Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 19

Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर ।
असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ॥

Transliteration

tasmādasaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara .
asakto hyācarankarma paramāpnoti pūruṣaḥ ॥

Meaning

Therefore, always perform your duty well, free from attachment; for the person who acts without attachment attains the Supreme.

Word meanings

तस्मात् – therefore
असक्तः – unattached
सततम् – constantly
कार्यम् – that which ought to be done
कर्म – action
समाचर – perform well
हि – for
असक्तः – the unattached
आचरन् – performing
कर्म – action
परम् – the Supreme
आप्नोति – attains
पूरुषः – a person

Anvaya (word order)

तस्मात् असक्तः (त्वम्) सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर; हि असक्तः कर्म आचरन् पूरुषः परम् आप्नोति ।

Explanation

Here the Lord draws the practical conclusion of all He has said so far. "Therefore", tasmat, in view of everything seen above, always perform the work that has to be done, karyam karma, without attachment, asaktah. The reward is staggering: by acting without attachment a person reaches param, the Supreme.

The verse has a surprising feature. We might expect the highest goal to be reached by abandoning work, yet the Lord says it is reached by working, provided the work is free from clinging. The phrase "karyam karma" means work that is one's duty, what needs to be done, not what one merely likes to do. And "satatam" means constantly, not only when it is pleasant or when one is watched.

Shankara explains that work done without desire, as service to the Lord, purifies the mind, from which knowledge of the Self arises and the Supreme is attained; thus action is a means, not the end. Ramanuja states that such action leads the seeker to the vision of the Self, which is itself the stepping stone to the Lord. Madhva says the Supreme here is Vishnu, and that duty offered to Him wins His grace and release.

Why does attachment matter so much? Because it is attachment, not action, that creates the restlessness of anxiety, anger and disappointment. Think of a teacher who loves teaching but who suffers every time a student fails to praise him. His teaching is the same; his peace is destroyed by the clinging. Another teacher gives equally and moves on; he is free, and his freedom shows in the quality of his work.

Asakti is also not coldness. A parent who nurses a sick child through the night is deeply involved but not enslaved to outcome. Love, in the Gita's vision, can be wholehearted precisely because it is not demanding.

The verse links directly to 2.47, which warns against a claim on the fruits, and to 3.7, which praises the one who works with the organs of action, unattached. It also anticipates 12.12 and 18.6, where the abandonment of fruits is called the best of renunciations. Those who walk this path are the ones later praised as reaching the highest peace.

Context

After describing the state of the Self-knower in 3.17–3.18, the Lord gives practical instruction to Arjuna, the ordinary seeker. In 3.20 the same point will be established by the example of Janaka and others.

Life lesson

Do your duty steadily but do not cling to results. When the mind is free of the fruit, work becomes spiritual practice and leads one toward deep peace.

Key terms

Asakti: absence of attachment to action and its fruit
Karyam karma: duty that ought to be done
Param: the Supreme; the highest state