Bhagavad Gita · 18.9 · Yoga through the Perfection of Renunciation and Surrender·9 of 78
कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन।सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलं चैव स त्यागः सात्त्विको मतः ॥
kāryam ity eva yat karma niyataṁ kriyate ‘rjuna
saṅgaṁ tyaktvā phalaṁ chaiva sa tyāgaḥ sāttviko mataḥ
Sanskrit recitation
True renunciation · 18.1–18.12 · Teaching
Translation
Whatever obligatory action is done, O Arjuna, merely because it ought to be done, abandoning attachment and also the desire for reward, that renunciation is regarded as sattvic (pure).
Meaning
A man of pure nature performs actions that have fallen to his lot in accordance with his capacity and his inherent nature. He is not filled with the pride that he is the performer of such actions nor does he hope for any gain therefrom.An ignorant man may think that the obligatory duties may produce their fruits for the performer by causing selfpurification and preventing the sin of omission or nonperformance. This sort of thinking and expectation of rewards also must be abandoned. Abandonment of the rewards of actions is praised in this verse.When a man does obligatory duties without agency and with unselfishness and egolessness his,mind is purified, his Antahkarana is prepared for the reception of the divine light or the dawn of Selfknowledge. He gradually becomes fit for devotion to knowledge (JnanaNishtha).The aspirant or seeker after liberation should be prepared to undergo physical sufferings. All acts of selfdiscipline and selfsacrifice entail physical suffering.This, again, is the central teaching of the Gita -- do your duty without attachment and selfish desires.
After Swami Sivananda
True renunciation· 18.1–18.12→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 18.1Arjuna said, "O mighty-armed Hrishikesa, I desire to know the essence or truth of renunciation and abandonment severally, O slayer of Kesi."
- 18.2The Blessed Lord said, "The sages understand sannyasa to be the renunciation of action with desire; the wise declare the abandonment of the fruits of all actions to be tyaga."
- 18.3Some philosophers declare that actions should be abandoned as evil; while others declare that acts of sacrifice, gift, and austerity should not be relinquished.
- 18.4Hear from Me the conclusion or the final truth about this abandonment, O best of the Bharatas; abandonment, indeed, O best of men, has been declared to be of three kinds.
- 18.5Acts of sacrifice, gift, and austerity should not be abandoned, but should be performed; for sacrifice, gift, and austerity are the purifiers of the wise.
- 18.6But even these actions should be performed, leaving aside attachment and the desire for rewards, O Arjuna; this is my certain and most assured conviction.
- 18.7Verily, the renunciation of obligatory action is not proper; the abandonment of the same out of delusion is declared to be Tamasic.
- 18.8He who abandons action out of fear of bodily trouble (because it is painful), does not obtain the merit of renunciation by performing such Rajasic renunciation.
18.9Whatever obligatory action is done, O Arjuna, merely because it ought to be done, abandoning attachment and also the desire for reward, that renunciation is regarded as sattvic (pure).
- 18.10The man of renunciation, pervaded by purity, intelligent, and with his doubts cut asunder, does not hate an unpleasant task nor is he attached to a pleasant one.
- 18.11Indeed, it is not possible for an embodied being to completely abandon actions; however, he who relinquishes the rewards of actions is truly called a man of renunciation.
- 18.12The threefold fruit of action (evil, good, and mixed) accrues after death to those who do not abandon it, but never to those who do.
Word-by-word→
- cha
- and
- eva
- certainly
- iti
- as
- yat
- which
- saḥ
- such
- arjuna
- Arjun
- phalam
- reward
- kriyate
- are performed
- kāryam
- as a duty
- mataḥ
- considered
- saṅgam
- attachment
- tyaktvā
- relinquishing
- tyāgaḥ
- renunciation of desires for enjoying the fruits of actions
- sāttvikaḥ
- in the mode of goodness
- karma niyatam
- obligatory actions
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