Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana,
Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani
This verse is from the Bhagawad Gita. And it’s really something that I have always tried to follow in my life. Let’s see what does this mean:
Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana – You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of actions
Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani – Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
In simple terms it means: Keep on performing your duties without expecting for any reward in return, leading a selfless life – this it what it is all about.
Most of us today have forgotten about this part and always take things as business deals. Be it friendship, love or even marriage. We always impose conditions before doing anything so that we benefit from it in the end.
To me this verse has a really great meaning in my life. Well I would like to know about my other friends here, really think about this verse.
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25 comments
akiavelic
May 28, 2010 at 7:58 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
great verse from the “BHAGAWAD GITA”. and i totally agree with what u’ve said. people are very narrow minded and think for short term happiness.. like another verse in BG which goes like this “The senses have been conditioned by attraction to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant: a man should not be ruled by them; they are obstacles in his path.” .. i think men are bound to be doomed for their foolishness.
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Pramod
May 28, 2010 at 9:02 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
Toi si to spiritual… Sa mamouuu
akiavelic
May 29, 2010 at 2:08 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
spiritualism is within everyone but very few maintain its existence for the fact that many of them believe that its futile to use it in our daily life
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Akshay
December 20, 2010 at 9:15 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
Love Love Love
I Loved d meaning of these Sanskrit Stanza…..I found them on d wall of my college and I was searching for meaning of d same. Thnx for giving explanation. I will try to follow dis………………:)
The Half-Blood Geek
March 8, 2011 at 3:43 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
I love this quote, but its really difficult to do it consistently..
Pramod
March 17, 2011 at 3:13 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
It does seem difficult in today's world. However it's all about our own strengths to stand by our beliefs or principles.
Debasis
August 9, 2011 at 8:42 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
hey geek, dont be afraid….have tested it…from my personal experience of 18 years am telling…..if you set this motive in your mind then BETTER results are waitning for you at the end
good luck.
Nand
March 13, 2011 at 12:08 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
Its so true, and the day one is able to follow this path in complete sense, he or she would have reached Nirvana. Its the direction which everyone should strive towards. No matter how close we are, if are working towards the objective , which the verse says, we are on the right path….
V.S.THIRUMALAI
May 18, 2011 at 4:44 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
Always Be in the present. this is the essence of this sloka.
Kanav
June 2, 2011 at 1:02 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
Seriously??? You guys truly have no work.. Actually same with me. Get back to work and save India. If you want to do something, then do this. Stop wasting time, and get to work. It will help the country and fellow citizens alike!!!
sethu
August 12, 2011 at 10:23 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
@Kanav,
This is also a work which every person should do to improve the world. This is called as Personality development or Personality enlightening!
If everyone understands the Geetha the world will itself will be a heaven!…
Pramod
August 12, 2011 at 11:19 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
I second this…
Anand
October 3, 2011 at 8:57 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
The Bhagavat Gita was written at a time (~ 5000 years ago) when the intellectual mind of the masses had not developed – hence it looks out of the world for its time ! It is still relevant for the masses who feel the esense of life is to eat – sleep – reproduce and live unconsiouly like in the animal kingdom. The path of devotion as precribed by Krishna as the ultimate & easiest vehicle for transformation puts belief before experinece and works best for child like minds not complex,questioning adult minds. On the other hand Bhudda, Shankaracharya et al and their message of self realization through yoga, pranayama & meditation etc is more relvant today for the kinds of minds we have evolved into.
Anu
October 25, 2011 at 7:48 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
childlike minds?? and u believe that urs is some great questioning mind?? ..
Pramod
October 25, 2011 at 9:09 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
Yoga, Pranaayaam or Meditations are just actions, but for those actions to bear fruit, there needs to be a pure mind of selflessness and filled with the devotion. This message from Krishna, refers to the way we think, the way we live it's in our mindset, while Yoga and Pranaayaam refer to a physical medium for well being.
If you do not have a pure heart, no matter how much of Yoga or Meditation you do, it won't bring you anything in the end.
Shauvik Chaudhury
October 10, 2011 at 11:16 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
I do not agree to Anand and more so to state that 5000 years ago intellectual minds had not evolved cannot be any further from the truth. Evolving is a relative term in itself which needs a base to evolve from hense comparing today to something which existed 5000 years ago displays our inadequacy in understanding the concept to begin with. I do agree with the verse as this is the base and basic fenet and foundation of the thought process. Off course on the superficial level if we choose to survive then most definitely we are furtherest from the truth or reality check.
shyam
October 14, 2011 at 10:56 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
i agree
sudhir
October 17, 2011 at 10:51 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
At present time people most of the work do with business deal thatswhy people be unhappy if people follow this verse meaning definately be happy.
shweta
January 2, 2012 at 5:14 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
When we try to understand bhagwat gita. I think we really drift from -when was it told. It was told at the point when a king refuses to fight his battle because of many confusions in his brain about right and wrong.Primary purpose of Bhagwat Gita is to inspires us to work,perform our duty. I don't think it tells about selflessness … that is stretching the logic.
Pramod
January 3, 2012 at 3:59 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
To what you just said, the verse also means: "Continue to perform your duties without worrying about the end result." Well caring and getting worried about what might happen afterwards is a kind of selfishness of our own emotions. When Arjun refused to fight it was because he saw his own ones in the faces of his opponents and in a way fighting against them, he was going to lose his own ones. Thus in a way it was a kind of selfishness.
shweta
January 4, 2012 at 11:19 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
Hi thanks for the reply but I really don't think it tells about being selfish or being selfless.It tells us to do our duty.I am not a believer of being selfless.
God has given you 'the self' ,it is your duty to take care of self and always spread beauty in the world.A selfless life is like a drugged life where you don't know or understand anything and you are just doing something.
Pramod
January 4, 2012 at 11:25 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
This is because your definition of selflessness is different to what is being reflected in this verse.
If u dnt understand or know anything then how can u do it? It's just being like a robot. First we understand, we know then we do.
Deepthi
April 14, 2012 at 7:54 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
Oh I think you have misunderstood the word
"Selfless" merely means you are not working just for your own gain 
When you say "spread beauty in the world", you are actually being selfless i.e you are working to make the world beautiful, not for your own good 
When you are selfless, life is somewhat like a pass time like listening to music or reading a novel 
You are doing something just becuase you like it, not because you expect to gain anything out of it 
Soham
February 17, 2012 at 10:36 pm (UTC 4) Link to this comment
The gita has been the solace of my life and will be my solace in death. I however prefer the jnana route to the bhakti route.
suraj
April 10, 2012 at 9:09 am (UTC 4) Link to this comment
It is totally true without doing karma we can expect from our destiny or result of work.