Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 6

Chapter 18 – Moksha Sanyasa Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

एतान्यपि तु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलानि च ।
कर्तव्यानीति मे पार्थ निश्चितं मतमुत्तमम् ॥

Transliteration

etānyapi tu karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalāni ca .
kartavyānīti me pārtha niścitaṃ matamuttamam ॥

Meaning

But even these actions should be performed giving up attachment and the desire for their fruits. This, O Partha, is my definite and highest conviction.

Word meanings

एतानि – these
अपि तु – but even
कर्माणि – actions
सङ्गम् – attachment
त्यक्त्वा – having given up
फलानि – fruits
च – and
कर्तव्यानि – should be performed
इति – thus
मे – my
पार्थ – O son of Pritha
निश्चितम् – definite
मतम् – view, conviction
उत्तमम् – highest, best

Anvaya (word order)

पार्थ, एतानि कर्माणि अपि तु सङ्गं फलानि च त्यक्त्वा कर्तव्यानि इति मे निश्चितम् उत्तमं मतम् ।

Explanation

In the previous verse Krishna said that sacrifice, charity and austerity should never be abandoned. But that alone would be incomplete, because even these noble acts bind a person when done for heaven, fame or the accumulation of merit. So Krishna adds the crucial qualification: sangam tyaktva phalani cha — they must be done after giving up both attachment and fruits.

Two distinct things are named here: sanga and phala. Sanga is clinging to the action itself and the pride of doership — 'I am doing this; this is my work.' Phala is the result the act brings — gain, praise, a heavenly reward. True relinquishment covers both. Merely giving up the fruit is not enough; clinging to the act must also go. Only then does action become pure offering.

Krishna calls this his nishchitam matam uttamam, his definite and highest view. Having heard the four earlier positions, he now reconciles them. With the ritualists he agrees that action must not be abandoned; he also honours the renunciants' insistence on giving up, but relocates that giving up from action itself to attachment and the desire for results. This is the essence of karma yoga.

Shankara explains that this instruction is for the seeker still engaged in action, for whom such acts lead towards knowledge by purifying the mind. Ramanuja sees here the real meaning of renunciation: performing action while offering up its fruit, attachment and sense of doership to the Lord.

Context

The previous verse declared sacrifice, charity and austerity obligatory. This verse explains the spirit in which they are to be done. From the next verse (18.7) Krishna describes the three kinds of relinquishment — tamasic, rajasic and sattvic.

Life lesson

Even good deeds bind the mind when done with an eye on reward. Serve, but drop both the pride of 'I did this' and the anxiety of 'what will I get'. When work is done as duty and offering, it becomes light and joyful.

Key terms

Sanga: Attachment to action and pride of doership
Phala-tyaga: Giving up desire for the results of action
Uttama mata: The Lord's highest, settled view
Karma yoga: The path of performing duty without attachment