Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 6
एतान्यपि तु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलानि च।कर्तव्यानीति मे पार्थ निश्चितं मतमुत्तमम्।।
etāny api tu karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā phalāni ca
kartavyānīti me pārtha niścitaṁ matam uttamam
also searched as "etanyapi tu karmani sangam tyaktva phalani cha"
Translation
It is My decided and final view that even these acts should be done, O Arjuna, with relinquishment of attachment and the forsaking of the fruits thereof.
Vāṇi's rendering
Offer, give, and practice discipline — but without clinging, without claiming their fruit. This is my final and highest word.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| एतानिetāni | these (the acts just named — offering, giving, discipline) |
| अपिapi | even |
| तुtu | but, indeed |
| कर्माणिkarmāṇi | actions, works |
| सङ्गम्saṅgaṁ | clinging, attachment |
| त्यक्त्वाtyaktvā | having let go of |
| फलानिphalāni | fruits, results |
| चca | and |
| कर्तव्यानिkartavyāni | are to be done, must be performed |
| इतिiti | so, thus (closing the statement; joined to the previous word by sandhi) |
| मेme | my |
| पार्थpārtha | Arjuna, son of Pṛthā |
| निश्चितम्niścitaṁ | settled, decided |
| मतम्matam | view, conviction |
| उत्तमम्uttamam | highest, best |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 6 mean?
It means the acts of offering, giving and discipline are not to be dropped, but they are not to be gripped either. Krishna asks for the work without the clinging and without the claim on its result. He calls this his settled and highest view — niścitaṁ matam uttamam, not one opinion among many.
What does etanyapi tu karmani sangam tyaktva phalani cha teach?
That letting go happens inside the action, not instead of it. Arjuna wants a life with fewer duties in it. Krishna gives him the same duties emptied of ownership. The hands stay busy; the heart stops bargaining. Whatever you do today, do it without the invoice you were quietly preparing.
Why does Krishna call this his final and highest word?
Because everything else in the chapter turns on it. Renunciation had been argued over as a matter of which acts to keep and which to abandon. Krishna closes that argument. The question was never which works — it was how you hold them. Once you know that, the rest is detail.
How do I act without wanting the fruit of my action?
Not by killing the wish, which only hardens it. By seeing it. The wish for reward rises, is noticed, and is not obeyed. You still finish the work, still finish it well. Over time the noticing gets quicker than the wanting, and that is the whole of the practice.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Even these — Krishna is pointing at the cleanest acts a person can perform. Sacrifice, charity, discipline: work no one would call selfish. And still he says the clinging must go. That is the sharper edge of this verse. Attachment hides better inside good deeds than bad ones; nobody suspects the man who gives. Arjuna is being told that renunciation is not a change of activity but a change of grip. Notice what happens in you after you have given something away — the small wish to be seen giving. That wish is the fruit. Let it fall, and give anyway.