Krishna’s talk, in Chapter 2, of yoga as self-control and being equiposed amidst all circumstances, and his talk of the need for Arjuna to go forth and fight in the ensuing battle, leaves Arjuna confused. It seems to him that Krishna is giving contradictory advice. To clarify, Krishna explains the yoga of action. And the first point to understand about action is that action is unavoidable: no one can not act, even for a moment (3.5), since even so-called “inaction” is just another way of becoming implicated in the complex calculus of self-centered behavior resulting in continued bondage of the self.

Thus, all living beings are trapped in the bondage of their own actions. Any attempt to become free from this bondage by one’s own endeavor will simply result in further, and possibly tighter, bondage. The solution, Krishna says, is to practice karma-yoga. And the first step in karma-yoga is to engaged one’s body—consisting of sense organs that facilitate action, such as legs, arms, and the power of speech—in “acts of sacrifice” (yajña). Yajña (described in other Sanskrit texts, the Vedas) is typically done in prescribed ritual forms that serve to affirm one’s participation in humanity’s essential cosmic function. Importantly, such acts must be performed “without attachment” (3.7) for any results or benefits gained from them. Then one can become free from the bondage of karma.

In the concluding verses of this chapter, Krishna responds to Arjuna’s question (3.36), “By what is a person impelled to act wrongly or improperly, as if by force, even without intending so?” The cause is desire, or lust (kāma) and anger (krodha) arising from the modality (guṇa) of passion. This condition is, in turn, caused by the “covering” of one’s innate knowledge of the self’s true, eternal nature. Echoing himself from Chapter 2, Krishna says that to lift this covering, one must act with careful discrimination (buddhi) in order to “conquer the enemy, lust” (3.43).

This chapter brings the sense of “purification,” “neutralization,” and “transformation” to the concept “yoga.” Whereas action—karma—normally causes bondage for human beings, it need not do so. If performed in the spirit of sacrifice—by which one connects oneself to the cosmic order—then actions become purified and neutralized of any reactions. Action becomes transformed into spirit, benefiting both the actor (the atemporal self) and the entire world (3.25).