Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 12

Chapter 18 – Moksha Sanyasa Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

अनिष्टमिष्टं मिश्रं च त्रिविधं कर्मणः फलम् ।
भवत्यत्यागिनां प्रेत्य न तु संन्यासिनां क्वचित् ॥

Transliteration

aniṣṭamiṣṭaṃ miśraṃ ca trividhaṃ karmaṇaḥ phalam .
bhavatyatyāgināṃ pretya na tu saṃnyāsināṃ kvacit ॥

Meaning

For those who have not relinquished, the threefold fruit of action — disagreeable, agreeable and mixed — accrues after death; but never for those who have truly renounced.

Word meanings

अनिष्टम् – undesirable, painful
इष्टम् – desirable, pleasant
मिश्रम् – mixed
च – and
त्रिविधम् – threefold
कर्मणः – of action
फलम् – fruit
भवति – accrues
अत्यागिनाम् – to the non-relinquishers
प्रेत्य – after death
न तु – but not
संन्यासिनाम् – to the renouncers
क्वचित् – ever, at any time

Anvaya (word order)

अनिष्टम् इष्टं मिश्रं च इति त्रिविधं कर्मणः फलम् अत्यागिनां प्रेत्य भवति; संन्यासिनां तु क्वचित् न ।

Explanation

Here Krishna states a basic law of karma. When a person acts with attachment to results, those actions are stored as impressions and, after death, bring three kinds of fruit: anishta, painful results such as lower births or suffering; ishta, pleasant results such as heaven or a happy birth; and mishra, mixed results such as human birth, in which both pleasure and pain are experienced.

Notice that even the pleasant fruit is bondage. The joys of heaven end when merit is exhausted (9.21), and the soul returns once more to the cycle of birth and death. The pleasant reward of good deeds is like a chain of gold — beautiful, yet still a chain. That is why the Gita does not merely say 'do good'; it says 'act without attachment'.

By contrast, sannyasinam tu na kvachit — for true renouncers these fruits never arise. They have acted, but have not claimed the fruit; the seeds of their actions are like roasted seeds, which no longer sprout. Thus they are freed from the wheel of karma.

Shankara holds that 'renouncers' here refers chiefly to the paramahamsa sannyasins established in knowledge, whose actions have been burnt in the fire of wisdom (4.37). Ramanuja applies it to all karma yogis who give up fruit, attachment and doership. In both views the core point is the same: bondage arises not from action but from attachment.

Context

The previous verse called the relinquisher of fruit a true renouncer. This verse explains the consequences of relinquishing and of not relinquishing. From the next verse (18.13) Krishna describes the five causes of action, to show that the Self is not really the doer.

Life lesson

Even good deeds create fresh bonds when done with attachment. The aim should be not merely to earn merit but to become free from clinging. Acting without claiming the fruit lightens the mind and leaves no burden for the future.

Key terms

Anishta phala: Painful result
Ishta phala: Pleasant result
Mishra phala: Mixed result of pleasure and pain
Atyagi: One who has not given up attachment to fruit
Pretya: After death