कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana |mā karmaphalahetur bhūr mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi ||
- कर्मणि · karmaṇi
- in action, in work
- एव · eva
- only, alone
- अधिकारः · adhikāraḥ
- right, claim, entitlement
- ते · te
- your
- मा · mā
- never, not
- फलेषु · phaleṣu
- in the fruits, results
- कदाचन · kadācana
- ever, at any time
- मा · mā
- do not
- कर्मफलहेतुः · karmaphalahetuḥ
- the motive/cause rooted in the fruit of action
- भूः · bhūḥ
- become, be
- मा · mā
- let there not be
- ते · te
- your
- सङ्गः · saṅgaḥ
- attachment, clinging
- अस्तु · astu
- let it be
- अकर्मणि · akarmaṇi
- in inaction, in not acting
“Your right is to action alone, never to its fruits. Do not make the fruit of action your motive, and do not attach yourself to inaction.”
— Original plain-language translation
IN SHORT Give your best effort, then let go of demanding a specific result.
Perhaps the most quoted verse of the Gita, and the heart of karma-yoga. Krishna threads a needle here: the first line removes entitlement to results, the second removes the two escapes — acting greedily for reward, or refusing to act at all. Action remains obligatory; only the inward claim on its outcome is renounced. Read it as psychology as much as philosophy: much of our suffering comes not from effort but from the anxious grip on how effort must pay off. Like a student studying hard for exams but letting go of fixing the exact marks.
— Reader's notes (original)