Bhagavad Gita 5.11 Meaning: Kayena manasa buddhya

Bhagavad Gita 5.11

कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि ।योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मशुद्धये ॥

Kayena manasa buddhya kevalairindriyairapiYoginah karma kurvanti sangam tyaktvatmashuddhaye

kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalairindriyairapi |yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṃ tyaktvā’’tmaśuddhaye ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Krishna says that yogis act with the body, the mind (manas), the understanding (buddhi), and even with the senses alone, giving up attachment, in order to purify themselves.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि योगी आसक्ति छोड़कर, अपने को शुद्ध करने के लिए, शरीर से, मन से, बुद्धि से और केवल इंद्रियों से भी कर्म करते हैं।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

कायेन kāyena · with the body (instrumental singular) Dictionary: 2. kāya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 274, col. 1 “the body”
मनसा manasā · with the mind (instrumental singular) Dictionary: manas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 783, col. 3 “mind (in its widest sense as applied to all the mental powers)”
बुद्ध्या buddhyā · with the understanding (instrumental singular) Dictionary: buddhi, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 733, col. 3 “intelligence, reason, intellect, mind”
केवलैः kevalaiḥ · alone, only (instrumental plural) Dictionary: kevala, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 309, col. 3 “alone, only, mere”
इन्द्रियैः indriyaiḥ · with the senses (instrumental plural) Dictionary: indriya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 167, col. 2 “faculty of sense, sense, organ of sense”
अपि api · even (indeclinable) Dictionary: api, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 55, col. 1 “in the sense of even, also, very”
योगिनः yoginaḥ · yogis (nominative plural) Dictionary: yogin, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 857, col. 3 “a follower of the Yoga system, a Yogin (usually called Yogī) or contemplative saint”
कर्म karma · action (accusative singular (neuter)) Dictionary: karman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 258, col. 2 “act, action, performance, business”
कुर्वन्ति kurvanti · do, perform (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. kṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 301, col. 1 “to do, make, perform, accomplish, cause, effect”
सङ्गम् saṅgam · attachment (accusative singular) Dictionary: saṅga, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1132, col. 3 “(esp.) worldly or selfish attachment or affection, desire”
त्यक्त्वा tyaktvā · giving up (absolutive ('having done')) Dictionary: 1. tyaj, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 456, col. 3 “to leave, abandon, quit”
आत्मशुद्धये ātmaśuddhaye · to purify oneself (compound, dative singular) Dictionary: ātma-śuddhi, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 135, col. 3 “self-purification”

2 printings differ

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

Spelling A digital text reads Same words. The 1922 edition marks the merged long ā with a double avagraha (त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मशुद्धये), as it does in 1.28 and 4.7; the e-text writes त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये.
Spelling A digital text reads Without the avagraha, like another digital text.

Body=bathing, &c.; mind=meditation, &c.; understanding=ascertainment of truth; senses=hearing and celebrating God's name. ↩

Bhagavad Gita 5.11: meaning and translation

Text and layers