What does Bhagavad Gita 2.47 mean?
Bhagavad Gita 2.47 directs attention to responsible action while loosening attachment to its fruits. Its final clause also warns against attachment to inaction. Read together, the clauses ask for committed work without making possession of a desired result the condition for acting.
The familiar advice to “do your work” can lose half the verse when quoted alone. Krishna is speaking to Arjuna within a larger teaching about action, wisdom and spiritual freedom. The passage is not simply a technique for becoming more productive, nor does it promise that an unattached person will always obtain the result they want.
This guide gives the Sanskrit, a reading aid and our own introductory explanation. The modern examples are illustrations by Astrogyana, not events narrated in the Gita. For an overview of the text's structure, start with the Bhagavad Gita reading guide.
The Sanskrit verse and transliteration
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥ २.४७ ॥
karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana |
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stv akarmaṇi ||
An introductory paraphrase: your sphere of responsibility is action, never a claim upon its fruits; do not let the fruit of action become your driving attachment, and do not become attached to avoiding action.
This is an original explanatory paraphrase, not a quotation from a published translation. The Sanskrit is the reference text. A word such as adhikāra needs context: translating it as “right” can be useful, but reading it only as a modern legal entitlement misses the teaching about one's relation to action. The verse also should not be reduced to the claim that every part of an action is fully under one's control.
The transliteration separates words to help a reader follow the Sanskrit. It is not an audio lesson or a substitute for learning pronunciation with a competent teacher. If you compare editions, focus first on chapter and verse numbering and then on the wording of the explanation.
Read all four clauses together
| Sanskrit phrase | Reading focus | A question for reflection |
|---|---|---|
| कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते | Attend to the action that is yours to undertake. | What responsible step is before me? |
| मा फलेषु कदाचन | Do not claim possession of the fruit as something owed to you. | Am I treating a hoped-for result as a guarantee? |
| मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूः | Examine attachment to the fruit as the motive of action. | Would praise or reward make me abandon sound judgment? |
| मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि | Do not turn non-attachment into attachment to doing nothing. | Am I using uncertainty as an excuse to avoid a needed action? |
The third clause is especially easy to flatten into a slogan. Translations and commentaries discuss the relationship among motive, agency and fruit in different ways. Our introductory reading stresses attachment to reward; it does not settle every philosophical question about who acts or how action binds. The commentaries collected by Gita Supersite are useful for comparing named interpretations rather than treating one short paraphrase as exhaustive.
The final clause keeps the reading balanced. If uncertainty about the outcome makes you abandon the work altogether, you have not followed the verse simply by ceasing to hope for a reward. Attention to action and freedom from clinging need to be read together.
Why read 2.48 immediately after 2.47?
Verse 2.48 begins with an instruction to perform actions while established in yoga. It asks for the abandonment of attachment and an evenness toward success and failure. This gives the reader a positive orientation for action; it does not merely remove an expectation.
That evenness concerns how one meets success and failure. It does not make their practical consequences identical. A missed deadline may still require an apology, a repair or a different plan. An achieved goal may still require honest acknowledgment of other people's work. These are our practical illustrations of accountable action, not additional lines of scripture.
Verse 2.50 is often quoted for its phrase about skill in action. Read it within the surrounding discussion of wisdom and yoga, rather than turning it into a promise of business efficiency. The chapter's spiritual question is larger than whether a method helps someone obtain a promotion. The Karma Yoga guide develops the broader theme.
Three common shortcuts that lose the point
| Shortcut | What the fuller reading asks you to notice |
|---|---|
| “Results do not matter.” | Planning and learning remain useful; the question is attachment to the fruit, not indifference to consequences. |
| “There is no reason to try.” | The final clause explicitly warns against attachment to inaction. |
| “Detach and success is guaranteed.” | Turning detachment into a bargain for a guaranteed reward restores the very fixation being examined. |
Another shortcut is to use the verse to tell someone else that they should never expect payment or acknowledgment. This passage is not, by itself, a rule for employment arrangements. A spiritual teaching about one's attachment should not be used to avoid a clear conversation about responsibilities, agreed compensation or fair treatment.
Likewise, non-attachment need not mean emotional numbness. Feeling disappointed and becoming wholly governed by disappointment are different experiences. The practice described here involves examining one's response; it does not require pretending that no feeling arose.
Three everyday illustrations
A student preparing for an examination
The student sets a study schedule, practises questions and checks mistakes. A target mark can guide preparation. Attachment becomes visible when the imagined mark replaces the work, or when one result becomes a complete judgment of the student's worth. After the examination, reviewing what was learned is still worthwhile. None of this predicts the mark.
A team completing a project
The team defines a useful outcome, assigns responsibilities and checks whether its work meets the agreed standard. It can care about the result while admitting that timing, dependencies and other people's choices affect it. If something fails, the next step is a candid review and a repair, not the excuse that outcomes never mattered.
Someone offering practical help
A person offers a specific, realistic form of help and respects whether it is wanted. They can follow through without demanding a particular display of gratitude. Non-attachment here does not mean making unlimited promises; choosing an honest commitment is part of responsible action.
A brief reflection to use before and after action
- Before: name the task, why it is appropriate and the next step you can actually take.
- During: notice whether attention has moved from doing the work to rehearsing praise, blame or reward.
- After: examine the result honestly, acknowledge your part and decide what needs improvement.
- Return to the verse: read the final clause as carefully as the first.
This exercise is a contemporary reading practice, not a ritual prescribed by the verse. For sustained study, read the adjoining verses and compare a named commentary. The aim is to understand how a tradition explains action and attachment, not to collect a quotation that can be applied to every situation without thought.
Frequently asked questions
Does Bhagavad Gita 2.47 say to ignore results?
It teaches non-attachment to the fruits of action. That does not remove the need to plan, notice consequences or learn from a result. Read its instruction about action together with its warning against inaction.
Does the verse say that effort guarantees success?
No. It does not promise a desired result. Treating non-attachment as a technique that guarantees a reward would turn it into another attachment to the fruit.
Why is the final phrase about inaction important?
It prevents a reading in which uncertainty about results becomes a reason to avoid action. The verse asks the reader to examine attachment both to fruits and to inaction.
Is the explanation here a published translation?
No. The Sanskrit is the classical verse; the paraphrase, explanations and everyday examples are Astrogyana's introductory reading. Named translations and commentaries are linked for comparison.
What does 2.48 add to the reading?
It connects action with yoga, the abandonment of attachment and evenness toward success and failure. Reading it after 2.47 helps keep the emphasis on the manner of acting.
Does this verse require a person to work without pay?
The verse alone does not establish employment terms. Its teaching about attachment should not be used to replace clear agreements about work, compensation and responsibilities.