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

Transliteration

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

Translation

ਯੁਕਤ (ਕਰਮਯੋਗੀ) ਕਰਮ-ਫਲ ਤਿਆਗ ਕੇ ਨਿਸ਼ਠਾ-ਜਨਿਤ ਅਡੋਲ ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ; ਅਯੁਕਤ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਕਾਮਨਾ ਦੇ ਵੱਸ ਹੋ ਕੇ ਫਲ ਨਾਲ ਚੰਬੜਦਾ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਬੰਧਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਪੈਂਦਾ ਹੈ।

Word by Word

• युक्तः: disciplined; yoked (in yoga)
• युक्तः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युक्त (युज् धातु, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कर्मफलम्: fruit of action
• कर्मफलम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मफल
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• त्यक्त्वा: having abandoned
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज्
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund)

• शान्तिम्: peace
• शान्तिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शान्ति
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• आप्नोति: attains
• Type: Verb
• Root: आप्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular

• नैष्ठिकीम्: steadfast; final (of the highest kind)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नैष्ठिकी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• अयुक्तः: undisciplined; not yoked (in yoga)
• अयुक्तः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अयुक्त (युज् धातु, क्त; नञ्-पूर्वक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कामकारेण: by desire-driven impulse; by acting from whim
• कामकारेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कामकार
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• फले: in the result; in the fruit
• फले: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: फल
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• सक्तः: attached
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सक्त (सञ्ज् धातु, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• निबध्यते: is bound; gets bound
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-बन्ध्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Atmanepada (Passive/Reflexive sense)

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna

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.