Universal
Karmanye Vadhikaraste — Gita 2.47
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
Karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana, mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo'stv akarmaṇi
Simple reading: Kar-man-ye vaa-dhi-kaa-ras te maa pha-le-shu ka-daa-cha-na, maa kar-ma pha-la he-tur bhoor, maa te san-go-stva-kar-ma-ni
About this mantra
The most quoted verse of the Gita — the teaching of acting wholeheartedly without claiming the fruit. Krishna speaks it to an Arjuna frozen by outcomes: do the work, release the result.
Meaning
Your right is to the action alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruit be your motive, and do not be attached to inaction. Four claims, each closing a different escape: you may act; you may not own the outcome; you may not act for the outcome; you may not therefore quit. What remains when all four doors shut is the Gita's narrow, liberating road — work done for its own rightness.
When to recite it
Before work whose results are uncertain — examinations, launches, harvests, verdicts; recited at desks and doorways, and through the Gita Jayanti season.
Word by word
- कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्तेkarmaṇy evādhikāras te
- your right is to action alone
- मा फलेषु कदाचनmā phaleṣu kadācana
- never to its fruits
- मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूःmā karma-phala-hetur bhūḥ
- let not the fruit be your motive
- मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणिmā te saṅgo'stv akarmaṇi
- nor be attached to inaction
Source: Bhagavad Gītā 2.47