Bhagavad Gita · Karma YogaChapter 3, Shloka 19 (3.19)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर
असक्तो ह्याचरन् कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः
॥ 3.19 ॥
tasmādasaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara
asakto hyācaran karma paramāpnoti pūruṣaḥ
Translation
"Therefore, free from attachment, always perform well the action that is your duty; for by acting without attachment a person attains the supreme (goal)."
Interpretation
"Asaktaḥ" twice. The verse says it twice — asaktaḥ. The emphasis is not on action but on action free from attachment.
"Kāryam karma". That which ought to be done — the duty of one's role; not action done at whim.
"Param" — what is it?
- Shankaracharya: paraṃ mokṣam … sattva-śuddhi-dvāreṇa — liberation, by way of purification of the inner being (that is, action → purification → knowledge → liberation). And the action is īśvarārtham — for Ishvara.
- Acharya Ramanuja: karma-yogena eva paraṃ āpnoti ātmānaṃ prāpnoti — through karma-yoga itself one attains the supreme, that is, the self. Together with vakṣyamāṇa-akartṛtvānusandhāna — the contemplation, to be explained later, that "I am not the (real) doer" (3.27–3.30). And yāvad-ātma-prāpti — until the self is attained.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.