Bhagavad Gita 2.47 Meaning: karmanye vadhikaraste

Word by word

Sanskrit & transliteration	Meaning
कर्मणिkarmaṇi	in action, in the work itself
एवeva	only, alone
अधिकारःadhikāraḥ	right, rightful claim
तेte	yours
माmā	never
फलेषुphaleṣu	in the fruits, in the results
कदाचनkadācana	at any time whatsoever
माmā	do not
कर्म-फल-हेतुःkarma-phala-hetuḥ	one whose motive is the fruit of action
भूःbhūḥ	become, be
माmā	nor
तेte	your
सङ्गःsaṅgaḥ	clinging, attachment
अस्तुastu	let there be (sandhi: saṅgo ’stu)
अकर्मणिakarmaṇi	in inaction, in not-doing

Commentary

Count the clauses. There are four, and most people quote one. The right to act, yes. No claim on the fruit, yes. Then two warnings that get skipped: do not make yourself the cause of results, and do not fall in love with not-acting. Arjuna's temptation was never laziness. It was the dignified version — laying down the bow and calling it peace. Krishna closes that exit before Arjuna can reach it. Detachment from fruit is not detachment from work. You still show up tomorrow, still do it well, still care how it is done. You simply stop auditing the ledger.

Frequently asked

What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 47 mean?

It gives you the work and takes away the scoreboard. Your claim reaches as far as the doing and no further; the fruit belongs to the field of causes you did not build. And the escape route is shut in the same breath — do not answer this by refusing to act. Act, fully, without owning the outcome.

What does karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana mean?

Karmaṇi eva adhikāraḥ te — in action alone is your right. Mā phaleṣu kadācana — never in the fruits, not once, not ever. Kadācana is absolute; Krishna leaves no exception for the outcomes you think you deserve. The doing is yours. The result was never in your hands to begin with.

Does this verse mean I should not care about results at all?

Care about them as a craftsman cares — enough to aim well, not enough to be crushed. Krishna forbids being hetu, the one driven by the fruit, not the one who works skilfully toward it. What he removes is the anxious ownership, the nightly recount of what you are owed.

Why does Krishna warn against attachment to inaction here?

Because Arjuna is about to try it. Withdrawal wears the robes of wisdom, and giving up looks very like letting go. Krishna names the difference. Renouncing the fruit is an inner act; renouncing the work is a hiding place. The bow stays in your hand.

Themes in this verse

karma purpose

Chapter setting

Chapter 2 · The Yoga of Knowledge

Krishna begins with a half-smile and a rebuke: your grief sounds wise, but the wise do not grieve this way. Then he pulls the ground out from under everything Arjuna assumes. The self was never born and will never die. It does not kill and cannot be killed. It sheds bodies the way you shed worn-out clothes and steps into new ones. No blade cuts it, no fire burns it, no water soaks it. Once you see this clearly, the entire argument for despair falls apart. But Krishna does not stop at metaphysics. He pivots to duty: look at your own dharma and do not waver. Then he pivots again, to the core instruction that changes everything: do the work, let the result go. That evenness between success and failure is yoga itself. Arjuna asks what a person of steady wisdom looks like, how such a person sits and walks and speaks. Krishna answers with the portrait of someone who has dropped every craving of the mind, who moves through pleasure and pain without being dragged by either, whose senses are drawn inward like a tortoise pulling in its limbs. The chapter traces the chain reaction that destroys most people — dwelling on a thing breeds attachment, attachment breeds craving, craving breeds anger, anger clouds the mind, and the clouded mind forgets itself and falls. The antidote is not suppression. It is tasting something higher than what the senses offer. That taste steadies you. The state Krishna describes is not a reward waiting at the end of practice. It is available right now, the moment you stop chasing and sit still inside what you already are.

All of Chapter 2