Attachment in the Bhagavad Gita

Verses across the Gita that speak to attachment, drawn from all chapters and ordered by where they appear.

• 2.8No outer victory can cure an inner collapse.
• 2.44Craving scatters the mind before wisdom can settle.
• 2.47Action belongs to you; the result does not.
• 2.48Equanimity turns action into yoga.
• 2.56Steadiness remains when pleasure and pain lose their grip.
• 3.9Work becomes bondage when it is done for yourself.
• 3.19Freedom comes when action is done without grasping at its reward.
• 4.22Equal-minded action leaves no hook for bondage.
• 4.23Action loses its grip when it becomes offering, not possession.
• 5.10Action without attachment leaves no stain.
• 5.11Action becomes cleansing when attachment is removed.
• 5.12Peace comes when action is no longer chained to reward.
• 12.17Devotion becomes steady when liking and disliking no longer rule the heart.
• 12.18Real devotion stays even when life feels hostile or kind.
• 13.22Attachment to changing qualities keeps the cycle of birth going.
• 16.16Desire scatters the mind, and confusion turns that scattering into a fall.
• 18.9Renunciation means doing what must be done without gripping the result.
• 18.23The purest action asks for nothing back.
• 18.27Craving turns action into a chase for reward and emotional swing.
• 18.34Steadiness becomes restless when it is tied to reward.