Sanskrit
कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि । योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मशुद्धये ॥
kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalair indriyair api yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṃ tyaktvātmaśuddhaye
Translation
Yogis, having abandoned attachment, perform action only by the body, by the mind, by the Reason, and even by the senses, for the purification of the self.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
This verse itemizes the whole instrument of action — body (kāya), mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), and even the senses (indriya) — pulling the entire psychophysical apparatus into the discipline rather than treating detachment as a purely mental trick. The stated purpose is ātma-śuddhi, self-purification, not liberation itself; action here is reframed as a cleansing agent, the way sustained practice reshapes character more reliably than any single dramatic renunciation. It’s a practical rejoinder to anyone imagining yoga as passive withdrawal — the yogi does exactly what everyone else does, minus the sense of “I am the doer” that turns action into bondage. Ātma-śuddhaye — “for the cleansing of the self” — names action’s role in the earlier stages: it is not yet liberation but the discipline that makes one fit for it, which is why BG 5.6 makes yoga renunciation’s precondition.
Study deeper
Word by word
- kāyena manasā buddhyāकायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या
- with body, mind, and intellect (kāyena + manasā + buddhyā)
- kevalair indriyair apiकेवलैः इन्द्रियैः अपि
- and with the senses alone (kevalaiḥ + indriyaiḥ + api)
- yoginaḥ karma kurvantiयोगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति
- yogins perform action (yoginaḥ + karma + kurvanti)
- saṅgaṃ tyaktvātmaśuddhayeसङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये
- giving up attachment, for self-purification (saṅgam + tyaktvā + ātma-śuddhaye)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Elsewhere the Gita treats the senses mainly as a liability — the site of craving, the thing that has to be restrained. This verse quietly includes them anyway, “even the senses,” among the legitimate instruments performing purifying action. It’s a small but real course-correction: the senses aren’t cast as an enemy to be defeated so much as one more tool in the same kit as body, mind, and intellect, usable for the same purifying work rather than only ever working against it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Don't treat parts of yourself you've learned to distrust — appetite, impulse, desire — as pure liabilities to be suppressed; like the senses in this verse, they can be redirected as instruments of the same growth you're aiming for, not just obstacles to it.
Professional
- When a trait you usually treat as a risk on your team — fast intuition, strong opinions — is actually pointed at the right goal, use it rather than suppressing it by default; the same trait is liability or asset depending on direction.
Family & Social
- A trait in a family member you've mostly seen as a problem — stubbornness, bluntness — may be exactly what's needed when pointed the right direction; don't assume every strong trait has to be worked around instead of worked with.
Ask yourself
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