BG 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

Word-for-word meanings

te — your;  adhikāraḥ — eligibility;  karmaṇi — pertains to action;  eva — only;  mā kadācana — [but] never at any time;  phaleṣu — in the fruits;  mā — never;  bhūḥ — become;  hetuḥ — the cause;  karma-phala — of the results of action;  mā — never;  astu — let there be;  te — your;  saṅgaḥ — attachment;  akarmaṇi — in the non-performance of action.

Translation

Your eligibility pertains exclusively to the fulfillment of action*, but never to the fruits thereof. Do not become the cause of the results of your actions [by claiming independent doership**] nor, as a consequence, should you be attached to the non-performance of action.

Notes

* This signifies that a person can choose to act or to abstain from action, but there is no such choice in regard to the results of one’s actions.

** Bondage to results occurs by considering oneself the cause of such fruits and by harboring desire for them.

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Parul PuriBhagavad Gītā readerAwaiting User Response

Asked 19 Oct 2026, 21:44

Reader question

I understand that we shouldn't be attached to the fruits of the results.

But i hope its fine to atleast think about the results. So that we know what is the target we want to achieve or result we want to see by our action?

If we are not thinking about the results at all, how would we try to improve our actions to get ideal results. And not just become lazy, that i am doing my work whatever Krishna has to give in result, He will give.

How to understand this.

  1. Admin AnsweredEdited 20 Oct 2026

    The purpose of niṣkāma karma yoga is to purify our heart of material desires. This is why one offers the results of Vedic karma mentally to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This is a sādhana. So there is a goal - the goal is purification of the heart. And offering the results of the karma to Bhagavān in the mind is the method to achieve that goal. When one performs karma in this frame of mind - not anxious for the result, but diligently performs it because its results will be offered to Bhagavān - then one performs it meticulously and skillfully - yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam (BG 2.50).

    As for becoming lazy - Bhagavān is saying here that a karma-yogi has the adhikāra to perform karma, but has no control over the results of that karma. He then adds that one should not become lazy - mā te saṅgo'stu akarmaṇi. If one thinks that one is the sole cause of that karma, then one will become bound to the results - as the footnote explains.