What the scriptures say about burnout

What do the scriptures say about burnout?

The texts call it śrama (श्रम). Śrama is being worn out by ceaseless doing. Ashtavakra: everyone suffers from straining (āyāsa) and no one notices. Prahlada says he was worn out by decisions and duties. They set self-knowledge and contentment against it.

72 verses
13 stories
Weighs on the mind

Read the verses Find it on the map

Ashtavakra

आयासात्सकलो दुःखी नैनं जानाति कश्चन । अनेनैवोपदेशेन धन्यः प्राप्नोति निर्वृतिम् ॥

āyāsātsakalo duḥkhī nainaṃ jānāti kaścana | anenaivopadeśena dhanyaḥ prāpnoti nirvṛtim ||

Everyone is miserable from straining after things, and no one realises it. By this single teaching the fortunate one finds peace.

Ashtavakra Gita 16.3

Burnout in the texts' own words

Someone in the verse is in it, or the text names it outright. Many readers find their own day here.

Ashtavakra
अलमर्थेन कामेन सुकृतेनापि कर्मणा । एभ्यः संसारकान्तारे न विश्रान्तमभून् मनः ॥
alamarthena kāmena sukṛtenāpi karmaṇā | ebhyaḥ saṃsārakāntāre na viśrāntamabhūn manaḥ ||
Enough of wealth, of desire, even of good deeds. In this wilderness of life the mind never found rest in them.
Ashtavakra Gita 10.7
Depicts a mind that has run through the wilderness and is tired. our reading
Ashtavakra
कर्तव्यदुःखमार्तण्डज्वालादग्धान्तरात्मनः । कुतः प्रशमपीयूषधारासारमृते सुखम् ॥
kartavyaduḥkhamārtaṇḍajvālādagdhāntarātmanaḥ | kutaḥ praśamapīyūṣadhārāsāramṛte sukham ||
For one whose heart is scorched by the blazing sun of 'things I must do', where is happiness without the cooling rain of calm?
Ashtavakra Gita 18.3
Names the burning weight of I still have to do this. our reading
Bhartrihari
मौनान्मूकः प्रवचनपटुर्वातुलो जल्पको वा धृष्टः पार्श्वे वसति च सदा दूरतश्चाप्रगल्भः । क्षान्त्या भीरुर्यदि न सहते प्रायशो नाभिजातः सेवाधर्मः परमगहनो योगिनामप्यगम्यः ॥
maunānmūkaḥ pravacanapaṭurvātulo jalpako vā dhṛṣṭaḥ pārśve vasati ca sadā dūrataścāpragalbhaḥ | kṣāntyā bhīruryadi na sahate prāyaśo nābhijātaḥ sevādharmaḥ paramagahano yogināmapyagamyaḥ ||
Keep quiet and you are dumb; speak well and you are a babbler or a windbag; stay close and you are pushy; keep away and you lack confidence; be patient and you are a coward; refuse to put up with things and you are ill-bred. The duty of serving another is deep indeed, beyond the reach even of yogis.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Shows exhaustion at never getting it right for a superior. our reading
Bhartrihari
परेषां चेतांसि प्रतिदिवसमाराध्य बहुधा प्रसादं किं नेतुं विशसि हृदय क्लेशकलितम् । प्रसन्ने त्वय्यन्तः स्वयमुदितचिन्तामणिगणो विविक्तः संकल्पः किमभिलषितं पुष्यति न ते ॥
pareṣāṃ cetāṃsi pratidivasamārādhya bahudhā prasādaṃ kiṃ netuṃ viśasi hṛdaya kleśakalitam | prasanne tvayyantaḥ svayamuditacintāmaṇigaṇo viviktaḥ saṃkalpaḥ kimabhilaṣitaṃ puṣyati na te ||
O heart, why do you enter into weariness, day after day trying to please the minds of others in so many ways, to win their favour? When you are at peace within, your own clear resolve rises by itself like a cluster of wish-granting gems: what wish of yours would it not fulfil?
Bhartrihari · Vairagya Shatakam
Gives daily effort to win other people's favour. our reading
Krishna (quoted by Bhishma)
सोऽहं कित्नवमातेव द्वयोरपि महामुने / नैकस्य जयमाशंसे द्वितीयस्य पराजयम्
so’haṃ kitnavamāteva dvayorapi mahāmune / naikasya jayamāśaṃse dvitīyasya parājayam
I am like the mother of two gamblers playing against each other, great sage. I cannot wish one victory without wishing the other defeat.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma: Rajadharma
Speaks as one worn down by kinsmen's quarrels. our reading
Be at rest, be free, and work.
Swami Vivekananda
They come home and think of the work for the next day. our reading
Lord! I have become weary. Oh, take me by the hand, Lord, I take shelter with Thee
Complete Works, Vol. 6, Notes of Class Talks and Lectures: On Bhakti-Yoga, p. 91
Shows I have become weary. our reading
Bhasa
उह्यमानमनन्तेषु चेतः कार्यमहोर्मिषु । क्षणमेति न विश्रान्तिं चिन्ताताण्डविताशयम् ॥ इदं कृतं करोमीदं करिष्यामीदमित्यलम् । कलनाजालवलिता मूर्च्छिता मतिपक्षिणी ॥
uhyamānamananteṣu cetaḥ kāryamahormiṣu | kṣaṇameti na viśrāntiṃ cintātāṇḍavitāśayam || idaṃ kṛtaṃ karomīdaṃ kariṣyāmīdamityalam | kalanājālavalitā mūrcchitā matipakṣiṇī ||
Carried along on endless great waves of tasks, the mind never gets a moment's rest; its depths dance with worry. 'This I've done, this I'm doing, this I'll do': so the bird of the mind, tangled in a net of reckonings, faints.
Yoga Vasishtha
Shows a mind that never gets a moment's rest. our reading
Ashtavakra
आयासात्सकलो दुःखी नैनं जानाति कश्चन । अनेनैवोपदेशेन धन्यः प्राप्नोति निर्वृतिम् ॥
āyāsātsakalo duḥkhī nainaṃ jānāti kaścana | anenaivopadeśena dhanyaḥ prāpnoti nirvṛtim ||
Everyone is miserable from straining after things, and no one realises it. By this single teaching the fortunate one finds peace.
Ashtavakra Gita 16.3

What feeds it, step by step

Sequences the texts state outright, in their own order.

Where craving is, the round is

Ashtavakra Gita 10.3; 9.1; 16.3

Wherever there is craving, the round of the world is there. The list of things done and not done has never ended for anyone. Everyone suffers from straining, and no one sees it.

Ashtavakra
आयासात्सकलो दुःखी नैनं जानाति कश्चन । अनेनैवोपदेशेन धन्यः प्राप्नोति निर्वृतिम् ॥
āyāsātsakalo duḥkhī nainaṃ jānāti kaścana | anenaivopadeśena dhanyaḥ prāpnoti nirvṛtim ||
Everyone is miserable from straining after things, and no one realises it. By this single teaching the fortunate one finds peace.
Ashtavakra Gita 16.3

What heals it

What the texts set against it, and the verses that give footing.

Balanced dwellingyukta vihara
Balance in food, rest, work and sleep is the yoga that ends sorrow. stated in the text
Gita 6.16-17
Restvishranti
Even the enemy is sent to rest. stated in the text
Valmiki 6.59 (go and rest); Yoga Vasishtha
Giving up the fruitkarma phala tyaga
Work done with huge strain for ego or pleasure is rajasic. stated in the text
Gita 2.47; 18.23-24
Contentmentsantoṣa
I still have to do this burns; do what comes and live at ease. stated in the text
Ashtavakra 18.3; 13.3
Self-knowledgeātma-jñāna
Self-knowledge brings stillness inside activity. stated in the text
Yoga Vasishtha 6a.115.43; Gita 4.18

Ashtavakra
कर्तव्यदुःखमार्तण्डज्वालादग्धान्तरात्मनः । कुतः प्रशमपीयूषधारासारमृते सुखम् ॥
kartavyaduḥkhamārtaṇḍajvālādagdhāntarātmanaḥ | kutaḥ praśamapīyūṣadhārāsāramṛte sukham ||
For one whose heart is scorched by the blazing sun of 'things I must do', where is happiness without the cooling rain of calm?
Ashtavakra Gita 18.3
Krishna
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana | mā karmaphalaheturbhūrmā te saṅgo’stvakarmaṇi ||
Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruit be your motive, and do not cling to doing nothing.
Bhagavad Gita 2.47
Krishna
नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नतः । न चातिस्वप्नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन ॥
nātyaśnatastu yogo’sti na caikāntamanaśnataḥ | na cātisvapnaśīlasya jāgrato naiva cārjuna ||
Yoga is not for one who eats too much, nor for one who does not eat at all; not for one who sleeps too much, nor for one who keeps awake too long, Arjuna.
Bhagavad Gita 6.16
Names the extremes of food and sleep as what blocks steadiness. our reading
Krishna
युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु । युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःखहा ॥
yuktāhāravihārasya yuktaceṣṭasya karmasu | yuktasvapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkhahā ||
For one who is moderate in food and recreation, measured in effort at work, moderate in sleep and waking, yoga becomes the destroyer of sorrow.
Bhagavad Gita 6.17
Gives measure in food rest work and sleep as relief. our reading
Vasishtha
अन्तर्मुखः सन्सततं समस्तं कुर्वन्बहिष्ठं खलु कार्यजातम् । न खेदमायासि कदाचिदेव निराकृताहंकृतितामुपैषि ॥
antarmukhaḥ sansatataṃ samastaṃ kurvanbahiṣṭhaṃ khalu kāryajātam | na khedamāyāsi kadācideva nirākṛtāhaṃkṛtitāmupaiṣi ||
Staying turned inward while doing all the outer work that comes to you, you will never grow weary, and you will be free of the sense of being the doer.
Yoga Vasishtha
Weariness is tied to the doer-sense, not to the work. our reading
Prahlada
हिताहितविचारेण राजकार्यशतेन च । अत्यहं श्रमितो देव क्षणं विश्रामतां गतः ॥
hitāhitavicāreṇa rājakāryaśatena ca | atyahaṃ śramito deva kṣaṇaṃ viśrāmatāṃ gataḥ ||
Weighing what helps and what harms, and with hundreds of royal duties, I was utterly worn out, Lord. For a moment now, I have found rest.
Yoga Vasishtha, Upashama 41.3
Ashtavakra
अकुर्वन्नपि सङ्क्षोभाद् व्यग्रः सर्वत्र मूढधीः । कुर्वन्नपि तु कृत्यानि कुशलो हि निराकुलः ॥
akurvannapi saṅkṣobhād vyagraḥ sarvatra mūḍhadhīḥ | kurvannapi tu kṛtyāni kuśalo hi nirākulaḥ ||
The fool is restless even when doing nothing; the skilful one stays calm even when doing everything that needs doing.
Ashtavakra Gita 18.58
Shows busyness itself is not the cause. our reading
Bhartrihari
परेषां चेतांसि प्रतिदिवसमाराध्य बहुधा प्रसादं किं नेतुं विशसि हृदय क्लेशकलितम् । प्रसन्ने त्वय्यन्तः स्वयमुदितचिन्तामणिगणो विविक्तः संकल्पः किमभिलषितं पुष्यति न ते ॥
pareṣāṃ cetāṃsi pratidivasamārādhya bahudhā prasādaṃ kiṃ netuṃ viśasi hṛdaya kleśakalitam | prasanne tvayyantaḥ svayamuditacintāmaṇigaṇo viviktaḥ saṃkalpaḥ kimabhilaṣitaṃ puṣyati na te ||
O heart, why do you enter into weariness, day after day trying to please the minds of others in so many ways, to win their favour? When you are at peace within, your own clear resolve rises by itself like a cluster of wish-granting gems: what wish of yours would it not fulfil?
Bhartrihari · Vairagya Shatakam
Shows the poet asking his own heart why it enters this weariness. our reading

Practices that grow contentment and self-knowledge

Verses that give something to do, today or in the hard moment.

Dattatreya
सखे मनः किं बहुजल्पितेन सखे मनः सर्वमिदं वितर्क्यम् । यत्सारभूतं कथितं मया ते त्वमेव तत्त्वं गगनोपमोऽसि ॥
sakhe manaḥ kiṃ bahujalpitena sakhe manaḥ sarvamidaṃ vitarkyam | yatsārabhūtaṃ kathitaṃ mayā te tvameva tattvaṃ gaganopamo’si ||
Friend mind, what is the use of so much chatter? Friend mind, all this is mere speculation. I have told you the heart of it: you are reality itself, vast as the sky.
Avadhuta Gita 1.68
Names you as tattva, sky-like. our reading
Bhartrihari
दानं भोगो नाशस्तिस्रो गतयो भवन्ति वित्तस्य । यो न ददाति न भुङ्क्ते तस्य तृतीया गतिर्भवति ॥
dānaṃ bhogo nāśastisro gatayo bhavanti vittasya | yo na dadāti na bhuṅkte tasya tṛtīyā gatirbhavati ||
Wealth has three destinies: giving, enjoying and loss. Whoever neither gives nor enjoys it meets the third.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Names enjoy what one has. our reading
Kalakavrikshiya
अवाप्यान्कामयन्नर्थान्नानवाप्यान्कदाचन / प्रत्युत्पन्नाननुभवन्मा शुचस्त्वमनागतान्
avāpyānkāmayannarthānnānavāpyānkadācana / pratyutpannānanubhavanmā śucastvamanāgatān
Wish for what can be had, never for what cannot. Enjoy what is in front of you now, and do not grieve over what has not yet come.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Rajadharma
Shows enjoying what is present is named as the practice. our reading
Gandhari
न लोभादर्थसंपत्तिर्नराणामिह दृश्यते / तदलं तात लोभेन प्रशाम्य भरतर्षभ ॥
na lobhādarthasaṃpattirnarāṇāmiha dṛśyate / tadalaṃ tāta lobhena praśāmya bharatarṣabha ||
No one in this world gains real wealth through greed. Enough of greed, my son. Be at peace.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Udyoga: Krishna's peace embassy
Enough. our reading
Ram
सातवँ सम मोहि मय जग देखा। मोतें संत अधिक करि लेखा॥ आठवँ जथालाभ संतोषा। सपनेहुँ नहिं देखइ परदोषा ॥
sātavaṁ sam mohi may jag dekhā| moteṃ saṃt adhik kari lekhā|| āṭhavaṁ jathālābh saṃtoṣā| sapanehuṁ nahiṃ dekhai paradoṣā ||
The seventh is to see the whole world as filled with me, and to regard good people as greater than me. The eighth is to be content with whatever comes, and never, even in a dream, to look for faults in others.
Ramcharitmanas · Aranya Kand
Shows contentment named as a form of devotion. our reading
Tulsidas
कबहुँक हौं यहि रहनि रहौंगो। श्रीरघुनाथ-कृपालु-कृपातें संत-सुभाव गहौंगो॥ ९॥ जथालाभसंतोष सदा, काहू सों कछु न चहांगो। पर-हित-निरत निरंतर, मन क्रम बचन नेम निबहौंगो॥ … परुष बचन अति दुसह श्रवन सुनि तेहि पावक न दहांगो। बिगत मान, सम सीतल मन, पर-गुन नहिं दोष कहाँगो॥ ३॥ परिहरि देह-जनित चिंता, दुख-सुख समबुद्धि सहोंगो।
kabahuṁk hauṃ yahi rahani rahauṃgo| śrīraghunāth-kṛpālu-kṛpāteṃ saṃt-subhāv gahauṃgo|| 9|| jathālābhasaṃtoṣ sadā, kāhū soṃ kachu na cahāṃgo| par-hit-nirat niraṃtar, man kram bacan nem nibahauṃgo|| … paruṣ bacan ati dusah śravan suni tehi pāvak na dahāṃgo| bigat mān, sam sītal man, par-gun nahiṃ doṣ kahāṁgo|| 3|| parihari deh-janit ciṃtā, dukh-sukh samabuddhi sahoṃgo|
Will I ever live like this? By the grace of kind Raghunath, will I take on the nature of a saint: always content with what comes, wanting nothing from anyone, always devoted to others' good, keeping my vow in mind, deed and word; hearing very harsh words and not burning in that fire; free of pride, even and cool of mind, speaking of others' virtues and not their faults; letting go of the body's worries, bearing joy and sorrow with an even mind?
Vinay Patrika, pada 172
Markandeya
स होवाच । वैराग्यतैलसम्पूर्णे भक्तिवर्तिसमन्विते । प्रबोधपूर्णपात्रे तु ज्ञप्तिदीपं विलोकयेत् ॥ मोहान्धकारे निःसारे उदेति स्वयमेव हि । वैराग्यमरणिं कृत्वा ज्ञानं कृत्वोत्तरारणिम् ॥
sa hovāca | vairāgyatailasampūrṇe bhaktivartisamanvite | prabodhapūrṇapātre tu jñaptidīpaṃ vilokayet || mohāndhakāre niḥsāre udeti svayameva hi | vairāgyamaraṇiṃ kṛtvā jñānaṃ kṛtvottarāraṇim ||
In a vessel full of awakening, filled with the oil of detachment and fitted with the wick of devotion, behold the lamp of knowing. In the hollow darkness of delusion it rises of itself. Make detachment the lower fire-stick and knowledge the upper.
Dakshinamurti Upanishad 26-27
Shows the light then rises of itself. our reading
Ribhu
मोक्षद्वारे द्वारपालश्चत्वारः परिकीर्तिताः । शमो विचारः सन्तोषश्चतुर्थः साधुसङ्गमः ॥ एकं वा सर्वयत्नेन सर्वमुत्सृज्य संश्रयेत् । एकस्मिन्वशगे यान्ति चत्वारोऽपि वशं गताः ॥
mokṣadvāre dvārapālaścatvāraḥ parikīrtitāḥ | śamo vicāraḥ santoṣaścaturthaḥ sādhusaṅgamaḥ || ekaṃ vā sarvayatnena sarvamutsṛjya saṃśrayet | ekasminvaśage yānti catvāro’pi vaśaṃ gatāḥ ||
Four gatekeepers are named at the door of freedom: calm, inquiry, contentment, and the company of good people. Take refuge in even one of them with full effort, setting all else aside; when one is won, all four come under your control.
Maha Upanishad 4.2-3
Contentment is named as a door, not a reward. our reading

People who lived it

Someone in the scriptures went through this, and the story shows what turned.

From the Mahabharata
Krishna's family troubles: the weapon not made of iron
Even Krishna struggles with his clan: he does their work, bears their harsh words, and feels like the mother of two gamblers playing each other. Narada tells him the only weapon that works is soft: generosity, patience, sincerity, gentleness and respect.
In family feuds, the weapon that works is gentleness, patience and respect.
From the Mahabharata
Markandeya and the child on the banyan leaf
At the end of an age, the sage Markandeya drifts alone over a flooded world and sees a radiant child on a banyan branch. The child draws him inside his body, where he sees all the worlds, then asks if he has been resting, tired. Narayana explains he showed himself because he saw Markandeya's distress. Markandeya tells the Pandavas that this child is Krishna, sitting with them.
When everything you knew is underwater, you have not been forgotten; you are being held.
From the Ramayana
Bharata's fourteen-year wait ends
Hanuman finds Bharata thin, in bark clothes, still waiting. Hearing Ram is near, Bharata faints with joy: a person who stays alive will find joy, even after a hundred years. He places the sandals back on Ram's feet and hands back the kingdom he kept in trust, now ten times richer.
Faithful waiting is rewarded; return what was entrusted to you, and more.
From the Poets and saints
The elephant who finally called (as Surdas sings it)
An elephant king is seized by a crocodile in a lake and struggles for a thousand years with all his strength and his herd. Only when his strength is gone does he call out to Hari, who leaves his mount behind and runs barefoot to free him. Surdas returns to the story again and again (vp.11, 21, 241, 256).
Fight with everything you have; when your strength runs out, call. Help comes running.

Is this where you are?

Write a line about today. Your words find their place on the map, with a verse for each.

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Questions people ask

What is the Sanskrit word for burnout?

Śrama (श्रम). Exhaustion, burnout.

Which Bhagavad Gita verse speaks about burnout?

Bhagavad Gita 2.47: Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruit be your motive, and do not cling to doing nothing.

How do the scriptures say to overcome burnout?

They set self-knowledge and contentment against it. Balance in food, rest, work and sleep is the yoga that ends sorrow. (Gita 6.16-17) Even the enemy is sent to rest. (Valmiki 6.59 (go and rest); Yoga Vasishtha)

Verses, translations and stories come from the Wisdom library, read with the traditional commentaries. A line marked stated in the text is a link the verse or a named commentator makes; our reading is Wisdom's own reading of the verse.

Burnout in the texts' own words

What feeds it, step by step

Where craving is, the round is

What heals it

Practices that grow contentment and self-knowledge

People who lived it

Krishna's family troubles: the weapon not made of iron

Markandeya and the child on the banyan leaf

Bharata's fourteen-year wait ends

The elephant who finally called (as Surdas sings it)

Is this where you are?

Nearby on the map

Questions people ask