Bhagavad Gita BG 18.12

Chapter 18, Verse 12 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation

अनिष्टमिष्टं मिश्रं च त्रिविधं कर्मणः फलम् । भवत्यत्यागिनां प्रेत्य न तु संन्यासिनां क्वचित् ॥

anistam istam mishram ca tri-vidham karmanah phalam bhavaty atyaginam pretya na tu sannyasinam kvacit

Meaning

The threefold fruit of action — undesirable (anishta), desirable (ishta), and mixed (mishram) — accrues after death (pretya) to the non-renouncer (atyagina). But not at all (kvacit) to the sannyasi (renouncer).

Understanding

The consequence of non-relinquishment. Karma's fruit is tri-vidham (threefold): anishta (undesirable, the unwanted consequences of action), ishta (desirable, the wanted rewards), and mishram (mixed — most of life's outcomes). These accrue: pretya (after death — in the next life, carried forward). To: atyaginam (the non-renouncer — the one who has NOT relinquished the fruit of their actions). The non-renouncer's actions create impressions that must work themselves out — either as pleasant results (ishta), unpleasant results (anishta), or the complex mixture of both (mishram). Na tu sannyasinam kvacit (but not at all for the renouncer): the karma-phala-tyagi who has genuinely released all fruit-claim generates no new binding impressions. Their actions leave no remainder. This is the practical spiritual consequence of tyaga — freedom from the accumulation of karmic fruit.

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