दुःखमित्येव यत्कर्म कायक्लेशभयात्त्यजेत् ।स कृत्वा राजसं त्यागं नैव त्यागफलं लभेत् ॥
duḥkham ity eva yat karma kāyakleśabhayāt tyajet |sa kṛtvā rājasaṃ tyāgaṃ naiva tyāgaphalaṃ labhet ||
- दुःखम् · duḥkham
- painful, suffering
- इति · iti
- thus (thinking)
- एव · eva
- merely
- यत् · yat
- which
- कर्म · karma
- action
- कायक्लेशभयात् · kāyakleśabhayāt
- from fear of bodily strain
- त्यजेत् · tyajet
- one abandons
- सः · saḥ
- he
- कृत्वा · kṛtvā
- having performed
- राजसम् · rājasam
- rajasic, passionate
- त्यागम् · tyāgam
- relinquishment
- न · na
- not
- एव · eva
- at all
- त्यागफलम् · tyāgaphalam
- the fruit of relinquishment
- लभेत् · labhet
- obtains
“One who abandons a duty merely because it is painful, from fear of bodily hardship, performs rajasic relinquishment — and never gains the fruit of true relinquishment.”
— Original plain-language translation
The second kind: quitting because the work hurts. Comfort-avoidance is not detachment — the attachment to ease still rules the agent. Krishna's test is searching: ask not whether you gave something up, but why.
— Reader's notes (original)