Bhagavad Gita BG 6.1
Chapter 6, Verse 1 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
श्रीभगवानुवाच । अनाश्रितः कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः । स सन्न्यासी च योगी च न निरग्निर्न चाक्रियः ॥
shri bhagavan uvaca anashritah karma-phalam karyam karma karoti yah sa sannyasi ca yogi ca na niragnir na cakriyah
Meaning
The Blessed Lord said: One who performs obligatory action without depending on the fruits of action — that one is both a sannyasi and a yogi. Not the one who has abandoned fire, nor the one who has abandoned action.
Understanding
Krishna overturns the popular notion that a sannyasi is one who abandons external ritual (niragnir — without sacred fire) or stops acting (akriyah). The real sannyasi and the real yogi are identical: anashritah karma-phalam — the one who does not depend on (take shelter in) the fruit of action while performing obligatory duty (karyam karma). The renunciation is internal — of the fruit, not of the action itself.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| अनाश्रितः | anashritah | without depending on, not taking shelter in |
| कार्यम् | karyam | obligatory, that which ought to be done |
| निरग्निः | niragnir | one without the sacred fire (external renunciant) |
| अक्रियः | akriyah | one without action, inactive |
| सन्न्यासी | sannyasi | renunciant, one who has renounced |
| श्रीभगवान् उवाच | śrī bhagavān uvāca | The Blessed Lord said (speaker attribution) |
| कर्मफलम् | karma-phalam | the fruit of action / the result of work |
| कर्म | karma | action / duty (prescribed work) |
| करोति | karoti | performs / does |
| यः | yaḥ | he who / one who |
| सः | saḥ | he (that person is a sannyasi and a yogi) |
| च | ca | and (both sannyasi and yogi) |
| योगी | yogī | a yogi / one united with the divine |
| न | na | not (not the one who merely renounces fire) |