यः तु आत्म रतिः एव स्यात् आत्म तृप्तः च मानवः ।
आत्मनि एव च सन्तुष्टः तस्य कार्यं न विद्यतॆ ॥ ३.१७ ॥
ಯಃ ತು ಆತ್ಮ ರತಿಃ ಏವ ಸ್ಯಾತ್ ಆತ್ಮ ತೃಪ್ತಃ ಚ ಮಾನವಃ |
ಆತ್ಮನಿ ಏವ ಚ ಸಂತುಷ್ಟಃ ತಸ್ಯ ಕಾರ್ಯಂ ನ ವಿದ್ಯತೇ || ೩.೧೭ ||
yaH tu Atma ratiH Eva syAt Atma tRuptaH cha mAnavaH |
Atmani Eva cha saMtuShTaH tasya kAryaM na vidyatE || 3.17 ||
Whereas, for him who, perfect in wisdom (immersed in meditation) may be rejoiced in Atman alone, and be contented with Atman, and fixed in Atman alone, be full of Supreme bliss – for him there is nothing to do
(Throughout the verse, the word “Atman” denotes the paramAtman, the Supreme Being)
(The intense meditation called asamprajnAta samAdhi is possible only for him to whom the Lord has revealed Himself; such a person, in that state of meditation, has no other duty to perform and has none to violate)
If every one is bound to perform duties laid down in the scriptures, then what about the persons who are in a state of samadhi? These people spend days together in contemplation of God utterly unaware of what goes on in the outer world. They have idea neither of the sunrise nor of the sunset. It is impossible for them to perform the duties prescribed for the various times of the day. Can they be condemned for this? Sri Krishna has an answer for this.
yaH tu Atma ratiH Eva syAt Atma tRuptaH cha mAnavaH |
Atmani Eva cha saMtuShTaH tasya kAryaM na vidyatE || 3.17 ||
(For the person who is absorbed in the contemplation of God in a state of samadhi and who is enjoying the supreme bliss of the intuitive sight of God, there is no compulsion for doing any prescribed duties.) But when he comes out of this samadhi state, he is obliged to perform all the prescribed duties. Only those who are liberated and thus unaffected by the laws of nature (muKta) and those who are in a state of samadhi have no prescribed duties. The teaching of the Gita is that all the rest have to perform the prescribed duties in a spirit of service to God.