Shloka 21
ध्यानयोगः — Dhyāna-Yoga
Discipline of Meditation and Mental Restraint
निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रह:* । शारीरं केवल कर्म कुर्वन् नाप्रोति किल्बिषम्,जिसका अन्तःकरण और इन्द्रियोंके सहित शरीर जीता हुआ है और जिसने समस्त भोगोंकी सामग्रीका परित्याग कर दिया है, ऐसा आशारहित पुरुष केवल शरीर-सम्बन्धी कर्म करता हुआ भी पापको नहीं प्राप्त होताई
nirāśīr yatacittātmā tyaktasarvaparigrahaḥ | śārīraṁ kevalaṁ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam ||
One who is free from expectation, who has mastered mind and self, and who has abandoned all possessiveness—such a person, even while performing only the actions required for maintaining the body, does not incur moral taint or sin. The teaching frames ethical action as duty done without craving or ownership, so that necessary work sustains life without binding the doer.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Necessary action does not produce sin when performed without expectation of results, with disciplined mind, and without possessiveness; ethical purity depends on inner non-attachment rather than mere outward inactivity.
In the Bhīṣma Parva’s instruction on right action amid the impending war, Arjuna voices a principle of karma-yoga: even bodily maintenance work, when done in renunciation and self-control, does not bind the doer with fault.