Upaniṣads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3,2.8
॥
Devanāgarī
हस्तौ वै ग्रहः सः कर्मणातिग्रहेण गृहीतः हस्ताभ्याम् हि कर्म करोति
Transliteración (IAST)
hastau vai grahaḥ saḥ karmaṇātigraheṇa gṛhītaḥ hastābhyām hi karma karoti
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
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
Traducción
The hands are a grasper; they are grasped by work as the over-grasper: for with the hands one does work.
Versión
9872b05ac742 · publicado 27 jul 2026, 0:59:58 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
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.