तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर । असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ॥
tasmād asaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara | asakto hy ācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ ||
Therefore: do your required action without attachment — this is the path that leads to the Supreme.
Word by word (3)
- tasmāt asaktaḥ satatam
- — therefore, without attachment, always · Tasmāt = therefore (connecting to V17-18's analysis). Asaktaḥ = without attachment (a-sakta, sakta = attached). Satatam = always, continuously. The prescription: the constant practice of detachment in action — not occasionally but as a continuous inner orientation.
- kāryaṃ karma samācara
- — perform the prescribed/necessary action · Kārya = what must be done, the required action (karma + karya prefix). Karma = action. Samācara = perform fully and correctly. The full phrase: perform the necessary action completely — the samā (complete, proper) is important. Not partial action, not abandoned action, but full proper action with detachment.
- param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ
- — the person attains the Supreme · Param = the Supreme, the highest (Brahman, liberation, the ultimate). Āpnoti = attains, achieves. Pūruṣa = person (the cosmic person; also used for the genuine spiritual seeker). The promise: through detached action — not through renouncing action — one attains the Supreme.
Therefore, always perform your required actions without attachment. By performing action without attachment, a person attains the Supreme.
A modern analogy
A surgeon performs a complex operation. The worst thing they can do is become emotionally attached to the outcome mid-surgery — gripped by anxiety, catastrophizing. The best surgeons are 'in the zone': fully present to the action, technically perfect, emotionally stable. That operational detachment produces the best outcomes. V19's promise: that same orientation in all actions produces param — the Supreme.
Take with you
- Tasmāt — therefore — this follows directly from V17-18. The prescription is grounded in the analysis.
- Satatam (always) — not just in important decisions but as a constant inner practice.
- The Supreme is attained through action-with-detachment, not through abandoning action.
- This is the practical karma-yoga formula: do your duty + release attachment to outcome = liberation.
V19 is the practical pivot of the Chapter 3 argument. After the exceptions of V17-18 (the fully realized have no binding duty), V19 returns to the prescription: tasmāt — precisely because of that analysis — do your duty without attachment. The logic: since attachment is what binds action to the ego and creates karma, action without attachment (asakti) does not create binding karma. And beyond that — param āpnoti: such action leads to the Supreme itself. Shankaracharya comments that this is the karma-yoga path to liberation: not the path of the jñāni who has already transcended action, but the path of the sādhaka (seeker) who purifies through action until the same liberation is attained.
Advaita lens
The promise 'param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ' (the person attains the Supreme = Brahman) is Advaita's confirmation that karma-yoga is a direct path to Brahman-realization—not through renunciation of action but through purification of the actor. Śaṅkarācārya's commentary: asakta-karma (action without attachment) purifies the antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument) which then becomes transparent to Brahman-knowledge. The moment attachment drops, only Brahman acts through the body—asakta action is Brahman-action recognized.
Bhakti lens
In bhakti, 'asaktaḥ' action is action done as an offering to the Lord—each required duty becomes nivedana (consecrated offering). The bhakta performs all prescribed duty as service to Krishna, and attaining the Supreme ('param āpnoti') means reaching the Lord through this path of dedicated attachment-free service. Action becomes worship; the distinction between serving the world and worshipping God dissolves into one continuous flow of bhakti.
Karma-Yoga lens
V19 is the core operational definition of karma yoga: 'asaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara' — always, constantly, without attachment, do required action. The three qualifiers — asaktaḥ (not attached), satataṃ (constantly), kāryam (required/prescribed) — together define the karma-yoga practice precisely. The direct promise 'param āpnoti' (attains the Supreme) confirms that this is not a consolation path but the royal road: full engagement with the world's demands, freed from personal agenda.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Therefore, always perform, without attachment, the action that ought to be done; for by performing action without attachment man verily attains the Supreme. [1]
Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform the duty that should be done; for by performing action without attachment, man reaches the Supreme. [4]
Therefore perform all actions, which are duties, without attachment, for by performing works without attachment man achieves the Highest. [6]
Wherefore, go forwards! do thine allotted task! Work is more excellent than idleness; The body's life proceeds not, lacking work. There is a task of holiness to do. [7]
Therefore perform actions without attachment; for performing actions without attachment, a man attains the highest. [9]
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.
Janaka attained perfection through action — not despite it. Act for the welfare of the world (lokasaṃgraha).
Actions don't taint Me — I have no longing for their fruits. Whoever knows Me thus is not bound by their actions.
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.
Who acts in duty without depending on fruit — that one is the true sannyāsī and yogī, not the fireless or the inactive.