Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 9
कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन।सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलं चैव स त्यागः सात्त्विको मतः।।
kāryam ity eva yat karma niyataṁ kriyate ‘rjuna
saṅgaṁ tyaktvā phalaṁ caiva sa tyāgaḥ sāttviko mataḥ
also searched as "karyam ity eva yat karma niyatam kriyate arjuna"
Translation
When actions are performed as they ought to be done, O Arjuna, renouncing attachment and the results thereof, such abandonment is regarded as Sattvika.
Vāṇi's rendering
But to do your appointed work because it must be done, dropping attachment and reward — that letting go is clear.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कार्यम्kāryam | it must be done; a thing to be carried out |
| इतिity | thus, with this thought (iti before a vowel) |
| एवeva | only, for that reason alone |
| यत्yat | which |
| कर्मkarma | work, action |
| नियतम्niyataṁ | appointed, the one that falls to you |
| क्रियतेkriyate | is done |
| अर्जुनarjuna | Arjuna (the initial a is swallowed after kriyate) |
| सङ्गम्saṅgaṁ | clinging, attachment |
| त्यक्त्वाtyaktvā | having dropped |
| फलम्phalaṁ | fruit, the reward |
| चca | and (joined as caiva) |
| एवeva | as well, indeed |
| सःsa | that |
| त्यागःtyāgaḥ | letting go, relinquishment |
| सात्त्विकःsāttviko | clear, luminous, untroubled (sāttvikaḥ before m) |
| मतःmataḥ | is held to be, is regarded |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 9 mean?
It means the purest renunciation is not giving up work but giving up the two things we usually attach to it — the clinging and the reward. The appointed action is still performed, fully, because it must be. What is set down is the inner grasping, not the task.
What does 'karyam ity eva yat karma niyatam kriyate arjuna' teach?
That the motive alone decides the quality of an act. Krishna says the work is done kāryam iti — because it is to be done. No bargaining, no glancing ahead at the result. The same duty performed with that single reason becomes sāttvika tyāga, letting go that is clear.
How is this different from simply abandoning my duties?
Abandoning duty leaves the work undone and the mind still hungry. Here the work is completed with care, and what is abandoned is the grip on outcome. Krishna has already called quitting out of fear or fatigue a lesser thing. Real relinquishment happens while your hands are busy.
Does dropping attachment to results make work careless?
The opposite. Anxiety about reward divides attention; half of you is elsewhere, watching the scoreboard. When the fruit is released, the whole of you is available to the task in front of you. Krishna asks for less worry and more work, not less work.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna is not describing a different action here. He is describing a different reason. The work is the same work — appointed, unglamorous, in front of you. What changes is what you are doing it for. Drop the attachment, drop the reward, and what remains is the act performed because it must be. Arjuna wanted a way out of the fight; he is given a way through it. This is the letting go that is clear — not the hands empty, but the mind. Look at whatever you must do today and ask what you are hoping to get from it. Then do it anyway.