Bhagavad Gita 18.10

na dveṣṭy akuśalaṁ karma

kuśale nānuṣajjate

tyāgī sattva-samāviṣṭo

medhāvī chinna-saṁśayaḥ

 

Neither hating what feels unpleasant,

Nor clinging to what seems pleasant;

Thus the renouncer, steady and wise,

Cuts through doubt, with clear inner eyes.

 

My dear Lord, on the spiritual path, help me see renunciation not as an isolated virtue or a singular goal, but as an organic outgrowth of my evolving connection with you.

O omnipresent Lord, please steady within me the awareness that everything in this world is yours and nothing is actually mine. I am but a traveler through this world. Whatever I encounter, whether pleasant or unpleasant, is nothing more than the changing scenery along my journey. My whole journey—and indeed all existence—is contained within you. Without you, nothing could exist.

O benevolent Lord, let my awareness of you as the foundation of reality make me less fixated on what I experience in the moment and more focused on you, the unending, unchanging, unfailing ground of all existence. May that divine focus make you the foundation of my renunciation.

O all-attractive Lord, through everything that happens in my life, whether pleasant or unpleasant, you are drawing my heart toward you. Help me appreciate that when I learn to let go of dualities, I make space in my heart for you. Free me from the fear that letting go will impoverish my heart; fill me with the conviction that facilitating your presence will enrich my heart—fully and forever. Let me thus seek you as the supreme fulfillment of my renunciation.

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18.10 The intelligent renouncer situated in the mode of goodness, neither hateful of inauspicious work nor attached to auspicious work, has no doubts about work.