The Bhagavad Gita’s Chapter 2 , Sankhya Yoga , is the philosophical heart of the entire text. Verse 2.47 is one of its essential teachings. Below you will find the original Sanskrit, transliteration, translation, and a deep exploration of how this verse applies to the challenges and choices you face today.
BHAGAVAD GITA 2.47
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन…
karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana…
You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never be attached to not doing your duty.
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The Most Misunderstood Teaching
Karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana , you have a right to action, not to the fruits of action.
This is the most quoted verse in the Gita, and possibly the most misread. It is not an instruction to be passive, to not care about outcomes, or to do your job with glazed indifference.
It is a precise instruction about where to place your attention and your identity.
What Right to Action Actually Means
Adhikāra means entitlement, or sphere of authority. You have full authority over what you choose to do, how much effort you put in, and the quality of your engagement.
You do not have authority over outcomes , because outcomes depend on countless factors beyond your control: other people’s choices, timing, luck, conditions you cannot see.
The instruction is: focus your energy on what you actually control.
This is exactly what GitaPath is built for. Bring the Gita into your daily life , not as theory, but as a living practice you can actually feel.
Not Detachment , Clarity
The verse is often read as ‘don’t care about results.’ But the Gita is more specific. It says: do not make the fruit the cause of your action.
If you do good work because you love doing good work , that is the Gita’s ideal. If you do good work only because you expect a specific reward, and you collapse when the reward does not come , that is the problem.
The Fourth Line
The verse ends with mā te saṅgo ‘stv akarmaṇi , do not be attached to inaction. This is the side of the teaching most often missed. The Gita is not promoting disengagement. Act fully, without clinging to results.
Put It to Work
GitaPath turns 2.47 into a daily practice: what effort can I give fully today, and what outcome can I genuinely release? One concrete application, every day.
Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita: Context for Verse 2.47
Chapter 2 is called Sankhya Yoga , the yoga of discriminating knowledge. It begins with Arjuna’s collapse and Krishna’s response, and moves through the nature of the soul, the philosophy of action, and the portrait of the wise person (sthita-prajña). Verse 2.47 sits within this arc.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Karmanye Vadhikaraste mean?
You have a right to action , your sphere of authority is the action itself, its quality and effort. The fruit of that action is not within your control, and the verse says not to make outcome the driver of your action.
Does BG 2.47 mean we should not care about results?
No. It means don’t let the result be the cause of your action. Care about doing excellent work. Release the outcome. The distinction between doing for love of excellence versus doing only for reward is the heart of the teaching.
What is the fourth line of BG 2.47 about?
Do not be attached to inaction , mā te saṅgo ‘stv akarmaṇi. This rules out the lazy interpretation: the Gita is not saying disengage. Act fully, without desperate clinging to outcomes.
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