Gita 6.1

Dhyana Yoga

श्रीभगवानुवाच | अनाश्रितः कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः | स संन्यासी च योगी च न निरग्निर्न चाक्रियः ||६.१||

śrī bhagavān uvāca | anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ | sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca na niragnir na cākriyaḥ ||6.1||

In essence: True renunciation is not abandoning fire or action—it is performing your duty while releasing all claim to its fruits.

A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply

Sadhak-Guru Dialogue

Sadhak: "Guruji, I have always believed that sannyasa means leaving everything—giving up home, family, possessions, even the sacred fire. But this verse says the opposite?"

Guru: "What exactly did you think you would leave behind when you 'left everything'?"

Sadhak: "My job, my attachments, my worldly entanglements. By physically removing myself, I thought the inner freedom would follow."

Guru: "And what would you carry with you to that forest or cave?"

Sadhak: "Only the essentials—my body, my mind... Oh. I see. The mind goes everywhere."

Guru: "Precisely. You can leave your house but take your hopes with you. You can abandon the ritual fire but keep the burning desire for recognition. External renunciation without internal transformation is merely relocation of bondage."

Sadhak: "But then what is being renounced in true sannyasa?"

Guru: "The shelter you take in results. Read the verse again—'anāśritaḥ karma-phalam.' The sannyasi has stopped depending on outcomes for their peace, their sense of worth, their okayness."

Sadhak: "How can I do my work well if I don't care about the result?"

Guru: "Who said anything about not caring? You care deeply—about quality, about service, about dharma. What you release is the psychological dependency. 'If this succeeds, I am worthy; if it fails, I am worthless'—this mental contract is what you renounce."

Sadhak: "So a householder performing duties can be a greater sannyasi than someone who has externally renounced everything?"

Guru: "Krishna says it directly: such a person 'is both a sannyasi and a yogi.' The external renunciate who is internally grasping is neither. The engaged householder who is internally free is both. Which would you rather be?"

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🌅 Daily Practice

🌅 Morning

Before beginning your day's activities, sit quietly and review what you will do today. For each significant task or project, consciously articulate what result you're hoping for, then practice releasing your dependency on that specific outcome. Say internally: 'I will give my best effort to this. I prefer success, but my peace does not depend on it. I am a sannyasi in action—working fully while inwardly free.' Visualize yourself engaging with the task with full energy and attention, yet with a subtle inner smile that says 'either way, I am okay.' This morning practice pre-emptively loosens the grip of result-dependency before it can form during the day's work.

☀️ Daytime

When you notice yourself anxiously checking for results—refreshing email for a response, worrying about how something will be received, mentally calculating success or failure—pause. This is the moment of 'āśrita,' of taking shelter in outcomes. Practice conscious release: take a breath, acknowledge the attachment ('I notice I'm depending on this result for my peace'), and gently return attention to the present action. Ask yourself: 'What is the kāryam karma right now? What ought I be doing in this moment?' Redirect energy from result-anxiety to present-action-quality. Even if you have to do this a hundred times a day, each redirection is practice in sannyasa.

🌙 Evening

Before sleep, review the day through the lens of this verse. Where did you succeed in performing action without result-dependency? Where did you catch yourself and redirect? Where did you fail entirely? Don't judge—just observe. For the failures, replay the situation in your mind and imagine responding as the anāśritaḥ sannyasi would—same action, same excellence, but without the internal clinging. This mental rehearsal trains the mind for tomorrow. Acknowledge: 'I am learning to work without shelter-seeking. Today I made progress, however small. Tomorrow I continue the practice.' Sleep with the intention to be both sannyasi and yogi in action.

Common Questions

If I stop caring about results, won't I become lazy or mediocre? Doesn't desire for success drive excellence?

This is a common misunderstanding. Krishna is not asking you to become indifferent to quality or effort—'kāryam karma' means obligatory action, action that ought to be done. You still pursue excellence, but the motivation shifts. Instead of working well because you're desperate for the reward, you work well because excellence is dharma, because the work deserves your best, because quality is its own justification. Paradoxically, this often produces better results: anxiety about outcomes creates tension that degrades performance, while non-attached focus creates a flow state. Watch a master artist or athlete—they are intensely present to the action, not calculating the applause. Their excellence comes from this very freedom from outcome-anxiety.

What about people who have genuinely taken sannyasa—wearing ochre robes, performing rituals differently? Are they doing something wrong?

Not at all. External renunciation has its place and can support internal transformation. Krishna is not criticizing the institution of sannyasa but clarifying its essence. If someone takes external vows and simultaneously cultivates internal non-attachment, they have the best of both worlds—the outer support structure and the inner reality. The problem arises only when someone believes the external form is the essence—that wearing robes makes you a sannyasi regardless of your inner state, or that not wearing them disqualifies you. Krishna is saying: don't confuse the container with the contents. The contents—internal non-dependency on results—can exist in any container.

Is this practically possible? Can anyone actually perform action without any attachment to results?

It's a spectrum, not a binary switch. No one goes from complete attachment to complete freedom overnight. The practice is to notice when you're taking shelter in outcomes—when your peace depends on 'this must happen'—and gently release that grip, returning focus to the action itself. Over time, with practice, the dependency weakens. You may never achieve perfect non-attachment, but even partial freedom is transformative. The verse describes the ideal; the path is gradual approximation toward that ideal. Every moment of recognizing 'I'm overly attached to this outcome' and consciously relaxing is a moment of sannyasa.

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