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Chapter 3

Bhagavad-gītā 3.15

Read once with your eyes. Read again aloud.

कर्म ब्रह्मोद्भवं विद्धि ब्रह्माक्षरसमुद्भवम्। तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम्।।3.15।।

karma brahmodbhavaṁ viddhi brahmākṣhara-samudbhavam tasmāt sarva-gataṁ brahma nityaṁ yajñe pratiṣhṭhitam

Verse translation

Know Karma to have risen from the Veda, and the Veda from the Imperishable. Therefore the all-pervading Veda is ever centred in Yajna.

English rendering by Swami Swarupananda. Public domain first edition, 1909.

The person at the centre for Bhagavad-gītā 3.15The teaching gathers around Krishna as source and guide. This composition is unique to Bhagavad-gītā 3.15 and uses the verse's key terms.1karma2samudbhavam3pratiṣhṭhitamBhagavad-gītā 3.15
The person at the centreThe teaching gathers around Krishna as source and guide
Word by word

Build the sentence from its parts

Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.

13word links
Sanskrit formMeaning here
karmaduties
brahmain the Vedas
udbhavammanifested
viddhiyou should know
brahmaThe Vedas
akṣharafrom the Imperishable (God)
samudbhavamdirectly manifested
tasmāttherefore
sarva-gatamall-pervading
brahmaThe Lord
nityameternally
yajñein sacrifice
pratiṣhṭhitamestablished
Explanation and elucidation

Use the word map to follow the relation among karma (duties), samudbhavam (directly manifested), and pratiṣhṭhitam (established). Ask what changes between the first and last term, and how that movement contributes to work offered without possessiveness. State the connection in your own words, then check it against Bhagavad-gita 3.15.

Original school explanation. Written independently from the Sanskrit word map. It is not a quotation, translation, or summary of a named modern commentary. Chapter lens: Distinguish action, duty, sacrifice, example, desire and attachment without treating karma-yoga as inactivity.

Gaudiya study and reading shelf

Five careful reading routes

Rights-aware references

The cards below are reading references, not claims about what an acharya says in this verse. Modern wording stays inside authorized editions. Classical commentary will appear only after an independent translation has passed scholarly and rights review.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Bhagavad-gita As It Is
Modern protected edition

For Bhagavad-gita 3.15, consult the authorized BBT edition. No purport, translation, or author-attributed summary is reproduced here.

Find the authorized edition

Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Rasika-ranjana
Classical original-language work

A verified independent rendering for Bhagavad-gita 3.15 has not yet passed scholarly and rights review. Modern translations are not copied here.

Independent rendering pending review

Baladeva Vidyabhushana

Gita-bhushana-bhashya
Public-domain Sanskrit original

The original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 3.15 must be verified before publication.

Independent translation pending review

Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura

Sarartha-varshini-tika
Public-domain Sanskrit original

The original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 3.15 must be verified before publication.

Independent translation pending review

Other Gaudiya acharyas

Authorized Gaudiya editions
Mixed rights status

For Bhagavad-gita 3.15, later teachers remain a further-reading route. Their wording and distinctive teaching structures require permission or a separate rights review.

Use an authorized edition
Diagram

Meaning map

Flow chart

Follow the thought

  1. 1

    Know Karma to have risen from the Veda

  2. 2

    the Veda from the Imperishable

  3. 3

    Therefore the all-pervading Veda is ever centred in Yajna

The person at the centre for Bhagavad-gītā 3.15The teaching gathers around Krishna as source and guide. This composition is unique to Bhagavad-gītā 3.15 and uses the verse's key terms.1karma2samudbhavam3pratiṣhṭhitamBhagavad-gītā 3.15
The person at the centreThe teaching gathers around Krishna as source and guide
Easy way to remember

Look, link, cover, teach

1

Look

Picture disciplined action.

2

Link

Use the line starts: karma brahmodbhavaṁ / tasmāt sarva-gataṁ.

3

Cover

Hide the verse and rebuild one line at a time.

4

Teach

Explain the flow to another person without looking.

Keep what you learned

Turn this reading into a study record

Save it, return from memory, and write one idea in your own words. Your record stays in this browser unless you export it.

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A simple learning rhythm

Do more than reread

  1. 1ReadTake in one small piece.
  2. 2RememberClose it and bring it back.
  3. 3UseConnect it to a real choice.
  4. 4ExplainSay it clearly in your own words.
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