Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3
Karma Yoga — కర్మ యోగం
43 verses · The Path of Selfless Action
Krishna addresses Arjuna's confusion: if knowledge is supreme, why act at all? Krishna explains that action cannot be avoided (even breathing is action). The solution is to perform action without attachment — as yajna (sacrifice) to the Divine. This is Karma Yoga.
Key Verse
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् — Better is one's own dharma though imperfect, than the dharma of another well-performed.
Śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt sv-anuṣṭhitāt
వేరొకరి ధర్మం బాగా చేయటం కంటే తన ధర్మం అపూర్ణంగా చేయటం మెరుగు
Spiritual Lesson
Action performed as sacrifice (yajna) transforms karma into spiritual progress. Every legitimate work is an offering to the Divine when done without selfish attachment.
Where Chapter 3 sits in the Bhagavad Gita
Karma Yoga is the 3rd of the Bhagavad Gita's eighteen chapters and runs to 43 verses. The longest of the eighteen is Chapter 18 at 78 verses and the shortest are Chapter 12 and Chapter 15 at 20 verses, so this one sits toward the longer end of that range. Its name is written కర్మ యోగం in Telugu, and in English it is given as the Path of Selfless Action.
It follows Chapter 2, Sankhya Yoga, the Path of Knowledge / Yoga of Discrimination, and runs on into Chapter 4, Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga, the Path of Knowledge in Action. The eighteen chapters are one continuous conversation rather than eighteen separate readings, so a chapter read on its own carries the argument of the one before it. All eighteen chapters are listed here.
Questions about Chapter 3
How many verses are in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3?
Chapter 3, Karma Yoga, has 43 verses. Chapter lengths across the Gita are uneven, and this page publishes the count for this chapter alone rather than a running total, because editions differ over how one chapter is numbered.
What does Karma Yoga mean?
In English it is given as the Path of Selfless Action. The name is written కర్మ యోగం in Telugu. Chapter names in the Gita describe what the chapter is about rather than acting as titles a reader has to decode.
Which chapter comes before and after Chapter 3?
Before: Chapter 2, Sankhya Yoga — The Path of Knowledge / Yoga of Discrimination. After: Chapter 4, Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga — The Path of Knowledge in Action. The Gita is a single conversation, so the chapters are numbered in the order they are spoken and are meant to be read that way.