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Chapter 18 · The Perfection of Renunciation · 78 verses

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Duty & actionChapter 18 · The Perfection of Renunciation
18.1018.12

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 18.11

Duty, renunciation and giving up the fruits

न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषत: ।

यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते ॥ ११ ॥

na hi deha-bhṛtā śakyaṁ

tyaktuṁ karmāṇy aśeṣataḥ

yas tu karma-phala-tyāgī

sa tyāgīty abhidhīyate

Translation

It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities. But he who renounces the fruits of action is called one who has truly renounced.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

True Renunciation

  1. 1A person in a body cannot stop all activity. True renunciation means giving up the fruits of action.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that a true renouncer works for Kṛṣṇa and offers everything to Him instead of enjoying the results.
  3. 3Continue your work, but offer its results to Kṛṣṇa rather than keeping them for your own enjoyment.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 18, The Perfection of Renunciation: duty, renunciation and giving up the fruits.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Act dutifully without attachment to fruits.

2

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Renunciation

The embodied person cannot entirely give up action.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 18.11 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to duty & action?

Practice

Do one task today purely because it is right.

4

The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 18 ›
5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 5.2Detached action performed in devotionBG 6.1Renunciation in the midst of actionBG 18.2Duty, renunciation and giving up the fruits

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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Ask about BG 18.11 — get a simple answer linked to related ideas and verses.

Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.