Contentment makes action non-binding.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रयः |कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किञ्चित्करोति सः ||४-२०||
tyaktvā karmaphalāsaṅgaṃ nityatṛpto nirāśrayaḥ . karmaṇyabhipravṛtto.api naiva kiñcitkaroti saḥ ||4-20||
Use this verse when results start defining your identity.
Meaning
Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of action, ever content and independent, such a person acts yet does not truly act.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
The free person acts without inner dependence on results.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
This verse describes inner freedom while working. The person still performs duties, but because they are not psychologically dependent on the result, action does not bind them. Nitya-tripta means inwardly content. Nirashraya means not leaning on external outcomes for identity. This is highly relevant for anxiety, career pressure, and creative work.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna paints the inner portrait of the liberated worker. Having let go of attachment to results (karma-phala-āsaṅga), such a person is nitya-tṛpta — ever content — and nirāśraya — leaning on nothing external for fulfillment. His happiness does not depend on how things turn out, so he is free of the anxiety that haunts ordinary action.
The striking line is that 'though fully engaged in activity, he does nothing at all.' This is not literal idleness but inner freedom from doership. Because he claims neither the work nor its reward as his own, no karmic residue clings to him.
He is like one who plays a role wholeheartedly yet never forgets it is a role. Contentment that is unconditional and self-existent — this is the ground from which truly free action springs.
In daily life
Work hard, but do not depend on the result for self-worth.
A startup founder can build sincerely while not making valuation the measure of personal worth.
Try this today
Write one source of inner contentment independent of success.
I work with contentment and freedom.Reflect
Which result am I leaning on for identity?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘कर्मफल-आसङ्गम्’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on freedom, in other chapters
- Verse 3.9Turn your work into an offering greater than yourself, and the same action that would bind you instead sets you free.
- Verse 5.14Action springs from nature's flow, not from the pure Self — release the burden of believing your ego authors it all.
- Verse 13.30Recognise that nature performs all your actions while your true Self merely witnesses — and the burden of doership falls away.
- Verse 6.4You are established in yoga when nothing — neither pleasures nor projects — has a grip on your mind anymore.
Swipe left for 4.21 · Need-based living reduces karmic burden.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 4.20
Who says Bhagavad Gita 4.20, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 4.20, in Chapter 4, Jnana Karma Sannyas Yoga (Jnana Karma Sannyas Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 4.20 mean?
Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of action, ever content and independent, such a person acts yet does not truly act. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 4.20 for daily life?
Work hard, but do not depend on the result for self-worth. A startup founder can build sincerely while not making valuation the measure of personal worth.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 4.20 mean?
त्यक्त्वा — having abandoned; कर्मफल-आसङ्गम् — attachment to the fruits of action; नित्य-तृप्तः — ever content; निराश्रयः — depending on nothing; कर्मणि अभिप्रवृत्तः अपि — though engaged in action.
Where does verse 4.20 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 20 of 42 in Chapter 4, Jnana Karma Sannyas Yoga. The next verse is 4.21.