निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः । शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
nirāśīr yata-cittātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ | śārīraṃ kevalaṃ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam ||
No longing, controlled mind, no possessions — acting only through the body, one incurs no sin at all.
Word by word (3)
- nirāśīḥ yata-citta-ātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ
- — without longing, with controlled mind-and-self, having abandoned all possessions · Nirāśī = without hope/desire for results (nir + āśā = free from hope). Yata = controlled, restrained. Citta-ātmā = the mind-and-self compound (both the thinking instrument and the ego-sense). Tyakta = having abandoned (from tyaj). Sarva-parigraha = all acquisition/possession (parigraha = accepting, taking in, accumulation — the opposite of aparigraha). Three inner qualities of the liberated actor: no longing, controlled inner life, no hoarding.
- śārīraṃ kevalaṃ karma kurvan na āpnoti kilbiṣam
- — performing only bodily action — does not incur sin/pollution · Śārīram = pertaining to the body (śarīra = body). Kevalam = merely, only. Karma = action. Kurvan = performing (present participle). Na āpnoti = does not obtain, does not incur. Kilbiṣam = sin, fault, pollution, moral stain (from kilbiṣa = guilt). The remarkable claim: action reduced to 'merely bodily' — stripped of desire, ego, and accumulation — does not generate karmic residue. The body acts; the Self is unstained.
- nirāśīḥ — tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ — śārīram karma
- — the sequence: no longing → no hoarding → only bodily action → no sin · The logical chain of V21: the inner condition (nirāśī, yata-cittātmā) produces the outer condition (tyakta-sarva-parigraha), which makes action (śārīram karma) automatically pure. You cannot perform pure action by forcing the body to be disciplined while the mind desires — you must start from nirāśī inward.
Without longing, with a controlled mind and self, having abandoned all possessions — performing action with the body alone, one does not incur any sin.
A modern analogy
A surgeon: hands performing a complex procedure, mind completely focused — no thought of payment, reputation, or tomorrow. The act is purely physical-technical in the moment. V21: when action is genuinely stripped to the pure doing (śārīram kevalam karma), nothing stains. The hands act; the Self watches, unstained.
Take with you
- Nirāśī — the literal meaning: without hope. Not hopelessness but freedom from result-expectation.
- Tyakta-sarva-parigraha: accumulation (material or reputational) is part of desire. Let it go.
- Śārīram kevalam karma: can you reduce your next action to simply 'what the body does' — without mental layering?
- V21 follows V20 directly: it describes the inner portrait of the nitya-tṛpta (ever-content) actor.
V21 gives the outer portrait of the liberated actor — the three conditions that make action kilbiṣa-free (unstained): 1) Nirāśī (without hope for results) — the total relinquishment of future-orientation. 2) Yata-cittātmā (controlled mind-self) — the inner instrument is disciplined, not reactive. 3) Tyakta-sarva-parigraha (abandoned all accumulation) — no hoarding of material or psychic resources. Shankaracharya: śārīraṃ kevalaṃ karma means the action is exactly what the body is doing — without mental addition of 'I did this' or 'this will produce that.' The reduction of action to its pure physical dimension strips away the layers that generate karma. V21 continues the V14-V20 cluster: each verse illuminates the same liberated actor from a different angle.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Having given up attachment and without hope, with mind and self controlled, having renounced all possessions, performing action by the body alone, he incurs no sin. [1]
Without hope, with the mind and self controlled, having abandoned all possessions, performing action merely with the body, he incurs no sin. [4]
Free from all desires, with mind and self subdued, having abandoned all possessions, and performing works only with the body, he contracts no sin. [6]
Who hat no wish, whose mind is fixed and free, Performing only with the body's strength, Sins not, nor is he tainted by his deeds. [7]
Free from expectations, with mind controlled, having abandoned all possessions, doing action with the body only, he incurs no sin. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Attachment to fruits abandoned, ever content, no dependence — fully active yet truly doing nothing at all.
Who acts in duty without depending on fruit — that one is the true sannyāsī and yogī, not the fireless or the inactive.
Abandon all desires born of mental planning — without remainder — and restrain the senses completely, by the mind alone.
Therefore remember Me at all times and fight — mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will come to Me without doubt.
Destroyed is my delusion, memory restored by Your grace — I stand firm, free of doubt, and will do Your word.
Move through the world with senses free from attraction and aversion — that clarity is the natural reward.