Bhagavad Gita · 2.47 · Transcendental Knowledge·47 of 72
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana mā
karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi
Sanskrit recitation
Act without clinging to the fruit · 2.47–2.53 · Teaching
Translation
Your right is only to work, but not to its results; do not let the results of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.
Meaning
When you perform actions have no desire for the fruits thereof under any circumstances. If you thirst for the fruits of your actions, you will have to take birth again and again to enjoy them. Action done with expectation of fruits (rewards) brings bondage. If you do not thirst for them, you get purification of heart and you will get knowledge of the Self through purity of heart and through the knowledge of the Self you will be freed from the round of births and deaths.Neither let thy attachment be towards inaction thinking what is the use of doing actions when I cannot get any reward for themIn a broad sense Karma means action. It also means duty which one has to perform according to his caste or station of life. According to the followers of the Karma Kanda of the Vedas (the Mimamsakas) Karma means the rituals and sacrifices prescribed in the Vedas. It has a deep meaning also. It signifies the destiny or the storehouse of tendencies of a man which give rise to his future birth.
After Swami Sivananda
Act without clinging to the fruit· 2.47–2.53→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
2.47Your right is only to work, but not to its results; do not let the results of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.
- 2.48Perform action, O Arjuna, being steadfast in Yoga, abandoning attachment and balanced in success and failure; evenness of mind is called Yoga.
- 2.49Far lower than the Yoga of wisdom is action, O Arjuna. Seek thou refuge in wisdom; wretched are those whose motive is the fruit.
- 2.50Endowed with wisdom and evenness of mind, one casts off in this life both good and evil deeds; therefore, devote yourself to Yoga; Yoga is skill in action.
- 2.51The wise, possessing knowledge, having abandoned the fruits of their actions, and being freed from the bonds of birth, go to the place which is beyond all evil.
- 2.52When your intellect passes beyond the mire of delusion, then you will attain indifference to what has been heard and what has yet to be heard.
- 2.53When your intellect, which is perplexed by the Vedic texts you have read, stands immovable and steady in the Self, then you will attain Self-realization.
Word-by-word→
- te
- your
- eva
- only
- mā
- not
- astu
- must be
- bhūḥ
- be
- hetuḥ
- cause
- karmaṇi
- in prescribed duties
- akarmaṇi
- in inaction
- kadāchana
- at any time
- phaleṣhu
- in the fruits
- saṅgaḥ
- attachment
- karma-phala
- results of the activities
- adhikāraḥ
- right
Related verses
- 2.2The Blessed Lord said, "From whence has this perilous strait come upon you, this dejection…
- 2.6I can hardly tell which would be better, that we should conquer them or that they should…
- 2.11The Blessed Lord said, "You have grieved for those who should not be grieved for; yet, you…
- 2.12Nor, at any time, was I not, nor thou, nor these rulers of men; nor, verily, shall we ever…