Shloka 12

अक्षरब्रह्मयोग (Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga) — Knowledge of the Imperishable, Prakṛti, and Devotion

Devanagari script

युक्त: कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्रोति नैषप्ठिकीम्‌ अयुक्त: कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते,कर्मयोगी कर्मोंके फलका त्याग करके भगवत्प्राप्तिरूप शान्तिको प्राप्त होता है और सकाम पुरुष कामनाकी प्रेरणासे फलमें आसक्त होकर बँधता है?

Transliteration

yuktaḥ karmaphalaṁ tyaktvā śāntim āpnoti naiṣṭhikīm; ayuktaḥ kāmakāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate.

Translation

Arjuna said: “One who is disciplined—renouncing the fruits of action—attains steadfast peace, the settled tranquility born of spiritual commitment. But one who is undisciplined, driven by desire, clings to results and thus becomes bound.”

Word by Word

युक्तःdisciplined; yoked (in yoga)

कर्मफलम्fruit of action

त्यक्त्वाhaving abandoned

शान्तिम्peace

आप्नोतिattains

नैष्ठिकीम्steadfast; final (of the highest kind)

अयुक्तःundisciplined; not yoked (in yoga)

कामकारेणby desire-driven impulse; by acting from whim

फलेin the result; in the fruit

सक्तःattached

निबध्यतेis bound; gets bound

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Renouncing attachment to the fruits of action is the mark of a disciplined person and leads to steadfast inner peace; craving-driven attachment to outcomes creates bondage.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Bhīṣma Parva’s battlefield dialogue context, Arjuna articulates a moral-psychological contrast: the yogic agent who acts without clinging to results versus the desire-driven agent who becomes bound by outcomes.