Bhagavad Gita 3.19
Spoken by Krishna ★ Essential verse · Verse 19 of 43
तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर । असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ॥
tasmād asaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara | asakto hy ācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ ||
Therefore: do your required action without attachment — this is the path that leads to the Supreme.
Word by word (3)
- tasmāt asaktaḥ satatam
- — therefore, without attachment, always · Tasmāt = therefore (connecting to V17-18's analysis). Asaktaḥ = without attachment (a-sakta, sakta = attached). Satatam = always, continuously. The prescription: the constant practice of detachment in action — not occasionally but as a continuous inner orientation.
- kāryaṃ karma samācara
- — perform the prescribed/necessary action · Kārya = what must be done, the required action (karma + karya prefix). Karma = action. Samācara = perform fully and correctly. The full phrase: perform the necessary action completely — the samā (complete, proper) is important. Not partial action, not abandoned action, but full proper action with detachment.
- param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ
- — the person attains the Supreme · Param = the Supreme, the highest (Brahman, liberation, the ultimate). Āpnoti = attains, achieves. Pūruṣa = person (the cosmic person; also used for the genuine spiritual seeker). The promise: through detached action — not through renouncing action — one attains the Supreme.
Therefore, always perform your required actions without attachment. By performing action without attachment, a person attains the Supreme.
A modern analogy
A surgeon performs a complex operation. The worst thing they can do is become emotionally attached to the outcome mid-surgery — gripped by anxiety, catastrophizing. The best surgeons are 'in the zone': fully present to the action, technically perfect, emotionally stable. That operational detachment produces the best outcomes. This verse promises that the same orientation in all actions produces param — the Supreme.
Take with you
- Tasmāt — therefore — this follows directly from the preceding analysis of the realized one who gains nothing by acting and loses nothing by refraining. The prescription is grounded in that insight.
- Satatam (always) — not just in important decisions but as a constant inner practice.
- The Supreme is attained through action-with-detachment, not through abandoning action.
- This is the practical karma-yoga formula: do your duty + release attachment to outcome = liberation.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Therefore, always perform, without attachment, the action that ought to be done; for by performing action without attachment man verily attains the Supreme. [1]
Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform the duty that should be done; for by performing action without attachment, man reaches the Supreme. [4]
Therefore perform all actions, which are duties, without attachment, for by performing works without attachment man achieves the Highest. [6]
Wherefore, go forwards! do thine allotted task! Work is more excellent than idleness; The body's life proceeds not, lacking work. There is a task of holiness to do. [7]
Therefore perform actions without attachment; for performing actions without attachment, a man attains the highest. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Your right is to act — never to the fruits. Don't act for results. Don't hide in inaction.
Janaka attained perfection through action — not despite it. Act for the welfare of the world (lokasaṃgraha).
Actions don't taint Me — I have no longing for their fruits. Whoever knows Me thus is not bound by their actions.
Some say all karma is faulty and should be abandoned; others say yajña-dāna-tapas must not be abandoned.
Even yajña-dāna-tapas must be performed having abandoned attachment and fruits — My settled, highest opinion.
The sāttvic tyāgī: neither hates difficult action nor clings to pleasant — sattva-pervaded, wise, doubts severed.
Verse 19 of 43 · back to Chapter 3