कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते
Karmaṇy Evādhikāras Te
Perform your work without claiming its results as your entitlement.
Bhagavad Gītā · chapter 2, verse 47
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Chant lesson: metre, syllables & practiceText & meaning
About this text
Krishna speaks to Arjuna about action and its results. The verse does not tell one to avoid action: its final words explicitly warn against attachment to inaction.
Study notes
A sandhi to notice
कर्मण्येव (karmaṇy eva) joins कर्मणि (‘in action’) and एव (‘alone’). Word boundaries in Sanskrit verse are often hidden by sound changes.
Not an excuse for inaction
मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि means ‘let there be no attachment in you to inaction.’ The verse balances detachment from results with a call to act.
Words to know
- कर्मणि
- in action / work
- फलेषु
- in the fruits / results
- अकर्मणि
- in inaction
Practise with a real chant
The device voice only reads the words. Vāgbodhinī (IISc) plays a metre-aware reference chant and scores your chanting syllable by syllable. Copy the verse above and paste it there.
Open VāgbodhinīGītā Supersite · 2.47 · Textual variants may exist.