अनिष्टम् इष्टं मिश्रं च त्रिविधं कर्मणः फलं । भवत्य् अत्यागिनां प्रेत्य न तु सन्न्यासिनाम् क्वचित् ॥
aniṣṭam iṣṭaṃ miśraṃ ca tri-vidhaṃ karmaṇaḥ phalaṃ | bhavaty atyāgināṃ pretya na tu sannyāsinām kvacit ||
Three-fold karma-fruit (evil/good/mixed) accrues after death to non-tyāgīs — never at all to genuine renouncers.
Word by word (3)
- aniṣṭam iṣṭaṃ miśraṃ ca tri-vidhaṃ karmaṇaḥ phalam
- — the three-fold (tri-vidham) fruit (phalam) of action (karmaṇaḥ): undesirable/evil (aniṣṭam), desirable/good (iṣṭam), and mixed (miśram) — the three categories of karmic result; all action of the non-tyāgī falls into one of these three
- bhavaty atyāgināṃ pretya
- — this accrues (bhavati) for non-abandoners (atyāginām = a + tyāgin = those who have not practiced tyāga) after death (pretya = after having passed on, in the next life)
- na tu sannyāsinām kvacit
- — but not (na tu) ever (kvacit = anywhere, at any point) for the sannyāsins/renouncers (sannyāsinām) — the one who has practiced genuine tyāga carries no karmic residue; the triple karmic fruit has no foothold
The three-fold fruit of action — evil, good, and mixed — accrues after death to those who have not practiced tyāga. But it never accrues to true renouncers.
A modern analogy
V12 describes the ultimate benefit of genuine tyāga: no karma-fruit accumulation at all. The non-tyāgī acting through life is like someone putting food into three boxes (good karma, bad karma, mixed karma) — after death, they must consume whatever is in those boxes. The sannyāsin/tyāgī acts without adding anything to any box — they act, the action is complete, and nothing accumulates.
V12 gives the metaphysical outcome of V11's fruit-tyāga: no karmic accumulation after death (pretya). This is the practical liberation-teaching embedded in the tyāga analysis: genuine karma-phala-tyāga (V11) produces complete karmic freedom (V12 na tu sannyāsinām kvacit). This connects the entire Ch.18 analysis back to its opening question: sannyāsa/tyāga are for mokṣa; and the mechanism is karma-phala-tyāga. V13-17 will then move from karma-outcome to karma-causation: the five Sāṃkhya causes of all action.
Pretya (after having passed on) refers to the post-death karmic processing — the fruits of actions experienced in the next life cycle. The tyāgī's freedom from aniṣṭa-iṣṭa-miśra phala means they do not create the karma-seeds that generate future births. This is the mechanism of mokṣa: not the cessation of action itself (impossible for deha-bhṛtā per V11) but the cessation of karma-fruit attachment, which terminates the karma → rebirth cycle.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
The threefold fruit of action — evil, good, and mixed — accrues after death to non-abandoners, but never to abandoners. [1]
MISSING from index. [4]
The threefold fruit of action, agreeable, disagreeable, and mixed, accrues after death to those who are not possessed of abandonment, but never to renouncers. [9]
Evil, good and mixed action has this three-fold fruit hereafter for those that do not abandon. But there is none whatever for the renouncer. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Uttering 'Tat,' without fruit-desire, mokṣa-seekers perform yajña, tapas, and various acts of dāna.
Some say all karma is faulty and should be abandoned; others say yajña-dāna-tapas must not be abandoned.
Even yajña-dāna-tapas must be performed having abandoned attachment and fruits — my settled, highest opinion.
Rājasic tyāga: abandoning action as painful/from fear of body-trouble — obtains no fruit of tyāga.
No embodied being can abandon ALL action; the true tyāgī is the karma-phala-tyāgī — the fruit-abandoner.