Some people ask, “The Bhagavad-gita recommends detachment from the results of work. But how can we work responsibly if we don’t care for the results?”

Significantly, the Gita recommends detachment, not irresponsibility. That it doesn’t condone irresponsibility is evident from the context – after hearing the Gita, Arjuna fought the Kurukshetra war diligently. During the war, he met his forces every morning and evening: morning to finalize the day’s strategy; and evening to review that day’s battle and plan the next day’s strategy. All this planning and reviewing indicates that he was concerned about the results.

Then what does the Gita (02.47) call for detachment mean? It means that we not let our consciousness stay caught at the material level, wherein we become elated on getting the results or dejected on not getting them. Pertinently, the same Gita later (18.46) urges us to work for Krishna’s sake, indeed, to worship him through our work. Arjuna cared for the war’s results because he wanted to execute Krishna’s will for establishing the rule of dharma.

So, when we strive to worship Krishna through our work, we do care for the result because we care for the one to whom we offer the result. But we care for him more than the result. And we know that he cares more for the content of our heart than the product of our work. Therefore, we can work without the emotional insecurity that ensues when our sense of self-identity and self-worth depends on results. By this inner steadiness, we can work with focus and improve our contributions.

Thus, the Gita’s call for detachment from results is meant to free our consciousness from disempowering attachments to material things so that we can become attached to the supreme spiritual being who is far bigger than the results.

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