Summary:
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 21: Leaders naturally influence society through their actions and standards. When you occupy a position of influence, your daily conduct becomes a template that others follow. Whatever you establish as pramāṇa (proper measure) becomes the standard for your followers. True leadership requires relegating personal interests to prioritize the bigger picture and what benefits everyone. Your choices create ripple effects throughout your community, as people generally follow established leaders rather than investigating matters independently. This principle explains how revolutions spread through books embraced by leaders, whether Mao's Red Book, Hitler's Mein Kampf, Darwin's Origin of Species, or traditional scriptures. Leaders must recognize their responsibility and act accordingly, understanding that their decisions have far-reaching consequences.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 22: Krishna demonstrates the perspective of a jñāni who understands the two orders of reality – satyam (awareness) and mithya (dependent reality). From the standpoint of awareness, there is nothing to be done because consciousness is unborn, actionless, unchanging, and ever-free. Awareness is the substance of everything with no place where it is not present. Yet the body-mind remains engaged in action governed by Ishvara's laws through prārabdha karma. The jñāni maintains effortless understanding that “my body-mind is acting, not Me” while remaining fully active. For one with Self-knowledge, only prārabdha remains, making the body-mind want to live despite knowing its dream-like nature. The body-mind is governed by Ishvara, not by awareness which doesn't decide. Krishna exemplifies this active engagement while being established in fullness, having nothing to gain because he is the whole, fully-filled already, yet remaining extremely proactive as peace envoy, charioteer, teacher, and advisor.
Revision:
Chapter 3, Verse 20: Example of person whose got it right…
Janaka didn’t cut corners running his kingdom (life), knowing he is intimately connected to the network. And to appreciate something even greater then the kingdom, he was first advised to make problematic things, non-problematic, to understand his connection to the laws/orders which operate impersonally and infallibly. His mind eventually became big enough to capture the non-dual vision. And continued to operate his kingdom. Now as an enlightened king/accountant/role-player, you become influential to others. Krishna has a word on this.
NEXT VERSE: Shows how society is influenced by people like Janaka (leaders)…
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 21:
Shows how society is influenced by leaders
यत् यत् आचरति श्रेष्ठः तत् तत् एव इतरः जनः ।
सः यत् प्रमाणम् कुरुते लोकः तत् अनुवर्तते ॥ ३-२१॥
yat yat ācarati śreṣṭhaḥ tat tat eva itaraḥ janaḥ ।
saḥ yat pramāṇam kurute lokaḥ tat anuvartate ॥ 3-21॥
Whatsoever an important person does, that alone the other people do. Whatever that person sets as proper, the world of people follows that.
Purpose of Verse:
This verse reveals how your actions as a leader impact society. If you occupy a position of influence, your choices create ripple effects throughout your community. Krishna nudges us to change perspective from seeing yourself as an isolated individual – to recognizing your role in shaping your environment consciously or unconsciously.
What decides a leader? How much you’re able to relegate your personal interest, and do what is good for you and everyone else. Prioritizing bigger picture over your self-interests.
“Whatsoever an important person does, that alone the other people do…”
When you occupy a position of leadership in society — whether as a king, prince, judge, officer, or even a father in a household — your actions become a template for others to follow.
Term śreṣṭha refers to someone who is looked up to by others, a role model whose daily conduct (ācarati) sets the trend for how everyone else lives.
People naturally follow those they admire. When you are in a position of influence, your everyday actions — how you live, act, and react to various situations — become the standard that others emulate.
“Whatever that person sets as proper, the world of people follows that…”
As a leader, whatever you establish as pramāṇa (the measure of right and wrong, or means by which things are done) — becomes the standard for your followers.
This is precisely what happened in ancient India when kings like Aśoka who embraced Buddhism — his subjects shifted religious allegiance because the king's pramāṇa became their pramāṇa.
People generally lack time or inclination to deeply investigate religious or philosophical matters, so they don't stand on their own but follow established leaders. This is why converting a king was the most efficient way to spread a new interpretation of religion.
Leaders must recognize their responsibility and act accordingly
Every revolution has some kind of book behind it — whether Mao's Red Book (communist conduct), Hitler's Mein Kampf (superiority of race, anti-Semitism), On the Origin of Species (Charles Darwin), Selfish Gene (Richard Dawkins), or traditional scriptures — that becomes pramāṇa when embraced by leaders.
Kṛṣṇa reminds Arjuna: “This is how it is, Arjuna. Whatever you do is exactly what others are going to do because you are a śreṣṭha, a leader, someone who is important. Your decisions have far-reaching consequences when you're in a position of influence, you must consider your actions carefully”.
If Arjuna had abandoned his duty and gone to Rishikesh, his soldiers would have followed. If he wore beads, everyone would have done the same.
NEXT VERSE: Kṛṣṇa uses himself as an example of a leader…
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 22:
Example of a perfect jnani walking the earth…
na me pārtha asti kartavyam triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana ।
na anavāptam avāptavyam varte eva ca karmaṇi ॥ 3-22॥
न मे पार्थ अस्ति कर्तव्यम् त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन ।
न अनवाप्तम् अवाप्तव्यम् वर्ते एव च कर्मणि ॥ ३-२२॥
Pārtha (Arjuna)! For me, there is nothing to be done. In the three worlds, there is nothing to be gained by me, which is not yet gained. Yet, I remain engaged in action.
“For me, there is nothing to be done…”
This “me” refers to satyam, or awareness – which is unborn, actionless, unchanging, and ever-free. Krishna is revealing the truth about who you are.
This doesn't mean physical inactivity, which is impossible while alive.
This statement is understood when your buddhi is awakened to the fact that from the standpoint of awareness – no action takes place and there is nothing to achieve – and that were awareness is your real nature. Awareness or Consciousness is the substance of everything, meaning there's no place or time or thing where it is not. Nothing is outside it. For that reason Krishna says, “For me (awareness), there is nothing to be done”.
Meanwhile, all actions belongs to the physical body, mind, and sense organs.
This means, while jñānī’s body-mind is acting/doing/thinking/enjoying/suffering – there is an effortless and unbroken understanding “My body-mind is doing and thinking, not Me”.
Metaphor to show relationship between Awareness (that which is actionless) and body-mind (domain of action and karma):
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- Electricity powers a fan’s movement, but electricity itself doesn’t “spin.” Similarly, the Self “enables” action, because it is the substance of all forms, but doesn’t act because the substance is all pervasive.
- Dreamer’s Perspective: In a dream, you (a conscious being) lie motionless in bed — while the dream-body runs, fights, or speaks. The dream-world unfolds spontaneously, without any conscious effort from the being in the bed. Similarly, the Ātman (the conscious Self) is the sākṣin (witness) of the three states of experience manufactured by māyā —they are: jāgrat (waking), svapna (dreaming), and suṣupti (deep sleep). You are the awareness of the 3 types of bodies manufactured by māyā and given for 80+ years — they are: vaiśvānara (waking body, the one used to read these words), taijasa (dreaming body), and prājña (deep-sleeping body). Awareness remains untouched by the actions or consequences associated with them.
- Water’s Perspective: Whether waves rise or fall, the water remains water through-and-through all waves. Water doesn’t “do” anything to create waves. Waves are moved by the wind (compared to māyā). Self is the “water” — ever-full (pūrṇa), requiring no action to “become”.
“Yet, I remain engaged in action…”
At this level, the “I” is referring to Krishna’s body-mind-sense complex governed by Ishvara’s laws. Krishna's body drives chariots, teaches, negotiates, eats, speaks, works.
This statement refers to mithya; dependent reality.
Metaphor: The dream-character depends on the being in the bed — dependent on His consciousness, His existence, His intelligence, His power.
What is relationship between action and the jñāni?
For the Knower of Self:
Only prārabdha remains, which is what makes your body-mind instrument want to live one more day, despite firm knowledge that the body-mind and life it lives/enjoys/suffers has no bearing on Self.
The jivanmukta doesn’t commit suicide even if knows this world and the body-mind is like a dream.
While alive, Ishvara is the boss because it’s Ishvara’s laws that govern the body-mind’s trajectory, physiological and psychological functions.
If a person claims they’re enlightened and claims, “I am choosing to end the life of this body because I am not this body” – that statement shows their ignorance. Because the “I” (which they claim they're in touch with) is of nature of Awareness. And awareness doesn’t decide.
It shows they still take self as the ego or the doer (chooser of the suicide).
Fact is, the body-mind is governed not by “I” (awareness), but by Ishvara, and suicide doesn’t happen in Ishvara’s creation.
That’s why you don’t see animals committing suicide even when they’re exposed to prolong hunger and abuse, because they’re entirely governed by Ishvara’s program.
Yes, there’s legitimate reasons people may end their life (such as euthanasia due to dementia), but we’re not speaking of rare legitimate reasons. We’re speaking of suicide committed by a completely healthy, strong living organism.
For Those Without Self-Knowledge:
Karma (actions) becomes yoga (spiritual practice), neutralizing personal likes and dislikes (rāga-dveṣas) and sense of “my”.
“In the three worlds, there is nothing to be gained by me, which is not yet gained…”
Krishna says, “I come with knowledge of the truth of everything, thus I have nothing to gain. There’s no goal I haven’t accomplished because I’m the whole. [He doesn’t say this now, only in CH4.7 when reveals avatara status). I’m not here searching for fulfillment, because I am fully-filled already. I am lucid about situations”.
Hearing this, one would assume Krishna is passive, yet his life as a jnani, is extremely active, as shown in these examples…
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- Krishna travelled as peace envoy to Hastinapura, presenting the Pandavas' final proposal.
- As Arjuna's charioteer, Krishna skillfully maneuverer through battlefield chaos for 18 days. Shows no job is beneath “Him”.
- When Arjuna hesitated to fight, Krishna delivered the Bhagavad Gita teachings on duty and action.
- Krishna advised Bhima on how to defeat the seemingly invincible Duryodhana by indicating his vulnerable thigh during their final mace duel.
- Krishna guided Yudhishthira through the complex political challenges of establishing his new kingdom after the war, helping him navigate post-conflict reconciliation and governance.
NEXT VERSE: Krishna explains why jnani is proactive rather then passive/lazy…
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Course was based on Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya) home study course.
Recorded 3 Aug, 2025