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Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 18.11
न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषत: ।
यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते ॥ ११ ॥
na hi deha-bhṛtā śakyaṁ
tyaktuṁ karmāṇy aśeṣataḥ
yas tu karma-phala-tyāgī
sa tyāgīty abhidhīyate
It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities. But he who renounces the fruits of action is called one who has truly renounced.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
A person in a body cannot stop all activity. True renunciation means giving up the fruits of action.
Prabhupāda explains that a true renouncer works for Kṛṣṇa and offers everything to Him instead of enjoying the results.
Continue your work, but offer its results to Kṛṣṇa rather than keeping them for your own enjoyment.
Defines ‘true renunciation’ and declares it impossible to give up all activities completely
‘True renunciation’ – To perform only religious duties, and without attachment to their fruits
e.g. Many members of ISKCON work very hard in their office and whatever they earn they give to the society. Such highly elevated souls are actual sannyasis
It is impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities
Prescribed duties should never be renounced
Texts 18.10 & 18.11
Can’t one just renounce all work, both the auspicious and inauspicious? This is answered in Text 18.11
Texts 18.11 & 18.12
This verse answers the question “What about the reaction which comes from the work as prescribed in Texts 18.9 – 18.11”
A true sannyasi does not renounce his activities, but is detached from their fruits
Krishna concludes that renounced order of life (sannyasa) and renunciation of the fruits of action (tyaga) are the same.
Work performed in this way is renunciation in the mode of goodness
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Renunciation
The embodied person cannot entirely give up action.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What does BG 18.11 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to duty & action?
Do one task today purely because it is right.
Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.