Sanskrit
स्वे स्वे कर्मण्यभिरतः संसिद्धिं लभते नरः । स्वकर्मनिरतः सिद्धिं यथा विन्दति तच्छृणु ॥ ४५ ॥
sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ saṃsiddhiṃ labhate naraḥ svakarma-nirataḥ siddhiṃ yathā vindati tac chṛṇu
Translation
Man reacheth perfection by each being intent on his own duty. Listen thou how perfection is won by him who is intent on his own duty.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Having laid out the four duties, Krishna states the payoff plainly: perfection comes not from choosing the “best” duty among them but from being wholly absorbed (abhirata) in whichever one happens to be one’s own. This is karma yoga’s practical core restated one last time before the chapter’s climax — the value of an action was never in its content but in the quality of engagement brought to it.