Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 50
बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते।
तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्।।
तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्।।
buddhi-yukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛta-duṣkṛte
tasmād yogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam
also searched as "buddhi yukto jahatiha ubhe sukrita dushkrite"
Translation
A person with an evenness of mind discards both good and evil here and now. Therefore, strive for Yoga; for Yoga is skill in action.
Vāṇi's rendering
The wise shed both good and bad karma even here. So train yourself: yoga is skill in action.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| बुद्धियुक्तःbuddhi-yuktaḥ | joined to the settled, discerning mind |
| जहातिjahāti | lets go of, sheds |
| इहiha | here, in this very life (sandhi: jahāti + iha → jahātīha) |
| उभेubhe | both |
| सुकृतदुष्कृतेsukṛta-duṣkṛte | good deeds and bad deeds alike |
| तस्मात्tasmāt | therefore (sandhi: tasmāt + yogāya → tasmād yogāya) |
| योगायyogāya | for yoga, toward yoga |
| युज्यस्वyujyasva | yoke yourself, train |
| योगःyogaḥ | yoga |
| कर्मसुkarmasu | in actions |
| कौशलम्kauśalam | skill, craft |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 50 mean?
It means the mind settled in buddhi drops the whole ledger — good deeds and bad deeds both — and drops it now, not after death. Krishna then gives his shortest definition: yoga is kauśalam, skill in action. Acting so that the act leaves no residue on the one who acted.
What does buddhi yukto jahatiha ubhe sukrita dushkrite teach about karma?
That good karma binds too. We assume merit is safe currency, but any deed clutched for its fruit ties you to its fruit. The discerning mind releases both columns of the ledger. What remains is action, clean, needing no reward to justify it and no punishment to close it.
Does yoga is skill in action mean being efficient at work?
No. Efficiency is about the outcome; kauśalam here is about the doer. The skill is in how you hold the work — without grasping, without the inner accounting that turns every task into a claim. A frantically efficient person may be entirely unskilled in this sense.
How do I actually practise this verse today?
Do the next task fully, then let the thought of its result go through you rather than settle in you. Notice the small tug that wants credit. That tug is the sticking point. Yujyasva — train — is a verb Krishna uses because this takes practice, not agreement.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Skill in action — and most people hear productivity. Krishna means something stranger. The unskilled hand grips the outcome, and every deed, good or bad, sticks to it; merit binds as surely as sin, just with a softer rope. Yoga is the craft of acting so that nothing sticks. Not carelessness — Arjuna is being sent into battle, not out of it. Sheds both, here, iha: not in some later accounting, but in this life, this hour. So train. The work you do today will either clot around you or pass clean through your hands, and the difference is not in the work.