Nishkama Karma in the Bhagavad Gita
Nishkama karma is action done without desire for its fruit; 2.47 states it: your right is to the work, never to its results.
Verses across the Gita that speak to nishkama karma, drawn from all chapters and ordered by where they appear.
- 2.51Ch. 2
Freedom comes when action is done without clutching its reward.
You can do the work and stop clutching the reward. That loosening brings real relief.
- 3.18Ch. 3
Freedom ends the need to profit from action.
You can act well without needing life to pay you back.
- 3.19Ch. 3
Freedom comes when action is done without grasping at its reward.
Keep doing what must be done, and stop clinging to how it turns out.
- 3.20Ch. 3
Perfection comes through action that serves more than the self.
It can feel steadying to know that full engagement, not escape, is the mature path.
- 3.30Ch. 3
Action becomes free when you stop claiming its results.
Offer the work, drop the 'mine', and the fever of worry eases.
- 4.20Ch. 4
Action loses its grip when nothing in you waits to possess its fruit.
You can give yourself completely without being owned by the outcome.
- 4.23Ch. 4
Action loses its grip when it becomes offering, not possession.
Work offered freely, without clinging, leaves no chain behind.
- 5.10Ch. 5
Action without attachment leaves no stain.
Act without clinging and offer the work, and wrongdoing will not stick to you.
- 6.1Ch. 6
Renunciation means acting without needing to own the result.
Do what must be done and stop leaning on the result.
- 8.7Ch. 8
Action and remembrance can happen together without conflict.
You do not have to choose between devotion and action. Both can live in the same moment.
- 18.6Ch. 18
Right action is complete only when desire for reward is dropped.
You can give your full effort without carrying the burden of control.
- 18.23Ch. 18
The purest action asks for nothing back.
You can act fully without being pulled by wanting. That makes the work clean and steady.