अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रितः।सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं ततः कुरु यतात्मवान् ॥
athaitadapyaśakto'si kartuṃ madyogamāśritaḥ|sarvakarmaphalatyāgaṃ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān ||
Unable even to act for My sake? Then take refuge in Me, abandon all fruits of action — with self-restraint.
Word by word (3)
- atha etad apy aśakto'si kartuṃ mad-yogam āśritaḥ
- — if you are unable to do even this, taking refuge in My yoga · atha = if however (conditional pivot — marks the fourth and final step down the staircase; the same 'atha' as V9's opening). etad api = even this (etad = this; api = even; 'even THIS' points back to V10's mad-artham karma — even performing actions for My sake). aśaktaḥ asi = you are unable (aśakta = a + śakta; incapable, not empowered). kartum = to do (infinitive). mad-yogam āśritaḥ = taking refuge in My yoga (mad = My; yoga = discipline, union; āśrita = having taken refuge in, having resorted to; past participle of ā + √śri = to lean on, resort to; mad-yogam āśritaḥ = 'having leaned on My yoga' = surrendering to Me as the base). The combination 'unable to do + taking refuge' is instructive: the inability itself becomes the act of surrender — one brings Krishna one's incapacity and rests it in Him.
- sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṃ tataḥ kuru
- — then do the abandonment of the fruits of all actions · sarva = all (total: not some actions but all). karma = action. phala = fruit, result (from √phal = to bear fruit; phala = that which the action 'bears'; the expected or hoped-for outcome). tyāga = abandonment, renunciation (from √tyaj = to abandon; tyāga = the act of releasing, letting go; not destroying the fruit but releasing one's claim to it). sarva-karma-phala-tyāga = the total letting-go of all action-fruits — this is the technical term for the culminating teaching of Karma Yoga first introduced in Ch.2.47 (mā phaleṣu kadācana). tataḥ = then (sequential: if you can't even do mad-artham karma with full mind-in-Me, THEN do this). kuru = do (imperative of √kṛ). The logic: if the mind can't be fully directed to Krishna (V8), if practice is unsteady (V9), if even dedicating action to Krishna is hard (V10), at the very least — release the fruit. The inner gesture of non-grasping is the minimum threshold that keeps karma from binding.
- yatātmavān
- — being self-controlled / one who has mastered/restrained the self · yata = restrained, controlled (past participle of √yam = to hold back, restrain; yata = having-been-controlled). ātmā = the self (here primarily the psychological self: the mind, senses, ego). vān = possessing, endowed with (suffix indicating possession of a quality; yatātmavān = one-who-has-controlled-self). The qualifier is important: sarva-karma-phala-tyāga is not passive resignation or emotional numbness — it requires yatātmā, the active inner restraint of the grasping impulse. One still acts, still invests, still performs — but the grip on outcome is loosened through disciplined inner practice. This is the minimum practice: not the summit of ananya-yoga (V8), not even regular abhyāsa (V9), but the basic inner posture of yatātmā + fruit-release.
V11 is the bottom step of the staircase — the widest gate, accessible to everyone. Even if you can't fix your mind in Krishna (V8), can't maintain regular practice (V9), can't even dedicate actions to Krishna (V10) — you can still take refuge in Krishna and release the fruit of whatever you do. This is sarva-karma-phala-tyāga: the inner gesture of non-grasping. It requires yatātmā (self-restraint) but not any external technique.
A modern analogy
Like a surgeon who says: 'I'll do my absolute best — and then let go of the outcome.' The surgery is performed with full attention and skill, but the attachment to 'I must save this patient for MY reputation/MY sense of success' is released. The karma continues but the inner grip loosens. That gesture of release is V11's teaching.
Sit with this: V11 gives phala-tyāga (fruit-release) as the most accessible path. In your experience, is releasing the fruit of action liberating or unsatisfying? Does non-attachment to outcomes reduce effort, or can it actually increase focus?
V11 closes the staircase of practice that began at V8. The four steps descend: V8 (full mind-in-Me), V9 (abhyāsa-yoga), V10 (mad-artham karma), V11 (fruit-renunciation). Each step accommodates a different level of capacity — none is dismissed; all lead to the same destination. The interesting paradox: V12 (the next verse) will reverse this order in an ascending hierarchy (abhyāsa < jñāna < dhyāna < tyāga). The two structures — the compassionate staircase (V8-V11) and the ascending hierarchy (V12) — are not contradictions but complementary views: the staircase accommodates WHERE YOU ARE; the hierarchy maps WHAT IS MORE TRANSFORMATIVE.
Advaita lens
For Śankara, sarva-karma-phala-tyāga is the gateway to karma-yoga's true inner meaning: when the fruit-desire (phala-kāma) is fully released, the karmic seed is not planted — the action occurs but leaves no binding impression (saṃskāra). Yatātmavān qualifies this: not the suppression of desire but the actual transformation of the inner agent through self-restraint. The 'refuge in My yoga' (mad-yogam āśritaḥ) points beyond technique to grace: even the ability to release is ultimately a gift from Brahman.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
[V11 missing from SH indexed] [1]
If thou art unable to do even this, then taking refuge in Me, abandon the fruit of all action, being self-controlled. [4]
But, if in this / Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure! find / Refuge in Me! let fruits of labour go, / Renouncing hope for Me, with lowliest heart [7]
If you are unable to do even this, then resort to devotion to me, and, with self-restraint, abandon all fruit of action. [9]
If even this thou art unable to do, then resorting to devotion in me, (and) subduing thy soul, abandon the fruit of all actions. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Your right is to act — never to the fruits. Don't act for results. Don't hide in inaction.
Abandon all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone — I will liberate you from all sins; do not grieve.
If even abhyāsa is beyond you — hold My work as supreme; performing actions for My sake, you will attain perfection!
No embodied being can abandon ALL action; the true tyāgī is the karma-phala-tyāgī — the fruit-abandoner.
One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.
Yajña, dāna, and tapas must NOT be abandoned — they must be performed; they are purifiers of the wise.