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Chapter 18 · The Perfection of Renunciation · 78 verses

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Duty & actionChapter 18 · The Perfection of Renunciation
18.818.10

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 18.9

Duty, renunciation and giving up the fruits

कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन ।

सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलं चैव स त्याग: सात्त्विको मत: ॥ ९ ॥

kāryam ity eva yat karma

niyataṁ kriyate ’rjuna

saṅgaṁ tyaktvā phalaṁ caiva

sa tyāgaḥ sāttviko mataḥ

Translation

O Arjuna, when one performs his prescribed duty only because it ought to be done, and renounces all material association and all attachment to the fruit, his renunciation is said to be in the mode of goodness.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

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

Renunciation in Goodness

  1. 1Doing prescribed duty because it ought to be done, without material association or attachment to results, is renunciation in goodness.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that one who works for Kṛṣṇa and gives up the results for Him acts transcendentally.
  3. 3Perform your prescribed duty for Kṛṣṇa, without attachment to the results.

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.

Key ideas: karma, sva-dharma.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 18.9 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 18.2Duty, renunciation and giving up the fruitsBG 18.3Duty, renunciation and giving up the fruitsBG 2.47Responsibility without ownership of outcomesBG 3.21Leadership by example

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

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Ask about BG 18.9 — 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.