Chapter 18, Verse 49
असक्तबुद्धिः सर्वत्र जितात्मा विगतस्पृहः | नैष्कर्म्यसिद्धिं परमां संन्यासेनाधिगच्छति ||१८-४९||
asaktabuddhiḥ sarvatra jitātmā vigataspṛhaḥ . naiṣkarmyasiddhiṃ paramāṃ saṃnyāsenādhigacchati ||18-49||
Meaning
18.49 He whose intellect is unattached everywhere, who has subdued his self, from whom desire has fled, he by renunciation, attains the supreme state of freedom from action.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna describes the crowning achievement. The one whose intellect is unattached everywhere, who has mastered the self, and from whom all craving has departed, attains through true renunciation the supreme naishkarmya-siddhi — the perfection of freedom from action's binding power.
This is not the cessation of activity but liberation within it. By inner renunciation — releasing attachment, conquering the lower self, and dropping desire — one reaches a state where actions no longer bind. The deeds continue, but they leave no karmic residue, for the ego that claimed them is dissolved. This is the same selfless attitude the chapter has praised throughout, now named as the very gateway to ultimate freedom.
💡 Key Takeaway
Mastering the self and releasing all craving brings freedom from the binding power of action.
Related Verses
अर्जुन उवाच | संन्यासस्य महाबाहो तत्त्वमिच्छामि वेदितुम् | त्यागस्य च हृषीकेश पृथक्केशिनिषूदन ||१८-१||
arjuna uvāca . saṃnyāsasya mahābāho tattvamicchāmi veditum . tyāgasya ca hṛṣīkeśa pṛthakkeśiniṣūdana ||18-1||
18.1 Arjuna said I desire to know severally, O mighty-armed, the essence or truth of renunciation, O Hrishikesa, as also of abandonment, O slayer of Kesi.
श्रीभगवानुवाच | काम्यानां कर्मणां न्यासं संन्यासं कवयो विदुः | सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं प्राहुस्त्यागं विचक्षणाः ||१८-२||
śrībhagavānuvāca . kāmyānāṃ karmaṇāṃ nyāsaṃ saṃnyāsaṃ kavayo viduḥ . sarvakarmaphalatyāgaṃ prāhustyāgaṃ vicakṣaṇāḥ ||18-2||
18.2 The 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 as Tyaga.
त्याज्यं दोषवदित्येके कर्म प्राहुर्मनीषिणः | यज्ञदानतपःकर्म न त्याज्यमिति चापरे ||१८-३||
tyājyaṃ doṣavadityeke karma prāhurmanīṣiṇaḥ . yajñadānatapaḥkarma na tyājyamiti cāpare ||18-3||
18.3 Some philosophers declare that actions should be abandoned as an evil; while others (declare) that acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be relinished.