Bhagavad Gita 6.1
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 1 of 47
अनाश्रितः कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः। स संन्यासी च योगी च न निरग्निर्न चाक्रियः॥६-१॥
anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṃ kāryaṃ karma karoti yaḥ | sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca na niragnir na cākriyaḥ || 6.1 ||
Who acts in duty without depending on fruit — that one is the true sannyāsī and yogī, not the fireless or the inactive.
Word by word (7)
- anāśritaḥ
- — without depending on / not taking shelter of (anā = without, āśrita = depending on, seeking refuge in)
- karma-phalam
- — the fruit of action / the result of work (phala = fruit, outcome — what action produces)
- kāryam karma
- — the required action / the action that ought to be done (kārya = that which must be done, obligatory duty; karma = action)
- karoti yaḥ
- — who performs / who does — the one who actually acts, not the one who refrains
- sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca
- — that one is both a sannyāsī (renunciant) AND a yogī (one in yoga) — the double 'ca' is emphatic: both, simultaneously
- na niragnir
- — not the fireless one (niragni = without fire; refers to the Vedic practitioner who has abandoned the sacred fire-rites — external renunciation without inner transformation)
- na ca akriyaḥ
- — nor the inactive one / not the one who has simply stopped acting (a = without, kriyā = activity — one who mistakes inaction for renunciation)
He who does the work that must be done without depending on its fruit is the true renouncer and the true yogi — not the one who lights no sacred fire and performs no action.
A modern analogy
A surgeon who operates with full skill, fully present, fully engaged — but whose sense of worth does not depend on whether the patient survives — is closer to the Gita's true sannyāsī than a monk who sits idle out of fear of making mistakes. The surgeon acts completely; the outcome is released. The monk's inaction is not renunciation — it is avoidance. This opening verse of Chapter 6 makes the distinction sharp and clear.
What it does NOT mean
Niragnir (fireless) and akriyaḥ (inactive) are not criticisms of monastic life or formal renunciation. Krishna is addressing a specific misunderstanding: that sannyāsa = stopping external activity. The truly renounced person may or may not wear robes, light fires, or maintain rituals — what makes them a sannyāsī is the inner quality of anāśrita (not depending on fruit), not any external form.
Take with you
- Anāśritaḥ karma-phalam: the marker of true yoga is not what you do or don't do externally — it is the internal relationship to the fruit of what you do. Do you act from duty (kāryam) or from craving for outcome? The yogi acts from duty; the outcome belongs to the Supreme.
- Na niragnir na cākriyaḥ: two false forms of renunciation are named. Niragnir (abandoning sacred duty without inner transformation) and akriyaḥ (simple inactivity). The Gita has no sympathy for spiritual laziness dressed as renunciation.
- This verse closes the loop between the Gita's seed teaching — that your jurisdiction is action alone, never its fruit (karmaṇy evādhikāras te) — and the definition stated here: the one who acts without fruit-dependence IS the sannyāsī. The whole of Chapters 3-5 has been unpacking what this verse now states as a definition: karma-yoga IS sannyāsa.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
"One who performs the required action without depending on its fruit — that one is a sannyāsī and a yogī — not the fireless one nor the inactive one." [1]
"He who performs the bounden duty without depending on the fruits of action — he is a Sannyasin and Yogi, not he who is without fire and without action." [4]
"He who performeth actions, abandoning attachment, resigning them to the ETERNAL — is not moistened by sin, as the lotus leaf by water." [5]
"He who acts in the performance of his duty, unattached to the fruit thereof — that man is a Yogi and a Sannyasi, and not he who neither lights a fire nor does any work." [6]
"He who performeth without attachment to fruit the work which is his duty — he is a Sannyasi and a Yogi; not the man who lights no fire and does nothing." [7]
"He who performs actions as a duty, without depending on the fruits of action, he is a Sannyasin and a Yogi — not the man who has no fire, and is devoid of action." [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.
Arjuna asks: You praise both renunciation and action — tell me decisively which is truly better.
Freedom from karma's bonds does not come from inaction. Perfection does not come from mere renunciation.
No embodied being can abandon ALL action; the true tyāgī is the karma-phala-tyāgī — the fruit-abandoner.
Sāttvic tyāga: niyata karma done ONLY because 'this must be done,' having abandoned attachment and fruit.
Sāttvic yajña: performed as ordained, without fruit-desire, with the conviction 'this must be done.'
Verse 1 of 47 · back to Chapter 6