युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्। अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते॥५-१२॥
yuktaḥ tat-phalaṃ tyaktvā śāntim āpnoti naiṣṭhikīm | ayuktaḥ kāma-kāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate || 5.12 ||
The yogi abandons fruit and attains lasting peace. The non-yogi, bound to fruit by desire, is fettered.
Word by word (8)
- yuktaḥ
- — the yogi / the united one / the joined one
- tat-phalam tyaktvā
- — having abandoned the fruit of action
- śāntim āpnoti
- — attains peace
- naiṣṭhikīm
- — steadfast / final / established / unwavering
- ayuktaḥ
- — the non-yogi / the unjoined one
- kāma-kāreṇa
- — by the impulse of desire / by desire-impelled action
- phale saktaḥ
- — attached to fruit / clinging to results
- nibadhyate
- — is bound / is fettered
The yogi (yuktaḥ) abandons the fruit of action and attains naiṣṭhikī śānti — a firm, unwavering, final peace. The non-yogi (ayuktaḥ), driven by desire, clings to results — and is thereby bound. Two people, two inner stances, two opposite destinies.
A modern analogy
Two investors: one checks the portfolio every hour, is elated when it rises, devastated when it falls — the market owns his peace. Another invests carefully, does due diligence, then doesn't check for months — the market cannot touch his peace. Same activity, completely different inner relation to outcomes.
What it does NOT mean
Abandoning fruit does not mean not caring about quality or outcomes. It means not being psychologically enslaved to the result. You can have preferences about outcomes while not being bound by them.
Take with you
- Naiṣṭhikī śānti — steadfast peace — is the specific quality of peace the karma-yogi attains. Not excitement, not highs and lows — but an unshakable baseline.
- Kāma-kāreṇa (desire-impulsion) is the mechanism of bondage: desire is the engine that produces the attachment that produces the binding.
- The contrast yuktaḥ/ayuktaḥ is a practical self-test: after your last major effort, did you feel steadfast peace or anxious craving for the result?
V12 is the sharpest contrast-verse in Ch.5 — yuktaḥ versus ayuktaḥ, śānti versus bandha. The term naiṣṭhikīm śānti deserves attention: naiṣṭhika means 'final, settled, complete' — from niṣṭhā (firm standing). This is not the peace of temporary rest or escapism; it is the structural peace of a mind no longer oscillating between hope and fear about outcomes. The mechanism of bondage is specified with unusual precision: kāma-kāreṇa — 'by the impulse of desire.' Desire is not merely a feeling but a force (kāra = act, impulsion) that drives the person toward fruit-attachment. This desire-force is what the karma-yogi has learned to neutralize — not by suppression but by redirection through ātma-śuddhi.
Modern parallels
Self-determination theory in psychology distinguishes intrinsic motivation (acting for the inherent value of the activity) from extrinsic motivation (acting for reward/outcome). Research consistently finds intrinsic motivation produces more sustained, higher-quality performance and greater wellbeing. The Gita anticipated this — naiṣṭhikī śānti is the experiential marker of intrinsic engagement.
Practice
Sit with a pending outcome in your life — one you are anxious about. Breathe. Deliberately say: 'I have done my part. The result is released.' Notice whether peace or anxiety arises. The presence of peace is naiṣṭhikī; the inability to release is the kāma-kāra bond showing itself.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
"The harmonised one, abandoning the fruit of action, attains steadfast peace; the unharmonised one, attached to fruit through desire-prompted action, is bound." [1]
"The steady-minded, having abandoned the fruit of action, attains peace, derived from devotion; the unsteady one, led by desire, attached to the fruit, is bound." [4]
"The harmonised man, having abandoned the fruit of action, attaineth to the peace that is founded in steadfast devotion; the unharmonised, through desire, is attached to the fruit, and is bound." [5]
"The devotee, leaving the fruits of works to the Supreme, attains to lasting peace; but he who is not devoted, coveting fruit through desire, is bound." [6]
"But he who, not yoked, acts from desire, and seeks the fruit of work, is bound thereby." [7]
"One in devotion, abandoning the fruit of action, attains to the highest peace; one not in devotion, attached to fruit, being led by desire, is bound." [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.
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.
Three-fold karma-fruit (evil/good/mixed) accrues after death to non-tyāgīs — never at all to genuine renouncers.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Practising thus always, with a controlled mind — the yogi reaches the supreme peace of nirvāṇa, abiding in the Supreme.