कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन ।सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलं चैव स त्यागः सात्त्विको मतः ॥
kāryam ity eva yat karma niyataṃ kriyate 'rjuna |saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalaṃ caiva sa tyāgaḥ sāttviko mataḥ ||
- कार्यम् · kāryam
- to be done, a duty
- इति · iti
- thus (thinking)
- एव · eva
- simply, merely
- यत् · yat
- which
- कर्म · karma
- action
- नियतम् · niyatam
- prescribed
- क्रियते · kriyate
- is performed
- अर्जुन · arjuna
- O Arjuna
- सङ्गम् · saṅgam
- attachment
- त्यक्त्वा · tyaktvā
- having abandoned
- फलम् · phalam
- fruit
- सः · saḥ
- that
- त्यागः · tyāgaḥ
- relinquishment
- सात्त्विकः · sāttvikaḥ
- sattvic, lucid
- मतः · mataḥ
- considered
“When prescribed action is performed, O Arjuna, simply because it is to be done — with attachment and fruit abandoned — that relinquishment is considered sattvic.”
— Original plain-language translation
The third and praised kind: do what must be done because it must be done, wanting nothing from it. 'Kāryam eva' — just because it is the thing to do — is the whole of duty-ethics in two words. This verse, with 18.6, is the chapter's practical center of gravity.
— Reader's notes (original)