When obligatory duty is performed simply because it must be done, O Arjuna, with attachment and all longing for fruits relinquished — that renunciation is held to be sattvic.
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The Bhagavad Gita, translated and commentated by S. Radhakrishnan, is one of the most scholarly and accessible English renderings of Hinduism's most beloved scripture — the dialogue between Arjuna and Lord Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Radhakrishnan, philosopher and statesman, brings both rigorous intellectual insight and genuine spiritual depth to his translation and notes. This edition is treasured for its ability to illuminate the Gita's universal spiritual teaching across cultural and philosophical boundaries.
- Author
- Krishna
- Tradition
- Hindu
- Source text
- Bhagavad Gita
- Chapter
- Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18
- Verse / page
- BG.18.9
- Topics
- Non-AttachmentRenunciationDuty
Same theme, different voices
One who acts for my sake, who holds me as supreme, who is devoted to me, free from attachment, and bearing no enmity toward any being — that person comes to me, O son of Pandu.
Filled with a sense of humility, self-surrender, and non-attachment, they never take credit for their actions. Instead, they attribute their accomplishments to God with deep joy and gratitude.
Regardless of their inherent nature, these things cannot help him love God as much as the smallest act of living faith and hope, which is done with selflessness and detachment from all things.
But, dear love, let good advice guide your path. The warnings of someone who has grown wise and grey are more valuable to the young than life itself.
Saint Kabir, in his sloka number 22 in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, says that he is happy with death, as it is only after death (i.e., detachment from the physical body) that one achieves the highest bliss.