दुःखमित्येव यत्कर्म कायक्लेशभयात्त्यजेत्।स कृत्वा राजसं त्यागं नैव त्यागफलं लभेत् ॥

Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.

• 18.1Arjuna said, "O mighty-armed Hrishikesa, I desire to know the essence or truth of renunciation and abandonment severally, O slayer of Kesi."
• 18.2The Blessed Lord said, "The sages understand sannyasa to be the renunciation of action with desire; the wise declare the abandonment of the fruits of all actions to be tyaga."
• 18.3Some philosophers declare that actions should be abandoned as evil; while others declare that acts of sacrifice, gift, and austerity should not be relinquished.
• 18.4Hear from Me the conclusion or the final truth about this abandonment, O best of the Bharatas; abandonment, indeed, O best of men, has been declared to be of three kinds.
• 18.5Acts of sacrifice, gift, and austerity should not be abandoned, but should be performed; for sacrifice, gift, and austerity are the purifiers of the wise.
• 18.6But even these actions should be performed, leaving aside attachment and the desire for rewards, O Arjuna; this is my certain and most assured conviction.
• 18.7Verily, the renunciation of obligatory action is not proper; the abandonment of the same out of delusion is declared to be Tamasic.

• 18.8He who abandons action out of fear of bodily trouble (because it is painful), does not obtain the merit of renunciation by performing such Rajasic renunciation.

• 18.9Whatever obligatory action is done, O Arjuna, merely because it ought to be done, abandoning attachment and also the desire for reward, that renunciation is regarded as sattvic (pure).
• 18.10The man of renunciation, pervaded by purity, intelligent, and with his doubts cut asunder, does not hate an unpleasant task nor is he attached to a pleasant one.
• 18.11Indeed, it is not possible for an embodied being to completely abandon actions; however, he who relinquishes the rewards of actions is truly called a man of renunciation.
• 18.12The threefold fruit of action (evil, good, and mixed) accrues after death to those who do not abandon it, but never to those who do.

duḥkham

troublesome

iti

as

eva

certainly

yat

which

karma

duties

kāya

bodily

kleśha

discomfort

bhayāt

out of fear

tyajet

giving up

saḥ

they

kṛitvā

having done

rājasam

in the mode of passion

tyāgam

renunciation of desires for enjoying the fruits of actions

na

never

tyāga

renunciation of desires for enjoying the fruits of actions

phalam

result

labhet

attain