BG 2.47 — Sāṅkhya-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 2.47Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस् ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।

मा कर्मफलहेतुर् भूर् मा ते सङ्गो ऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥

karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana

mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

You have the right to act, never to the fruits of action. Never let the fruit be your motive, and never let inaction be your refuge.

ekras · bhāṣya

Four phrases, two prohibitions and two affirmations balanced like a scale. The first phrase grants. You have a right — adhikara — to action. Action is your domain. The second phrase removes. Phaleshu kadachana — in fruits, never. Not when you act for them. Not even when you secretly hope. The whole field of fruit-anticipation is taken away. The third phrase goes deeper: don't even be the karma-phala-hetu — the cause of fruit through action. The hetu is the inner causal stance that connects what you do to what you expect. Removing that connection is what nishkama-karma actually means. The fourth phrase closes the back door: don't take refuge in akarma — inaction. Not doing is not the answer. Sankaracarya draws the technical distinction: your adhikara is in karma, not yet in jnana-nishtha. The karma is what is given to you because of where you stand; the question is only how to do it.

Madhusudana reads the verse as the precise prescription for one whose antahkarana is still impure: action as chitta-shuddhi, action as the purifier of the inner instrument. Inquiry into Vedanta-sentences requires a purified locus; until that purification arrives, action with right inner stance is the path.

Krishna is not asking Arjuna to be a Vedantin first. He is giving him a way to act that will become Vedantin-suitable over time. The four-phrase shloka is a complete instruction: act, don't anticipate, don't connect, don't withdraw. Most readers carry it as a summary of the entire Gita. The chapter has been building toward exactly this verse since 2.31.

Context

where

Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 2.46

When a flood stretches in every direction, a single well adds nothing new; all the Vedas offer nothing beyond what the one who truly knows already holds.

What's going on

You have the right to act, never to the fruits of action. Never let the fruit be your motive, and never let inaction be your refuge.

Sūtras through this verse · hub (113)

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here2.47───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

2.18'Imperishable' is said to mark off the Lord.───→here2.47───→4.24Every word for ritual points back to Viṣṇu.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.───→here2.47───→3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.

show all 113

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)station · anchor

───→here2.47───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actstation · anchor

───→here2.47───→

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workstation · anchor

───→here2.47───→

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥstation · anchor

───→here2.47───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyastation · anchor

───→here2.47───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologystation · anchor

───→here2.47───→

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)station

───→here2.47───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actstation

───→here2.47───→

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workstation

───→here2.47───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

2.18Image perishes, source endures───→here2.47───→4.13Creates yet uncreated

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

2.20The soul is conscious but only as reflection.───→here2.47───→3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.───→here2.47───→2.50Even in liberation the rank stays in place.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.───→here2.47───→4.13He creates and yet is uncreated by it.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.───→here2.47───→2.50Six texts in thirty lines carry the long excursus.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.───→here2.47───→2.49Action without wisdom is the lower zone.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.───→here2.47───→2.55Steady wisdom is what direct vision produces.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.───→here2.47───→2.50Even in liberation grace remains the agent.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

2.24When two scriptures clash the higher one rules.───→here2.47───→2.72Akṣapāda and Kaṇāda are simply ruled out.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.───→here2.47───→7.1Mind on Me, refuge wholly in Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

2.38Equal in win and loss, no sin can stick.───→here2.47───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here2.47───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here2.47───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here2.47───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here2.47───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here2.47───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here2.47───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here2.47───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma station · station 5/7

───→here2.47───→

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhastation

───→here2.47───→

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

2.10Thesis flat───→here2.47───→3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralbetween

2.27'Jatasya hi dhruvo mrityur dhruvam janma mritasya cha.' Death is certain for the───→here2.47───→8.6'Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam.' Whatever state of being one remembers at the last

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

2.22'Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya' — body as worn-out clothes. Sister verse to 2.13,───→here2.47───→3.27Karma pillar. The 'ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate' line is where Gaura

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

2.20'Na jayate mriyate va kadachit, nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah, ajo nityah sh───→here2.47───→6.20'Yatroparamate chittam niruddham yoga-sevaya, yatra chaivatmana'tmanam pashyann

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseasebetween

2.11The wise mourn neither the living nor the dead.───→here2.47───→2.69Ignorance is night, wisdom alone wakes.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.───→here2.47───→3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.───→here2.47───→3.1If insight is higher, why this dreadful work?

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.───→here2.47───→2.69Action holds only while ignorance still holds.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.───→here2.47───→3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sidebetween

2.24Uncuttable, unburnt, steady, all-pervading.───→here2.47───→13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by versebetween

2.24No jaḍa-property fits the dehin.───→here2.47───→7.5Higher prakṛti is Lakṣmī, not matter.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.───→here2.47───→2.72Old-age renunciation is off topic here.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.───→here2.47───→2.72Chapter closes here; upasaṁharati names it.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

2.39MB 12.349 catalogue vs Pañcarātra.───→here2.47───→2.50Smṛti runs nine citations deep.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga literal, not external schools.───→here2.47───→3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here2.47───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here2.47───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here2.47───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here2.47───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here2.47───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here2.47───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here2.47───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here2.47───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here2.47───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here2.47───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here2.47───→4.11Fruit proportional to the service offered.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaexit

2.11'Ashochyan anvashochas tvam prajna-vadamsh cha bhashase.' You grieve those not t───→here2.47───→

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathstation · v2 · station 1/9

───→here2.47───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledstation

───→here2.47───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhistation

───→here2.47───→

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourbetween · v2

2.22Worn-out garments───→here2.47───→8.5Last-thought rule

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

2.22Worn-out garments───→here2.47───→4.16Even the wise are confused

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

2.41Single-pointed buddhi───→here2.47───→9.22Yogakshema for the undivided

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here2.47───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

2.39Wisdom section wound up here.───→here2.47───→6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.───→here2.47───→3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here2.47───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here2.47───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here2.47───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here2.47───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here2.47───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here2.47───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here2.47───→

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Fruit-free action cannot bindstation · other · station 1/7

───→here2.47───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landstation

───→here2.47───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingstation

───→here2.47───→

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.───→here2.47───→3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.───→here2.47───→5.4Only the foolish call the two paths different.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

2.16Real and unreal sort into pure and impure.───→here2.47───→7.4Lower nature is eight-fold; higher is the soul-collective.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here2.47───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.───→here2.47───→3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.───→here2.47───→2.69The knower wakes to what the world sleeps to.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

2.11Anchor: two confusions — one universal, one yours alone.───→here2.47───→11.1Arjuna marks the universal moha cured.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here2.47───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here2.47───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here2.47───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here2.47───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningapproach

───→here2.47───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here2.47───→3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

2.12From here to 18.66: one Krishna-utterance.───→here2.47───→5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga split: not two methods, two angles.───→here2.47───→7.18The jñānin is dearest; not interchangeable.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.───→here2.47───→3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.───→here2.47───→3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

2.11First grief — chapter-1 cowardice — closed.───→here2.47───→5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here2.47───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here2.47───→4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

2.11Confusing self with body is the source of grief.───→here2.47───→13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.───→here2.47───→3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here2.47───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here2.47───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here2.47───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here2.47───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.───→here2.47───→3.1Knowing versus acting is the wrong cut.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessbetween

2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.───→here2.47───→7.12Modes from the Lord — the Lord not in them.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesbetween

2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.───→here2.47───→8.3Brahman, ātman, all facets of one Lord.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here2.47───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here2.47───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)station

───→here2.47───→

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.39Practice seam begins.───→here2.47───→6.46The yogi outranks every other path.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here2.47───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here2.47───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 17 occurrences)

कर्मणि·कर्म karman ×2 — action, deed, the law of action · locative neuter singular noun / compound · also at 3.1, 3.22, 4.16, 4.18, 4.21, 14.9 +1
फलेषु·फल phala ×2 — fruit, result · locative neuter plural noun / compound
अकर्मणि akarman — non-action (a- + karman) · locative neuter singular noun
कदाचन kadācana — ever, at any time

show all 12

मा mā ×3 — do not (prohibitive); also: to measure (verbal root)
ते tvad ×2 — you (2nd person pronoun stem) · genitive singular noun
एव eva — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
अधिकारः adhikāra — authority, qualification, charge (adhi- + √kṛ) · nominative masculine singular noun
हेतुः hetu — cause, reason, motive · nominative masculine singular noun
भूः √bhū — to be, become; the earth (verbal root / noun) · past jus 2nd person singular verb
सङ्गः saṅga — attachment, contact (= saṅga in earlier dict — alternate spelling) · nominative masculine singular noun
अस्तु √as — to be (verbal root) · present imperative 3rd person singular verb

Praśna · so what (7)

01If I have no claim on the outcome, why should I put full effort in? What prevents the teaching from collapsing into half-hearted work or strategic laziness?
02Does 'no attachment to fruits' mean I should stop caring whether my work is good — or only stop making my identity contingent on whether it succeeds?

show all 7

03The verse says I have adhikāra in action, not in results. But modern institutions — job performance, parenting outcomes, investment returns — evaluate me entirely on results. How do I live inside that structure without either capitulating to it or abandoning it?
04If I genuinely stop wanting the result, will I lose the motivation to act at all? Is desire-free action psychologically real, or is it a category that only works for renunciants?
05What is the difference between non-attachment to outcomes and indifference to consequences? The verse seems to warn against inaction too — so how much detachment is too much?
06The four clauses address four distinct traps (fruit-craving, fruit-causality, and inaction-attachment). Are these sequential stages one falls through in order, or independent failure modes that can strike at any time?
07Every school reads this verse differently — Advaita as purification-for-jñāna, Dvaita as jīva-Īśvara ontology, Puṣṭi-mārga as upādēya question after Vedic transcendence. Which reading is 'the verse itself' versus a school's interpretive projection, and does that distinction even hold for a text like the Gītā?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before beginning any significant task — a presentation, a difficult conversation, a financial decision — pause to notice whether the mind is already rehearsing the fruit (the praise, the income, the vindication). Śaṅkara's point is not that you should not plan outcomes but that craving for a specific result at this moment converts your action into a bondage-generator. Do the work as fully as possible; then, at the moment you release it into the world, practice a deliberate decoupling: the outcome belongs to conditions you do not control, and your identity is not a function of what returns.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's frame transforms ordinary professional work into kainkarya — service to the Lord who pervades the workplace, the colleague, the institution. This is not metaphorical: it is a re-description of agency. When the result-craving arises, the Viśiṣṭādvaita practitioner does not suppress it but re-routes it — asking 'whose work is this really?' and answering with the understanding that the Lord is both the field-in-which-one-acts and the actual recipient of the action's value. The discipline is to hold this re-framing consistently so that outcome-anxiety loses its grip not through stoic suppression but through transferred ownership.

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Dvaita

Madhva's practical instruction is grounded in a clear ontological proposition: you are not the independent cause of anything. Applied to everyday work, this means that when a project succeeds or fails, the Dvaita-informed practitioner traces causality honestly — to the network of conditions, the will of others, and ultimately to Hari's sovereignty — rather than building a narrative of personal triumph or defeat. This is not fatalism but an accurate accounting: continue the action fully (prātyavāya, the consequence of omission, is real), but refuse the story that makes the jīva the master-variable.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's verse is structurally about what is upādēya — what is worth receiving from life. The Puṣṭi-mārga answer is: action itself, as prasāda from Kṛṣṇa, is the gift. In everyday terms this means treating each task as something Kṛṣṇa has already given you to do, not as something you are generating toward a future payoff. The rapturous quality of this school's voice carries a practical instruction: bring full, even joyful engagement to the action, while remaining utterly indifferent to whether the world registers it — because the registration that matters is the one at the source, not the one at the receiving end.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's technical distinction between kāmita (consciously desired) and akāmita (unclaimed) fruit has a precise everyday use: when working toward a goal, track whether you have converted the outcome into a willed personal possession in your inner narration. Salary earned through agreed work is not 'fruit-craving' in the bondage-producing sense; the anxious mental act of rehearsing the salary while performing the work is. The practice is to execute the action's full technical quality — do the work as well as it can be done — without simultaneously running the internal audit of 'and here is what I will claim from this.'

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's composite position offers the most diagnostically useful everyday frame: ask first whether your inner instrument is currently fit for contemplation. If the mind is agitated, restless, or desire-saturated, the direct path of Vedāntic inquiry will not work — and the disciplined response is to engage action precisely as the purification method, not to escape into pseudo-renunciation. Offering the action to Bhagavān (bhagavad-arpaṇa-buddhi) is the specific practice that neutralizes the fruit-generating mechanism: it is not a pious gesture but a structural operation that changes what the action does to the actor.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

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weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 2, Verse 47: Krishna to Arjuna — Sāṅkhya-Yoga