Sanskrit
दूरेण ह्यवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगाद्धनञ्जय । बुद्धौ शरणमन्विच्छ कृपणाः फलहेतवः ॥
dūreṇa hy avaraṃ karma buddhiyogād dhanañjaya buddhau śaraṇam anviccha kṛpaṇāḥ phalahetavaḥ
Translation
Far lower than the Yoga of Discrimination is action, O Dhananjaya. Take thou refuge in the Pure Reason; pitiable are they who work for fruit.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A blunt ranking: mere action, done for its results, sits far below action done from buddhi-yoga — the discriminating, resolved mind introduced back in verse 41. “Pitiable are they who work for fruit” restates verse 47’s instruction as a value judgment rather than just a rule, and sets up the next verse’s account of what the alternative actually looks like.
Concepts