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Chapter 18 · Verse 9
🪈 Krishna speaks
Illustration for Chapter 18, Verse 9

कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन। सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलं चैव स त्यागः सात्त्विको मतः॥

kāryam ity eva yat karma niyataṁ kriyate'rjuna | saṅgaṁ tyaktvā phalaṁ caiva sa tyāgaḥ sāttviko mataḥ ||

Word by Word 16 words
कार्यम्
kṛ to do) — kārya (what ought to be done, duty

what ought to be done, a duty

इति
iti thus, so saying

thinking 'this is...'

एव
eva just, only

only, simply

यत्
yad which

which, whatever

कर्म
kṛ to do, to act

action, work, duty

नियतम्
ni down, fixed yam to hold, to restrain) — niyata (prescribed, settled

prescribed, the duty laid down for one

क्रियते
kṛ to do, to perform

is done, is performed

अर्जुन
arjuna the bright one, Arjuna

O Arjuna

सङ्गम्
sañj to cling, to stick) — saṅga (clinging, attachment

attachment, clinging

त्यक्त्वा
tyaj to give up, to let go

having let go of

फलम्
phal to bear fruit) — phala (fruit, reward

the fruit, the reward

च
ca and

and

सः
tad he, that

that

त्यागः
tyaj to give up) — tyāga (letting go, relinquishment

letting-go, true relinquishment

सात्त्विकः
sattva the clear, pure quality

sattvic, of the clear and pure kind

मतः
man to think, to hold) — mata (held, considered

is considered, is held to be

Now shows the best kind of letting-go. When you do your duty simply because it ought to be done, not for a prize, not for praise, and you let go of clinging to it and of grabbing at the reward, that is the clear, sattvic way. You still do the work fully and well. You just don't tie your heart to what you'll get out of it. Do the whole task, then open your hands and let the result go.

कथा

Dadu Mends the Nets

An original story

Every evening, after the boats came in, Dadu sat on the sand outside his house and mended the fishing nets. His fingers, brown and crooked as old roots, moved fast over the torn threads — knot, pull, knot, pull — even though he had stopped going out to sea years ago.

Aarav flopped down beside him one evening, watching. "Dadu, why do you still mend these? You don't even fish anymore. You won't get any of the catch."

"True," said Dadu, not looking up. Knot, pull. "I won't."

"Then why work so hard? Sundar Chacha will take these nets out tomorrow, and all the fish will be his."

Dadu smiled and held a torn corner up to the orange light. "Aarav, when I mend a net, I mend it as well as I can. Every knot tight. No gaps for the fish to slip through. Do you know why?"

"Because... you'll get a share?"

"No share. I do it because it is the work in front of me, and it ought to be done well. That is the whole reason. A torn net should be mended. So I mend it." Knot, pull. "When I finish, I hand it to Sundar and I let it go. I don't sit awake wondering if his catch will be big or small. That is his sea, his morning, his luck. Not mine."

Aarav frowned. "But doesn't it feel strange to work and want nothing back?"

"It feels light," said Dadu. "Watch." He tied the last knot, ran his thumb along the mended row to check it, and laid the net down folded and neat. Then he opened both his empty hands toward the sea and laughed softly. "Done. The work was mine. The fish are the sea's. My hands are empty and my heart is easy. That, my boy, is the cleanest kind of doing there is."

The next morning, Sundar Chacha's boat came back heavy and silver with fish. Aarav ran to tell Dadu. But Dadu only nodded, pleased for Sundar, and reached for the next torn net.

"See?" he said. "His catch was big. My peace last night was the same size it always is — because it never depended on the fish at all. Do the work fully, Aarav. Then let the rest go. The work is yours to give. The fruit was never yours to keep."

Aarav picked up a frayed net, found a tear, and slowly, carefully, tied his first clumsy knot. Knot, pull. He didn't think about fish at all.

चिन्तनम्

Can you do one job today — homework, a chore, helping someone — fully and well, just because it ought to be done, without waiting for a reward or even a thank-you?