Act without grasping at the result
Karmaṇy-evādhikāras-te
Bhagavad Gita 2.47 · Spoken by Lord Krishna to Arjuna
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi
Word by word
- karmaṇi eva
- in action alone
- adhikāraḥ te
- is your right
- mā phaleṣu kadācana
- never in the fruits
- mā karma-phala-hetuḥ bhūḥ
- do not become moved by the fruit of action
- mā te saṅgaḥ
- let there be no attachment of yours
- akarmaṇi
- to inaction
Where it comes from
This is the best-known verse of the Bhagavad Gita, spoken by Lord Krishna on the field at Kurukshetra to Arjuna, who has frozen at the edge of battle. It is the seed of the teaching the Gita calls karma yoga, the path of acting rightly without being ruled by what the action might win.
What it means
Lord Krishna draws a clean line. Your authority extends to the work itself, to doing it well and doing it now. It does not extend to the harvest, which depends on a hundred things you do not control. The verse then closes two escape routes at once: do not work only for the prize, and do not use that as an excuse to down tools and do nothing.
Reflections
People sometimes read this as “don't care about results,” but that is not it. A surgeon who did not care about the result would be dangerous. The teaching is finer. Care completely about doing the work well, and loosen your grip on the outcome, because the grip is where the fear lives.
The relief in it is real. Most of our worry is spent rehearsing results that have not arrived. Lord Krishna points the attention back to the only place where it can actually do something, which is the task in front of you right now.
The last quarter of the verse is easy to miss and important. Having heard “you are not entitled to the fruit,” a tired mind might conclude “then why act at all?” The verse forbids that move in advance. Do not fall in love with inaction either. Stand up and do your part.
