Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 19
तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर।
असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः।।
असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः।।
tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ kāryaṁ karma samācara
asakto hyācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ
also searched as "tasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samachara"
Translation
Therefore, do your work without attachment, which ought to be done. For, a person who works without attachment attains the Supreme.
Vāṇi's rendering
Do what must be done, without clinging. Acting unattached, you reach the highest.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तस्मात्tasmāt | therefore |
| असक्तःasaktaḥ | unattached, without clinging |
| सततम्satataṁ | constantly, always |
| कार्यम्kāryaṁ | what must be done |
| कर्मkarma | action, work |
| समाचरsamācara | carry it out fully |
| असक्तःasaktaḥ | unattached (appearing as asakto before the next word) |
| हिhi | indeed, for |
| आचरन्ācaran | performing, doing |
| कर्मkarma | action |
| परम्param | the highest |
| आप्नोतिāpnoti | reaches, arrives at |
| पूरुषःpūruṣaḥ | a person, a human being |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 19 mean?
It means the work stays and the grip goes. Krishna does not reduce Arjuna's duty by a single arrow; he changes how it is held. Act without clinging to the outcome, and that same ordinary action becomes the road to param, the highest. The deed is unchanged. The doer is not.
What is the meaning of tasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samachara?
Therefore, unattached, always carry out the work that must be done. Tasmāt — therefore — leans on everything Krishna has just said about the wise acting for the sake of the world. Satataṁ means constantly: not on good days, not when it suits you. Kāryaṁ means it is not optional.
How can I work hard at something without being attached to the result?
Attachment is not intensity; it is the demand that the outcome pay you back. You can pour everything into the task and still let the result belong to the field. Watch where the anxiety sits. It is rarely in the doing — it is in the rehearsing of how it must turn out.
What does param apnoti purushah mean in this verse?
The person who acts unattached reaches the highest. Krishna makes no exception for who that person is — pūruṣaḥ is simply a human being. No special birth, no withdrawal to a forest. Ordinary duty, done without clinging, is itself the path. The summit is reached by the road you are already on.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Clinging is not the same as caring. Krishna has just described the wise acting as the unwise act — same work, same effort — with one difference invisible from outside. Arjuna wants a rule he can follow; he is given a manner instead. Do what must be done: the duty is not negotiable, and Krishna never lets him drop it. Without clinging: the grip on how it turns out, the accounting of what it owes you. Loosen that and the same act carries you all the way to the highest. Notice tomorrow morning how much of your tiredness comes from the work, and how much from the gripping.