Devanagari
तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर ।
असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरूषः ॥ १९ ॥
Verse text
tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ
kāryaṁ karma samācara
asakto hy ācaran karma
param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ
Synonyms
tasmāt
—
therefore
;
asaktaḥ
—
without attachment
;
satatam
—
constantly
;
kāryam
—
as duty
;
karma
—
work
;
samācara
—
perform
;
asaktaḥ
—
unattached
;
hi
—
certainly
;
ācaran
—
performing
;
karma
—
work
;
param
—
the Supreme
;
āpnoti
—
achieves
;
pūruṣaḥ
—
a man.
Translation
Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
19. Therefore always perform prescribed actions without attachment. Performing action without attachment, a person attains liberation.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
19. Therefore always perform prescribed actions as a duty, performing them without attachment to results. Performing action without attachment, a person sees the ātmā as it is.
Purport
The Supreme is the Personality of Godhead for the devotees, and liberation for the impersonalist. A person, therefore, acting for Kṛṣṇa, or in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, under proper guidance and without attachment to the result of the work, is certainly making progress toward the supreme goal of life. Arjuna is told that he should fight in the Battle of Kurukṣetra for the interest of Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa wanted him to fight. To be a good man or a nonviolent man is a personal attachment, but to act on behalf of the Supreme is to act without attachment for the result. That is perfect action of the highest degree, recommended by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Vedic rituals, like prescribed sacrifices, are performed for purification of impious activities that were performed in the field of sense gratification. But action in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is transcendental to the reactions of good or evil work. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has no attachment for the result but acts on behalf of Kṛṣṇa alone. He engages in all kinds of activities, but is completely nonattached.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Therefore (tasmād) since you do not have qualification for rising to the platform of jṣāna, and performing actions with desires is not suitable for you since you have spiritual intelligence, you should perform action without desire. That is explained in this verse. Therefore you should perform obligatory prescribed actions without attachment. By doing this you will attain liberation (param).
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Since performing prescribed actions is useless for the person who has attained a vision of ātmā, therefore (tasmād) do these prescribed actions only as duty (kāryam). He who performs those actions without desire for results (asaktaḥ) sees that which is different from the body (param), the ātmā, as it truly exists.
Surrender Unto Me
So this working is without attachment, therefore his renunciation is not a work, but his renunciation caused by his knowledge, is his attachment.
Here is the statement of the basic purpose of this Section, saying that one shouls work without attachment and that will elevate one. And then an example follows the statement: