Sanskrit
कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि । योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मशुद्धये ॥
kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalair indriyair api yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṃ tyaktvātmaśuddhaye
Translation
Yogis, having abandoned attachment, perform action only by the body, by the mind, by the Reason, and even by the senses, for the purification of the self.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
This verse itemizes the whole instrument of action — body (kāya), mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), and even the senses (indriya) — pulling the entire psychophysical apparatus into the discipline rather than treating detachment as a purely mental trick. The stated purpose is ātma-śuddhi, self-purification, not liberation itself; action here is reframed as a cleansing agent, the way sustained practice reshapes character more reliably than any single dramatic renunciation. It’s a practical rejoinder to anyone imagining yoga as passive withdrawal — the yogi does exactly what everyone else does, minus the sense of “I am the doer” that turns action into bondage.