Saturday, February 1, 2020

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 2 verse 47


Chapter 2 verse 47

“Thy right is to work only, but never to its fruits; let the fruit of action be not your motive, nor let thy attachment be to inaction”

This is the most famous Sloka of the entire Bhagavat Gita in recent times. I have never approached this Sloka after having read the 1st 46 Slokas and entire 1st chapter. Having done that now, the sloka makes complete in itself as a great crescendo of all the teachings thus far from Krishna. The wrong interpretation of the Vedas would lead one to believe that one needs to seek pleasures and lordship in this world. Krishna is imploring one’s right only to stress less action focused on job at hand without expecting “a particular” result. All actions will have result. The clinging to a particular result or expectation is the cause of all grief. Corollary of this Sloka is that he is also asking one not to attachment oneself to “inaction”. Sometimes I have wondered if walking away from challenges is the best option and now Krishna is clearly asking us NOT to walk away from action. One can walk away from desires but not focused action without expecting a particular result. If there was ever one Sloka to imbibe all our lives, this one would be it. However I have realized that every word of Krishna is important to listen and follow!

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