Bhagavad Gita 18.6
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 6 of 78
एतान्य् अपि तु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलानि च । कर्तव्यानीति मे पार्थ निश्चितं मतम् उत्तमम् ॥
etāny api tu karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalāni ca | kartavyānīti me pārtha niścitaṃ matam uttamam ||
Even yajña-dāna-tapas must be performed having abandoned attachment and fruits — My settled, highest opinion.
Word by word (3)
- etāny api tu karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalāni ca
- — but (tu api) even these (etāni) actions (karmāṇi) — referring to V5's yajña-dāna-tapas — should be performed having abandoned (tyaktvā) attachment (saṅga) and fruits (phalāni ca)
- kartavyānīti me pārtha niścitaṃ matam uttamam
- — they must be done (kartavyāni = duty-bound) — thus (iti) this is My (me) definitive (niścitam = settled, certain) and highest/most excellent (uttamam) opinion/teaching (matam)
- niścitam matam uttamam
- — settled + opinion + most excellent = the triple emphasis; niścita = no ambiguity; matam = my position; uttama = the highest — Krishna stakes his greatest authority on this teaching: even sacred acts require saṅga-tyāga and phala-tyāga
But even these actions (yajña, gift, and austerity) should be performed, having abandoned attachment and fruits. This, O Pārtha, is My definitive and highest opinion.
A modern analogy
This verse is the crucial qualification to the previous one: 'yes, yajña-dāna-tapas must be performed — BUT they must be performed without attachment to the practice OR its fruits.' It's the difference between a doctor who does excellent medicine with ego-investment in outcomes vs. one who practices with full commitment but without attachment to results or reputation. This verse is the inner posture that makes those obligatory acts genuinely liberating.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
But even those actions should be performed, setting aside attachment and the fruits; this, O son of Pritha, is My firm and highest belief. [1]
MISSING from index (SW index has mahatmya verses at 18.6). Ganguli and Telang used. [4]
Abandoning attachment and fruit; such is my excellent and decided opinion. [9]
But even those works should be done, abandoning attachment and fruit. This, O son of Pritha, is my excellent and decided opinion. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sāttvic tyāga: niyata karma done ONLY because 'this must be done,' having abandoned attachment and fruit.
Some say all karma is faulty and should be abandoned; others say yajña-dāna-tapas must not be abandoned.
The sāttvic tyāgī: neither hates difficult action nor clings to pleasant — sattva-pervaded, wise, doubts severed.
Learn these five causes of all action from Me, O Mighty-armed — as declared in the Sāṃkhya final teaching.
Therefore: do your required action without attachment — this is the path that leads to the Supreme.
Who acts in duty without depending on fruit — that one is the true sannyāsī and yogī, not the fireless or the inactive.
Verse 6 of 78 · back to Chapter 18