The verse

Bhagavad Gita 18.45BG 18.45 · Chapter 18, Verse 45

Moksha Sanyasa Yoga

A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter

“Fulfillment comes from living your own work, not someone else’s.”

Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, human-reviewed. Reviewed June 2026. Methodology →

The verse

स्वे स्वे कर्मण्यभिरतः संसिद्धिं लभते नरः ।
स्वकर्मनिरतः सिद्धिं यथा विन्दति तच्छृणु ॥

A person devoted to their own work attains perfection. Listen as I explain how a person devoted to their own work reaches that perfection.

— Krishna

Bhagavad Gita · 18.45

Hindi · हिन्दी

अपनेअपने कर्ममें तत्परतापूर्वक लगा हुआ मनुष्य सम्यक् सिद्धिपरमात्माको प्राप्त कर लेता है । अपने कर्ममें लगा हुआ मनुष्य जिस प्रकार सिद्धिको प्राप्त होता है उस प्रकारको तू मेरेसे सुन ॥

Themes:Dharma

Word by word

The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.

स्वे स्वेin each one's ownकर्मणिin workअभिरतःdelighting in, devotedसंसिद्धिम्perfection, fulfillmentलभतेattainsस्वकर्मनिरतःfixed in one's own workसिद्धिम्perfectionयथाhowविन्दतिattainsतत्thatशृणुhear

Read literallyin each one's own · in work · delighting in, devoted · perfection, fulfillment · attains · fixed in one's own work · perfection · how · attains · that · hear

Understanding the verse

Krishna promises perfection to the person devoted to their own work, and offers to explain how it comes.

Built ondharma14 karma11

In plain words

What this verse means

A person reaches fulfillment by staying devoted to their own duty, rather than chasing someone else’s role.

On the battlefield

Context & commentary

With Arjuna frozen and the war waiting, Krishna turns from social order to inner duty. He says that a person matures by staying devoted to their own work, and this becomes one step in his larger teaching on action.

In your life

What it looks like today

During a cousin's wedding, a man hears about his brother's promotion and his friend's new house and feels small. Krishna points him back to his own work: that is where his growth and fulfilment come from.

The takeaway

“Staying devoted to your own work is how you grow; you need not borrow another's life.”

Carry it with you