Bhagavad Gita: Understanding One Shloka at a time. (Chp. 2, Verse 47) — HBR Patel

Trying to understand Bhagavad Gita, one Shloka at a time…

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि || 47 ||

You certainly have a right to perform your prescribed duties but never at any time in their results. You should never be motivated by the results of the actions, nor should there be any attachment in not doing your prescribed duty.

This might be the most quoted verse by the entire world when talking about ‘Karma Yoga’ or eastern philosophy.

In the first part of this verse, Bhagwan Shri Krishna informs Arjun that all of us have the authority or right to perform actions but none of us have the right to claim the results or we do not have complete control over the results of our actions. There is a number of variables that come into play to determine the outcome of our efforts. It is not our efforts or actions alone that guarantees the desired outcome and so we should not get attached or anticipate the outcome.