Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3,2.8
॥
Devanāgarī
हस्तौ वै ग्रहः सः कर्मणातिग्रहेण गृहीतः हस्ताभ्याम् हि कर्म करोति
Transliteration (IAST)
hastau vai grahaḥ saḥ karmaṇātigraheṇa gṛhītaḥ hastābhyām hi karma karoti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
हस्तौhastauthe hands (hasta, dual); the two hands; the hands
वैvaitruly; indeed
ग्रहःgrahaḥthe seizer; the organ of seizing
सःsaḥhe; that one
कर्मणातिग्रहेणkarmaṇātigraheṇaby action as over-grasper (karmaṇā atigraheṇa); by the action-seizer; by work
गृहीतःgṛhītaḥis grasped; is caught
हस्ताभ्याम्hastābhyāmwith the two hands; with the hands
हिhiindeed; truly
कर्मkarmaaction (karman); action; work
करोतिkarotithey do (from √kṛ); they make; they perform
Translation
The hands are a grasper; they are grasped by work as the over-grasper: for with the hands one does work.
Version
9872b05ac742 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:59:58 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The seventh pair: hands and work. The most literal of grips — and it too is turned about: it is not the hands that own the work but the work that owns the hands: what is begun demands continuation, what is made demands upkeep; a man is the prisoner of his own undertakings, and the more the hands can do, the longer their chain.
Karma means precisely "work": the captivity of the hands to their works is the very mechanics of karmic bondage, caught in everyday life. The way out that the Gītā will give is well known: not inaction (hands are never without work) but a change in the owner of the works — yajñārthāt karmaṇaḥ, work as sacrifice (BG 3.9): hands that labour for the Lord are untied by the very labour.