस्मैपदम्; प्रथमपुरुषः एकवचनम्
kutracitanywhere
kutracit:
Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootkutracit (अव्यय)
Formअव्ययम्; देशवाचक-अव्ययम् (indefinite locative adverb)

Ultimately, the goal of philosophical speculation, pious regulated work and devotional service is the same — Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As stated by the Lord in Bhagavad-gītā (4.11) :

S
Sri Bhagavan (Krishna)

FAQs

In this verse, Lord Krishna states that He has taught three yogas—jñāna, karma, and bhakti—for the highest welfare of human beings, and that there is no other spiritual means apart from these.

In the Uddhava Gita context, Krishna is instructing Uddhava on how different temperaments and stages of life can progress spiritually; therefore He summarizes the main authorized paths as knowledge, dutiful action, and devotion.

Do your responsibilities conscientiously (karma), cultivate discernment and scriptural understanding (jñāna), and make devotion to the Lord the heart of life through remembrance, prayer, and service (bhakti).