Detachment

Two birds, close companions, ever united, cling to the same tree. Of the two, one eats the sweet fruit; the other looks on without eating.

द्वा सुपर्णा सयुजा सखाया समानं वृक्षं परिषस्वजाते । तयोरन्यः पिप्पलं स्वाद्वत्त्यन- श्नन्नन्यो अभिचाकशीति ॥ ६॥

Actions do not taint me, nor do I long for their fruits. One who understands me in this way is not bound by actions.

न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा | इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते ||४-१४||

You have a right to action alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन | मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||२-४७||

Treating pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat alike, then engage in battle. In this way you will incur no sin.

सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ | ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि ||२-३८||

Contacts with the objects of sense, Kaunteya, give rise to cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go and are impermanent. Endure them, Bharata.

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः | आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ||२-१४||

One whose intellect is unattached everywhere, who has mastered the self and is free of longing, attains through renunciation the supreme perfection of freedom from action.

असक्तबुद्धिः सर्वत्र जितात्मा विगतस्पृहः | नैष्कर्म्यसिद्धिं परमां संन्यासेनाधिगच्छति ||१८-४९||

The agent who is free of attachment, who does not speak of himself, endowed with resolve and zeal, unmoved by success or failure — that agent is called sattvic.

मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः | सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकारः कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ||१८-२६||

Action that is prescribed, free of attachment, performed without passion or aversion by one who desires no fruit — that is called sattvic.

नियतं सङ्गरहितमरागद्वेषतः कृतम् | अफलप्रेप्सुना कर्म यत्तत्सात्त्विकमुच्यते ||१८-२३||

For an embodied being cannot give up actions entirely; but one who gives up the fruits of action is called a relinquisher.

न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषतः | यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते ||१८-११||

But even these actions should be performed while giving up attachment and their fruits — this, Partha, is my definite and highest conviction.

एतान्यपि तु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलानि च | कर्तव्यानीति मे पार्थ निश्चितं मतमुत्तमम् ||१८-६||

The Blessed Lord said: The wise understand renunciation to be the giving up of actions prompted by desire; the discerning call the surrender of the fruits of all actions relinquishment.

श्रीभगवानुवाच | काम्यानां कर्मणां न्यासं संन्यासं कवयो विदुः | सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं प्राहुस्त्यागं विचक्षणाः ||१८-२||

Arjuna said: I wish to know the truth of renunciation, mighty-armed one, and of relinquishment, each separately, Hrishikesha, slayer of Keshin.

अर्जुन उवाच | संन्यासस्य महाबाहो तत्त्वमिच्छामि वेदितुम् | त्यागस्य च हृषीकेश पृथक्केशिनिषूदन ||१८-१||

Surrendering all actions to Me, with your mind fixed on the Self, free from desire and from any sense of "mine," and rid of your fever, fight.

मयि सर्वाणि कर्माणि संन्यस्याध्यात्मचेतसा | निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः ||३-३०||

Therefore, always perform the action that must be done, without attachment; for by performing action without attachment, one attains the Supreme.

तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर | असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ||३-१९||

As the waters flow into the ocean, which, though ever filling, remains unmoved, so all desires enter the one who attains peace, not the one who craves those desires.

आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् | तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ||२-७०||

Established in yoga, perform your actions, Dhananjaya, abandoning attachment and remaining even-minded in success and failure. This evenness of mind is called yoga.

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय | सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ||२-४८||

dwelling in solitude, eating lightly, with speech, body, and mind controlled, ever devoted to the yoga of meditation, taking refuge in dispassion,

विविक्तसेवी लघ्वाशी यतवाक्कायमानसः | ध्यानयोगपरो नित्यं वैराग्यं समुपाश्रितः ||१८-५२||

Endowed with a purified intellect, restraining the self with firmness, giving up sound and the other objects of sense, and casting aside attraction and aversion,

बुद्ध्या विशुद्धया युक्तो धृत्यात्मानं नियम्य च | शब्दादीन्विषयांस्त्यक्त्वा रागद्वेषौ व्युदस्य च ||१८-५१||

The relinquisher imbued with sattva, wise and free of doubt, neither hates disagreeable action nor is attached to agreeable action.

न द्वेष्ट्यकुशलं कर्म कुशले नानुषज्जते | त्यागी सत्त्वसमाविष्टो मेधावी छिन्नसंशयः ||१८-१०||

Free from pride and delusion, having conquered the evil of attachment, ever dwelling in the self, their desires stilled, freed from the dualities known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that imperishable state.

निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः | द्वन्द्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञैर्- गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ||१५-५||