Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 11
न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषतः।यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते।।
na hi deha-bhṛtā śakyaṁ tyaktuṁ karmāṇy aśeṣataḥ
yas tu karma-phala-tyāgī sa tyāgīty abhidhīyate
also searched as "na hi dehabhrita shakyam tyaktum karmanyasheshatah"
Translation
For, it is impossible for one who has a body to completely abandon actions. But he who gives up the results of his works is called the one who has abandoned them.
Vāṇi's rendering
No one who wears a body can drop all action. The one who drops the fruit — that one has truly let go.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नna | not |
| हिhi | for, indeed |
| देहभृताdeha-bhṛtā | by one who bears a body, by an embodied being |
| शक्यम्śakyaṁ | possible, able to be done |
| त्यक्तुम्tyaktuṁ | to give up, to lay down |
| कर्माणिkarmāṇy | actions (karmāṇi, final vowel joined to the next word) |
| अशेषतःaśeṣataḥ | entirely, without anything left over |
| यःyas | who, whoever (yaḥ, sandhi before tu) |
| तुtu | but |
| कर्मफलत्यागीkarma-phala-tyāgī | one who lets go of the fruit of action |
| सःsa | he, that one |
| त्यागीtyāgī | one who has let go, a relinquisher |
| इतिity | thus, by this name (iti, joined to tyāgī and to abhidhīyate) |
| अभिधीयतेabhidhīyate | is called, is spoken of |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 11 mean?
It means total inaction is not on offer. To have a body is to act — Krishna states this as fact, not ideal. So the renunciation worth having is inward: you release your claim on the fruit while the work continues. That release, and not withdrawal, is what earns the name tyāgī.
What does 'na hi dehabhrita shakyam tyaktum karmanyasheshatah' mean?
No one who wears a body can drop all action. Even stillness is something the body is doing. Krishna says this to end a fantasy — the fantasy that freedom waits somewhere on the other side of doing. It does not. Freedom waits in how you hold what you do.
If I cannot stop acting, how am I supposed to renounce anything?
By renouncing the fruit, not the act. Cook the meal, file the report, fight the battle — and let go of what it should return to you. The action stays whole; only the bargaining stops. Krishna calls that person a true renouncer, and no one has to leave home to become one.
Is a monk who abandons all work a tyagi according to this verse?
Not by the abandoning alone. Krishna measures by the fruit, not by the setting. One who withdraws yet still counts what withdrawal will yield has renounced nothing. One who stays in the work with no claim on its outcome has renounced everything. The robe decides less than the grip.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Arjuna wants a clean exit — put down the bow, walk away, be free of it. Krishna closes that door with a plain fact: bodies act. Breathing is action. Sitting still is action. As long as you wear this form, something is always being done. So renunciation cannot mean the cessation of doing; if it did, no living person could manage it. It means something available right now, in the middle of the work — the letting go of what you are owed for it. The hands stay busy. The grip on the harvest opens. That is the only walking away there is.