Sanskrit
बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते । तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् ॥
buddhiyukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛtaduṣkṛte tasmād yogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam
Translation
United to the Pure Reason one abandoneth here both good and evil deeds; therefore cleave thou to yoga; yoga is skill in action.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A second technical definition of yoga, distinct from verse 48’s “equanimity” — here it’s “skill in action” (karmasu kauśalam). The two aren’t in tension: acting skillfully, in this sense, means acting without the accounting mindset that sorts deeds into good and bad based on their results, which is exactly the fruit-oriented working just called pitiable in verse 49.
Concepts