बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते । तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् ॥
buddhi-yukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛta-duṣkṛte | tasmād yogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam ||
The wisdom-yoked person rises above good and bad karma alike. Yoga is supreme skill in action.
Word by word (4)
- buddhi-yuktaḥ
- — one united with / yoked to wisdom · Yukta from yuj (to yoke, to unite — the same root as 'yoga'). Buddhi-yukta is one whose intelligence operates free from ego-distortion — the awakened discriminating faculty that sees action clearly, without the filter of personal desire.
- jahāti ubhe sukṛta-duṣkṛte
- — abandons both good deeds and bad deeds · Jahāti (abandons, releases) — both good karma (sukṛta) and bad karma (duṣkṛte) are transcended. This is a radical statement: even meritorious action that accumulates spiritual credit is a subtle form of bondage. The buddhi-yukta transcends the entire karma ledger.
- yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam
- — yoga is skill in action · Kauśala from kuśala (skilled, expert, auspicious). This is the Gita's second definition of yoga (V48 gave 'samatvam yoga ucyate'). Together they form a complete portrait: yoga is equanimity (inner state) AND skill (outer expression). Not dull passivity — luminous, competent, precise action.
- tasmād yogāya yujyasva
- — therefore, unite yourself to yoga · The imperative yujyasva (unite yourself!) is active and urgent. Yoga is not something done to you — it is self-application. Tasmāt (therefore) links this directly to the earlier argument: since buddhi-yoga transcends karma's merit-demerit ledger, unite yourself to it.
The person who acts from wisdom transcends both good and bad deeds — the entire system of merit and demerit. So unite yourself to yoga. And here is the definition: yoga is skill in action.
A modern analogy
An elite musician doesn't think 'this note is good, that one bad' while performing. They are in a state of complete absorption — the music flows through them with perfect skill. The audience may judge; they do not. That quality of absorbed, skilled, non-judging action is kauśalam — and the inner state that makes it possible is yoga.
Take with you
- Yoga is not about postures or retreat — it is about the quality of skill and presence you bring to any action.
- Transcending good and bad karma doesn't mean ethics don't matter — it means acting from wisdom rather than for karmic credit.
- The highest skill in any field comes from ego-quiet, absorbed, present action — that is yoga in daily life.
- You can practice yoga-as-skill anywhere: in how carefully you listen, how precisely you write, how fully you show up.
V50's final half-line — yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam — is one of the most celebrated definitions in the entire Gita, quoted across millennia by teachers from Shankaracharya to Vivekananda to Gandhi. Kauśala is rich: it means skill, expertise, and also 'that which belongs to the auspicious (kuśala).' Shankaracharya glosses it as performing action with perfect inner awareness — not the mechanical execution of a craftsman, but the luminous precision of one acting from the Self. The first half of the verse is equally radical: buddhi-yukta transcends BOTH sukṛta (meritorious deeds) and duṣkṛte (sinful deeds). This is not moral relativism — it is the transcendence of the karmic accounting system itself. Tilak (Gita Rahasya) explains: the karma that binds is ego-karma — action done by 'I' for 'my' result. When the ego-sense of doership dissolves in buddhi-yoga, action still happens but the karmic residue does not accrue. The 'both good and bad' transcendence points to moksha — liberation is not the accumulation of merit but the dissolution of the merit-demerit framework entirely.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya sees the 'abandonment of both sukṛta and duṣkṛte' as pointing directly to jivanmukti (liberation while living). The realized one (jñāni) acts in the world but the actions create no new karma because the sense of 'I am the doer' has dissolved. Actions arise from Prakriti (nature); the Atman merely witnesses. Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam is then the description of liberated action — perfect, spontaneous, skill without ego-interference.
Bhakti lens
For the bhakta, yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam (yoga is skill in action) means: devotion to the Divine is itself the skill. The buddhi-yukta (wisdom-yoked) person of V50 is one whose buddhi (intelligence) is anchored in the Divine rather than in outcomes. Bhakti provides this anchor — constant orientation toward the Beloved creates the buddhi-yoga that V50 describes. The bhakta acts skillfully not from technical mastery alone but from the clarity that comes when the heart is fully given to the Divine. This is why the Gita's 'skill' (kauśala) is not technique but spiritual alignment — and why V50's promise (rises above good and bad karma alike) is available to the devoted heart, not only the philosophically trained mind.
Karma-Yoga lens
This is the verse Tilak and Vivekananda cited most frequently when arguing that the Gita teaches engaged action, not withdrawal. Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam becomes the charter of karma-yoga: bring your full skill, your complete presence, your highest intelligence — to whatever work is before you. That IS the spiritual practice. Vivekananda extended this to argue that a cobbler who cobbles with full awareness is practicing yoga more truly than a meditator who sits in a cave accumulating spiritual merit.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
One endowed with wisdom abandons here both good and evil karma. Therefore apply yourself to yoga; yoga is skill in action. [1]
The wisdom-yoked man casts off here both good and evil deeds; therefore devote thyself to yoga; yoga is skill in action. [4]
The wise man, guided by pure discernment, abandons both good and evil works. Therefore give thyself up to yoga; in action, yoga is the highest skill. [6]
The righteous man casts equally aside Good deeds and bad, being fixed in Yog; Therefore to Yog address thyself! Yog is The very craft and mystery of deeds! [7]
One possessed of understanding casts off in this world both good and evil deeds. Therefore devote yourself to yoga; yoga is dexterity in the performance of actions. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Do the work rooted in yoga, unattached. Equanimity in success and failure — that IS yoga.
Therefore: do your required action without attachment — this is the path that leads to the Supreme.
Attachment to fruits abandoned, ever content, no dependence — fully active yet truly doing nothing at all.
One's own dharma even imperfectly done is better than another's well done; svabhāva-ordained karma incurs no sin.
However you approach Me — I respond in that same way. All human paths ultimately follow My path.
Seeing inaction in action, action in inaction — that one is wise, a yogi, a complete doer of all actions.