Sanskrit
कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन । सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलं चैव स त्यागः सात्त्विको मतः ॥ ९ ॥
kāryam ity eva yat karma niyataṃ kriyate'rjuna saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalaṃ caiva sa tyāgaḥ sāttviko mataḥ
Translation
He who performeth a prescribed action, saying, "it ought to be done," O Arjuna, relinquishing attachment and also fruit, that relinquishment is regarded as pure.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The sattvic case, and the one Krishna actually endorses: performing prescribed duty simply because it ought to be done, while relinquishing attachment to it and to its fruit. This is tyaga functioning exactly as karma-yoga was defined back in chapter 3 — action retained, claim on outcome dropped — confirming that what Krishna calls “relinquishment” throughout is not about stopping work but about changing one’s relationship to it.
Concepts