Gita verses on work and duty

Karma yoga, the discipline of action, is the centre of the Gita. These verses cover doing what falls to you without craving the fruit (2.47, 3.19), evenness in success and failure (2.48), seeing action in inaction (4.18), doing one's own work rather than copying another's (3.35, 18.47), and the recognition that the right company of wisdom and effort brings success (18.78).

The verses

Bhagavad Gita 2.38

सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ
ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि

sukhaduḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau / tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṃ pāpamavāpsyasi

Meaning: Treating pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat alike, get ready for the fight. Doing so, you will not incur sin.

The same attitude is called samatva, equanimity. Read the full explanation

Bhagavad Gita 2.47

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि

karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana / mā karmaphalaheturbhūrmā te saṅgo'stvakarmaṇi

Meaning: You have a right to action alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruit of action be your motive, and do not be attached to inaction.

This is the most quoted verse of the Gita. Read the full explanation

Bhagavad Gita 2.48

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनंजय
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते

yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanaṃjaya / siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṃ yoga ucyate

Meaning: Established in yoga, perform actions, O Arjuna, giving up attachment and remaining the same in success and failure. This evenness of mind is called yoga.

The previous verse gave the instruction; this one defines the word yoga. Read the full explanation

Bhagavad Gita 3.19

तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर
असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः

tasmādasaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara / asakto hyācarankarma paramāpnoti pūruṣaḥ

Meaning: Therefore, always do the work that must be done without attachment; for a person who works without attachment reaches the highest.

Duty here means the work that falls to you. Read the full explanation

Bhagavad Gita 3.35

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः

śreyānsvadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmātsvanuṣṭhitāt / svadharme nidhanaṃ śreyaḥ paradharmo bhayāvahaḥ

Meaning: One's own duty, though imperfect, is better than another's duty well performed. Death in one's own duty is better; another's duty brings fear.

The word is svadharma, the duty that fits one's own nature and situation. Read the full explanation

Bhagavad Gita 4.18

कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः
स बुद्धिमान्मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत्

karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśyedakarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ / sa buddhimānmanuṣyeṣu sa yuktaḥ kṛtsnakarmakṛt

Meaning: One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among people, is a yogi, and has done all that is to be done.

This is one of the most puzzling verses of the Gita. Read the full explanation

Bhagavad Gita 18.47

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्
स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम्

śreyānsvadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmātsvanuṣṭhitāt / svabhāvaniyataṃ karma kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam

Meaning: Better one's own duty, even if imperfect, than another's duty well done. Performing the work set by one's own nature, one incurs no fault.

The first half is the same as in verse 3.35. Read the full explanation

Bhagavad Gita 18.78

यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः
तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम

yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo yatra pārtho dhanurdharaḥ / tatra śrīrvijayo bhūtirdhruvā nītirmatirmama

Meaning: Wherever there is Krishna, the lord of yoga, and wherever there is Arjuna, the archer, there will be fortune, victory, prosperity and firm policy; this is my conviction.

The last verse is spoken by Sanjaya, not by Krishna. Read the full explanation

Meanings and explanations are our own wording, not an authorised translation. Readers of the Gita follow different traditions and teachers; please ask yours about what you read here.