Gita 03.22 – Krishna’s supreme position redefines duty as lila

Pure devotion Krishna is telling Arjuna that he should do his duty because he is a social leader to set an example for others and for that he will now, in the next three verses 22 to 24, give his own example for me, O Partha, there is no kartavya so for me there is no duty in any of the three words nor is there something which I have which I have to protect nor is there something which I don't have which I desire and yet I am engaged in my duty I am doing my karma this is the first indication in this verse or in this chapter of Krishna's special position in the Bhagavad Gita itself this is the second time, in 2.61 Krishna has mentioned that yukta asita matpara fix the control senses, fix the consciousness of the control senses on me, so here now he is telling that he has no duty in any of the three words and this is an extraordinary statement because everybody has duties and for Krishna to say that I don't have any duties and that to then expand the ambit of the statement to include all the three words what does it actually mean? Krishna, we see that when he acted in this when he came to this world, he did act and acted in responsible ways when the Dwarkavasis were in danger even when he was elsewhere he was in the Pandavas or other places he came back in time to protect the Dwarkavasis from the demons and before that even when he was a child he protected the Vrajavasis from demons so it's clear that he did do his duties so what exactly does this verse mean when Krishna is saying that there are no duties for me and why is he bringing in the three words over here for understanding this we need to look at the definition of the absolute truth Upanishads explain that the absolute truth being perfect and complete has nothing to do the absolute truth does not desire to do anything and the absolute truth is not obliged to do anything because that absolute truth is perfect and complete so now because we take something from the world it is our duty to contribute also something to the world so that reciprocation of give and take is vital fundamental essential for all of us because we have to take so many things from nature from the world around us as a matter of reciprocation we also have to give some things so it is not in the slightest duty for me in all the three worlds why does he say such a thing because Krishna does not take anything from anyone he is self satisfied and therefore he does not have to give anything to anyone he does not need anything he does not desire anything he is complete and perfect so he is purna complete and perfect and whereas all of us have duties he does not have any duty at all now this does not necessarily mean that Krishna is sentenced for all of eternity to live a passive existence doing nothing rather it means that he is completely free to do whatever he likes and out of the reciprocation of love between him and those who love him he takes on actions actions which to the uninformed may seem like duty but they are in duty they are leela so when Krishna kills the demons or Krishna instructs his devotees as he is doing for Arjuna now while speaking the Bhagavad Gita actually Krishna is not obliged to do so Krishna is not bound to do so Krishna chooses to do so because it is his leela obligation means we have to do it otherwise we will get into trouble so if we neglect our duties then we will get karmic reactions but here when Krishna talks about when Krishna does some activities it is leela leela means that which is voluntarily accepted for pleasure so Krishna is God he takes on the role of a small child and he gives his dear most devotees the role of Rajivasis the residents of his pastoral paradise and therein his most intimate devotees who love and serve him in a parental mode he gives them the role of his mother and father and then he obeys them but sometimes he eludes them with naughtiness and when danger comes he protects them so the point is that when Krishna does something it is his leela he can do it whenever he wants and wherein at sometimes he subordinates his divinity and his supremacy sometimes he reveals so when Krishna does his leela it can appear as if he is just doing his duty and from the world's point of view it does seem as if he is doing his duty because he takes care of his loved ones and he does the royal responsibility as a king he would attend the assembly the court and he would help in the resolution of sticky issues and he took seriously whatever responsibilities were there but the principle is that Krishna is not obliged to do anything so the reference to the three worlds is that in an interconnected universe as is depicted in the Vedic literature we have duties not only towards our loved ones but also towards the higher beings you know that is the gods so just as we have duty to our family members just as we have duty to our society similarly we have duty towards our gods also and therefore some sacrifices are recommended or even required in order for those obligations to be fulfilled now here it is being said that actually that that that I don't have any duty even in the three worlds that means that even to the gods Krishna does not have any duty he actually is completely free whatever he has done is leela for his pleasure for the pleasure of his devotees to whom he seems to be doing a duty and Krishna's argument to Arjuna is that Arjuna you have duties and you are giving up duties I don't have duty and still I am doing my duty so why am I doing it not because I am bound to do it at a spiritual level it is because he wants to perform leela at a material level it is because he is setting an example and Krishna is taking that principle of setting an example over here so 20th verse he stated that I give the example of Janaka and others who attained perfection just by doing their duty and leaders should do their duty that is the principle that he used in 21st verse and in 22nd verse he is giving the example of himself how even when he does not have duties still he does duty for the sake of setting an example for others at this point we will elaborate in the next two verses which we will discuss in our future talks.