Karma Yoga - Action Without Attachment

The Problem of Action

कर्मयोग (Karma Yoga)
The Yoga of Action

Arjuna faced a dilemma on the battlefield: How can I act without creating bondage? If all action creates karma, should I renounce action altogether?

Krishna’s answer transformed the understanding of action forever.

The Central Teaching

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि

Karmanyevadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana
Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhur Ma Te Sango’stv Akarmani

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. - Bhagavad Gita 2.47

This single verse contains the entire philosophy of Karma Yoga.

The Three Components

###1. Perform Your Duty (Kartavya)

स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः (Svadharmae Nidhanam Shreyah)
Better death in one’s own dharma - BG 3.35

Everyone has their svadharma (own duty) based on their nature and situation:

• A teacher must teach
• A warrior must fight
• A merchant must trade
• A parent must care for children

Not performing your duty creates inner conflict and stagnation.

2. Act Without Attachment to Results

This doesn’t mean not caring about quality—it means:

• Do your best
• But don’t be attached to praise or blame
• Don’t be shaken by success or failure
• Don’t let results determine your worth

3. Offer the Action to the Divine

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम्

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give, whatever austerity you practice—do it all as an offering to Me - BG 9.27

When action is offered to the Divine, the ego’s claim “I am the doer” dissolves.

The Secret of Non-Attachment

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि (Yogasthah Kuru Karmani)
Established in yoga, perform actions - BG 2.48

The secret is not in the action itself, but in the state of the actor:

Attached Action:

• “I must succeed” → Anxiety before
• “What will people think?” → Distraction during
• “I failed/succeeded” → Elation or depression after

Detached Action:

• “I will do my best” → Peace before
• Total presence during
• “The result is as it should be” → Equanimity after

The Example of Janaka

जनक कर्मयोगी (Janaka Karma Yogi)

King Janaka, though ruling a vast kingdom, remained perfectly free:

• He performed countless duties
• Made difficult decisions
• Engaged fully in royal life
• Yet remained internally unattached, knowing himself as the witnessing consciousness

Krishna uses Janaka as the model: “Even kings like Janaka attained perfection by karma yoga.”

The Three Levels of Action

1. Tamasic Karma (तामस कर्म)

• Lazy, procrastinating
• Harmful to self and others
• Done in ignorance
• Creates heavy bondage

2. Rajasic Karma (राजस कर्म)

• Motivated by desire for results
• Attached to success/failure
• Ego-driven: “I am the doer”
• Creates subtle bondage

3. Sattvic Karma (सात्त्विक कर्म)

• Performed as duty
• Without attachment to results
• Offered to the Divine
• Purifies and liberates

Nishkama Karma - Desireless Action

निष्काम कर्म (Nishkama Karma)

The highest form of Karma Yoga is action performed without any personal desire:

Not “What will I get from this?”
But “What does this situation require?”

Not “How can I profit?”
But “How can I serve?”

Like a mother caring for her child—the action itself is the reward.

The Question of Doership

If I’m not the doer, who does the action?

प्रकृतिः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते

All actions are performed by the gunas (qualities) of prakriti (nature). One who is deluded by egoism thinks: “I am the doer.” - BG 3.27

Actions happen through:

• The body (given by nature)
• The mind (shaped by past)
• The circumstances (arranged by karma)
• The divine will (supreme intelligence)

The sense “I am doing this” is the ego’s illusion.

Seeing God in Action

यज्ञार्थात्कर्मणो’न्यत्र लोकोऽयं कर्मबन्धनः (Yajnarthat Karmano’nyatra)
Work done as sacrifice for the Divine creates no bondage - BG 3.9

When you see the Divine as:

• The giver of your capacities
• The arranger of opportunities
• The recipient of your actions
• The power working through you

Then work becomes worship (karma becomes yajna).

Practical Application

In Your Profession:

• Do your work with full attention
• Maintain high standards
• But don’t identify your worth with outcomes
• Offer your work as service

In Relationships:

• Care for others genuinely
• But without expectation of return
• Love because that’s who you are
• Not to get love back

In Spiritual Practice:

• Meditate, study, contemplate
• But without anxiety about “progress”
• The practice itself is the goal
• Results will come in their time

Karma Yoga and Moksha

Does Karma Yoga lead to liberation?

Yes, but indirectly:

Direct Path:

• Purifies the mind (chitta shuddhi)
• Reduces ego (ahamkara kshaya)
• Creates mental clarity
• Prepares for knowledge (jnana)

Ultimate Realization: When the mind is pure enough, the knowledge arises:
“I am not the doer. I never was the doer. I am the witnessing consciousness, and all actions are just appearances in me.”

The Glory of Work

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् (Shreyan Svadharmो Vigunah)
Better one’s own dharma done imperfectly than another’s done perfectly - BG 3.35

Karma Yoga sanctifies all work:

• No work is “spiritual” and other work “worldly”
• The plumber fixing pipes with total presence is doing yoga
• The teacher teaching with love is doing yajna
• The parent caring for children is performing tapas

It’s not what you do, but how you do it.

Loka Sangraha - Welfare of the World

लोकसंग्रहम् (Loka Sangrah)

Krishna teaches that the enlightened should continue acting—not for personal gain, but for the welfare of the world (loka sangraha):

यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः
Whatever the great ones do, others follow - BG 3.21

By performing your duty well and without attachment, you set an example and maintain the order of the world.

The Final Freedom

The beautiful paradox of Karma Yoga:

By giving up the fruits of action, you gain the ultimate fruit—freedom.

By renouncing the sense of doership, you become the perfect instrument of the Divine.

By offering all actions to God, you realize you ARE that God, playing through infinite forms.

कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः
स बुद्धिमान्मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत्

One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is wise among humans and a yogi, even while performing all actions - BG 4.18

This is the mastery of Karma Yoga—acting in the world while established in the actionless Self.