Sanskrit
तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर । असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ॥
tasmād asaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara asakto hy ācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ
Translation
Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform action which is duty, for, by performing action without attachment, man verily reacheth the Supreme.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The pivot away from verses 17-18’s self-sufficient ideal back toward action, and the “therefore” is doing real logical work: precisely because non-attachment is possible, action can be performed without re-creating the bondage described in verse 9. This restates 2.47’s formula in near-identical terms — the discipline hasn’t changed since chapter 2, only the argument for why it’s necessary has gotten more elaborate. The claim in the second line is the significant one: acting unattached is not merely permitted, it is a route to the Supreme — karma-yoga as a full path, not a warm-up for renunciation. BG 5.6 will say the renunciate who avoids it actually arrives slower.
Study deeper
Word by word
- tasmādतस्माद्
- therefore
- asaktaḥअसक्तः
- unattached
- satataṃसततं
- always
- kāryaṃ karma samācaraकार्यं कर्म समाचर
- perform the work that is to be done (kāryam + karma + samācara)
- asakto hy ācaran karmaअसक्तो ह्य् आचरन् कर्म
- for acting unattached (asaktaḥ + hi + ācaran + karma)
- param āpnoti pūruṣaḥपरं आप्नोति पूरुषः
- a person attains the Supreme (param + āpnoti + pūruṣaḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
After seventeen verses building new argument — guṇas, yajna, cosmology, the wheel — Krishna arrives back almost verbatim at 2.47’s instruction: act without attachment. The philosophical work done in between hasn’t produced a new conclusion, only a fuller justification for the one already given; sometimes an argument’s job is to deepen conviction in what you already knew, not to discover something new.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- If you find yourself circling back to advice you already knew after a long process of working through a problem, don't treat the time as wasted — the value wasn't a new answer, it was earning a deeper, more durable conviction in the one you already had.
Professional
- If a long strategy debate ends up back at the original proposal, don't call the process pointless — the team now holds that conclusion with tested conviction instead of untested assumption, and that difference in how firmly people believe it matters even when the answer didn't change.
Family & Social
- If a long conversation with someone close to you circles back to advice you'd already given them once, don't feel like you're repeating yourself for nothing — this time it may actually land, because they've now worked through the reasoning themselves instead of just hearing the conclusion.
Ask yourself
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