Gita 18.11

Sadhak: "If complete renunciation of action is impossible, why do some traditions advocate it?"

Guru: "They often mean something more subtle than literal complete cessation. 'Renouncing action' may mean renouncing desire-prompted action, or renouncing identification with action, or progressive minimization of action. But taken literally—zero action while embodied—it is impossible. Even the corpse has biological processes until decomposition. Krishna brings clarity to what often remains confused in spiritual teaching."

Sadhak: "So the true tyagi still acts normally?"

Guru: "Acts, yes—normally, no. The true tyagi may outwardly do exactly what others do, but the inner orientation is entirely different. The action is the same; the actor's consciousness is transformed. No claiming, no anxious anticipation, no bitter disappointment—just action arising, completing, and releasing. This changes everything while appearing to change nothing."

Sadhak: "Is renouncing fruits the same as not caring about quality?"

Guru: "Absolutely not. Quality belongs to action, not to fruit. The sattvic tyagi performs excellent action—that is what 'should be done.' But the outcome—praise or blame, success or failure—is released. A teacher teaches excellently (action quality) but releases whether students praise or criticize (fruit). The two are completely separate. Non-attachment to results often improves action quality by removing interference."

Sadhak: "Why is this definition so important?"

Guru: "Because it makes liberation accessible. If tyaga required abandoning all action, only a tiny minority could practice. But if tyaga means releasing fruits while acting, everyone can practice everywhere. The kitchen becomes an ashram, the office a temple, the battlefield a field of liberation. Krishna universalizes the spiritual path by this teaching."