This summary is about verses 18.1 to 18.12 of the eighteenth chapter of the Gita. There are twelve verses. It is the twelfth stop on The Path of Karma Yoga. Before it is Renunciation or Karma Yoga?, which covered verses 5.1 to 6.4. After it comes Freedom Through Action, which begins at verse 18.49.

The answer in one line

Renunciation means giving up actions driven by desire. Relinquishment means giving up the clinging to the fruit of every action (Gita 18.2). In neither is there any word about giving up duty. Sacrifice, giving and austerity are not to be given up (Gita 18.5), and a person with a body cannot give up all actions at all (Gita 18.11).

So the true relinquisher is one who finishes the work that ought to be done, but clings neither to the work nor to its fruit.

What problem this answers

Books say "learn to let go", and life says "get up in the morning, go to work, look after the home." Keeping the two together is confusing: what is to be given up, and what is to be carried through in every case?

The setting: why the question comes again in the eighteenth

Arjuna had already asked this in the fifth chapter. In verse 5.1 he said: You praise renunciation sometimes and karma yoga at other times, so tell me which is good (Gita 5.1). Chapters 5 and 6 settled that both give good, and that karma yoga is the more workable in practice.

By the eighteenth chapter the Gita is drawing to a close. Arjuna now wants to understand the two words separately, so that whichever road he chooses, its words are clear.

The ground was laid in verses 3.4 and 3.5: not beginning action does not bring freedom from the bond, and outward renunciation alone does not bring perfection (Gita 3.4–5).

The verses in order

Verse 18.1: Arjuna's request

Arjuna wants to know the real nature of renunciation and relinquishment, each by itself. In common speech both run together, as in "one who has given something up". Arjuna feels there is a difference, and without knowing it, choosing a road is hard.

Verse 18.2: two definitions

The wise say that giving up actions driven by desire is renunciation. The discerning say that giving up clinging to the fruit of all actions is relinquishment (Gita 18.2).

The difference is of range. Renunciation removes some actions, those that were done only from the wish to gain. Relinquishment removes no action but touches every action, duty too, because it takes the claim off the result.

Take an image. Opening the shop on a festival only to earn more is work of the wish to earn, and giving it up is the matter of renunciation. Weighing honestly at the regular hour and ceasing to quarrel over the profit is relinquishment. In this the shop was not closed by the other person either.

Verses 18.3 and 18.4: two views, the Lord's decision

In verse 18.3 there are two views. Some scholars say action is faulty, so leave it like an evil. Others say that sacrifice, giving and austerity are not to be given up (Gita 18.3).

The Lord does not sit on either side. He says, "Hear My decision. Relinquishment has been said to be of three kinds" (Gita 18.4). He sorts the question: which giving up is right, which is not, and which only looks like giving up.

Verses 18.5 and 18.6: sacrifice, giving and austerity are never to be given up

Verse 18.5 says these are not to be given up but to be done, for they purify even the thoughtful seekers (Gita 18.5).

In daily life, sacrifice is work done together for the good of all. Giving is giving in help to others, of time or money. And austerity is the discipline of training body and mind. To drop any of them makes life not lighter but hollow. They are taken up in Work as Sacrifice.

Verse 18.6 says these too are to be done giving up clinging and the wish for fruit. This is the Lord's settled and highest view. That is, they are kept, without the hunger for fruit (Gita 18.6). In verse 5.11 too it is the same: action for purification (Gita 5.11).

Verses 18.7 and 18.8: two wrong reasons for leaving duty

The first reason is delusion. It is not right to give up the set action, the duty that has come to your share, out of delusion. That is a step taken in the dark. Delusion means the duty is simply not seen, with no sense of its point or need. "What is this work for?", when it was never looked at properly (Gita 18.7).

The second reason is fear of discomfort. One who leaves an action only because he thinks it painful, out of fear of bodily trouble, does not get the true fruit of relinquishment. Restlessness drives the decision: it tires me, so I dropped it (Gita 18.8).

The rule is that the reason for leaving settles what the leaving is. Two people leaving the same work, one with understanding and one out of tiredness or delusion, reach different places. In the verses these are named by the qualities. Here plain words are used.

Verses 18.9 and 18.10: the clearest relinquishment

Verse 18.9 says that the set action done because "it ought to be done", giving up both clinging and fruit, is clear relinquishment (Gita 18.9).

Three things go together here. The work is done with the whole mind, because it ought to be done. There is no clinging, so the work does not become "mine" and grip. And there is no grip on the fruit, so the work is complete and the result is whatever comes.

Verse 18.10 gives the picture of this relinquisher. He has no hatred for unpleasant work. He does not cling to pleasant or good work. His sight is clear, he is wise, and he is free of doubt (Gita 18.10). The test is in inner steadiness: does irritation rise at hard work, and greed at the work one likes?

Verses 18.11 and 18.12: why give up the fruit and not the action

Verse 18.11 says that for one with a body, giving up all actions wholly is not possible at all. So the one who gives up attachment to the fruit of action is the relinquisher (Gita 18.11). Verses 3.4 and 3.5 said the same: nobody remains even a moment without action, and breathing, eating and thinking are action too.

The reasoning is that action cannot be given up, so what is to be given up is what binds, the clinging to the fruit.

Verse 18.12 says that the fruit of action is of three kinds, unpleasant, pleasant and mixed. After death it goes to those who have not given up attachment to the fruit. For the relinquishers it never goes (Gita 18.12). In the traditional reading, the fruit we keep gripping follows behind our actions. The feeling is that what you hold on to stays with you, and what you let go does not bind.

The twelve verses at a glance

Verse 18.1 asks you to tell the two words apart. In verse 18.2 renunciation is giving up actions of desire and relinquishment is giving up the grip on the fruit, so look at which work runs on desire. In verses 18.3 and 18.4 there are two views and the Lord's decision is of three kinds of relinquishment, so do not join one side, sort the question. In verses 18.5 and 18.6 sacrifice, giving and austerity are not given up, and are done without desire for fruit. In verses 18.7 and 18.8 leaving duty out of delusion or fear of discomfort is wrong, so ask the real reason for leaving. In verses 18.9 and 18.10 it is work as duty, with clinging and fruit given up, so recognise hatred and greed. And in verses 18.11 and 18.12 action cannot be wholly given up and the one who gives up the fruit is the relinquisher, so take your hand off the fruit.

Support from the rest of the Gita

Verse 2.47 says the right is to action, not to the fruit, and there should be no attachment to inaction either. This is the root of giving up the fruit (Gita 2.47).

Verses 3.8 and 3.9 say that action is better than inaction, and that action without the spirit of sacrifice binds. So action is kept and its direction changes (Gita 3.8–9).

Verse 6.1 says that one who does his duty without taking the fruit as support is the true renunciant and yogi (Gita 6.1). It is taken up in Renunciation or Karma Yoga?.

Verse 12.12 says that peace comes right after giving up the fruit of action. This is the reward of giving up the fruit (Gita 12.12).

And verse 18.49 says that one whose intellect clings nowhere and who has conquered the mind reaches, through renunciation, the perfection beyond the bond of action (Gita 18.49). It is taken up in Freedom Through Action.

Three common misunderstandings

The first misunderstanding is that renunciation means giving up work and duty. The verses say the opposite. Sacrifice, giving and austerity are not given up (Gita 18.5), duty should not be left out of delusion (Gita 18.7), and action cannot be wholly given up at all (Gita 18.11).

The second is that giving up the fruit means not caring about the result. That is not so. Action is done with the whole mind because "it ought to be done" (Gita 18.9). Freedom from hatred and greed is steadiness, not carelessness (Gita 18.10). The worry about the result goes, not the responsibility for the work.

The third is that whatever work seems hard, leaving it is relinquishment. That is not so. That is exactly "leaving out of fear of discomfort", which does not bring the true fruit of relinquishment (Gita 18.8). Being hard is no reason to leave.

Testing "what to give up, what to keep"

There is a plain order. First write down what you want to give up: a task, a habit, a worry. Then for each one see whether it is a duty, or a habit that trains mind and body (Gita 18.5), or only a work driven by the wish to gain (Gita 18.2). Think about the third. The rest will stay.

For each duty ask why you want to leave it. Out of delusion, or fear of discomfort (Gita 18.7–8)? Then it is not relinquishment. Do duty because it is to be done (Gita 18.9), not as a bargain for a result. Recognise hatred and greed toward the work and let them pass (Gita 18.10). And give up the result. Let the grip on it not stay in your hand.

The sum is this: what was truly a burden, like the habit of counting praise, went. Duty and discipline stayed. The load came off where it was truly loaded.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between relinquishment and renunciation? Renunciation is giving up actions of desire, and relinquishment is giving up the grip on the fruit of all actions (Gita 18.2). The first removes some actions, the second lightens every action, duty too. That is why the next passage speaks of relinquishment.

Does the Gita take away every pleasure? No. What is given up is only the actions of desire (Gita 18.2). Duty and the habits that purify stay (Gita 18.5). What is taught is not to cling to pleasant work (Gita 18.10).

May I leave a duty that causes pain? Leaving out of fear of discomfort is not true relinquishment (Gita 18.8). This does not lessen the glory of the path of renunciation (Gita 5.2), but discomfort is no reason to leave. It is a place to get across.

What happens to the fruits when the fruit is given up? They do not bind. The unpleasant, pleasant and mixed fruits follow those who do not give up attachment, never the relinquisher (Gita 18.12).

How is this different from carelessness? The careless take the work lightly. Here the work is done fully with the thought "it ought to be done" (Gita 18.9), and the mind holds neither hatred nor greed (Gita 18.10). The difference is not in how seriously the work is taken. It is in how the mind bends before the result.

If you have to explain it in thirty seconds

Arjuna asks: what are renunciation and relinquishment, each by itself (Gita 18.1)? The Lord says that giving up actions driven by desire is renunciation, and giving up the grip on the fruit of every action is relinquishment (Gita 18.2). Sacrifice, giving and austerity are not to be given up, for they purify (Gita 18.5). Leaving duty out of delusion or fear of discomfort is wrong (Gita 18.7–8). The clearest relinquishment is action done as duty, giving up both clinging and fruit (Gita 18.9). And one with a body cannot give up all action anyway, so the one who gives up attachment to the fruit is the relinquisher (Gita 18.11). That is, the work complete and the grip on the result loosened.

Related hubs: The Path of Karma Yoga (path) · Renunciation or Karma Yoga? (before) · Freedom Through Action (next) · Work as Sacrifice