Bhagavad Gita · 2.50 · Transcendental Knowledge·50 of 72

बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते।तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् ॥

buddhi-yukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛita-duṣhkṛite

tasmād yogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kauśhalam

Sanskrit recitation

2.49 2.51

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Act without clinging to the fruit · 2.47–2.53 · Teaching

Translation

Endowed 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.

Meaning

Work performed with motive towards fruits only can bind a man. It will bring the fruits and the performer of the action will have to take birth again in this mortal world to enjoy them. If work is performed with evennes of mind (the Yoga of wisdom, i.e., united to pure Buddhi, intelligence or reason) with the mind resting in the Lord, it will not bind him it will not bring any fruit it is no work at all. Actions which are of a binding nature lose that nature when performed with equanimity of mind, or poised reason. The Yogi of poised reason attributes all actions to the Divine Actor within (Isvara or God).

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→

iha: in this life
ubhe: both
jahāti: get rid of
tasmāt: therefore
yogaḥ: yog is
yogāya: for Yog
yujyasva: strive for
buddhi-yuktaḥ: endowed with wisdom
karmasu kauśhalam: the art of working skillfully
sukṛita-duṣhkṛite: good and bad deeds

बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते।तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् ॥

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