Question: Why does Krishna tell Arjuna to be detached from the results when Krishna wants the result of establishing dharma and wants Arjuna to be an instrument in bringing about that result?
Answer: The Bhagavad Gita has its own internal flow of thought, emphasizing different principles at different stages of its teaching.
In the second chapter, Krishna is primarily explaining karma-yoga based on knowledge of the soul. His emphasis is on performing one’s duty with a spirit of detachment. Such dutifulness ensures, on the one hand, that we do not become entangled in the world and, on the other hand, gradually become disentangled from it and attain liberation.
At this point, Krishna has not yet introduced the theme of his own divine mission or of Arjuna becoming an instrument in that mission. He speaks about his divine descent in the fourth chapter, and even there it is primarily in response to Arjuna’s question about how he could have instructed the sun-god in ancient times.
It is only in the eleventh chapter that Krishna explicitly asks Arjuna to become his instrument in the battle. By then, Krishna has already established the path of bhakti, showing that acting in devotion to him leads to the highest perfection. Thus, the instruction to become an instrument comes within a deeper devotional context than the earlier discussion of detached action.
So, when Krishna wants Arjuna to establish dharma, does he still want him to be detached from the results? Yes and no.
If detachment means not caring about the results, then no. Krishna certainly wants Arjuna to care deeply about the establishment of dharma.
But if detachment means not becoming emotionally dependent on the results, then yes. A devotee works wholeheartedly for Krishna’s purposes without becoming inwardly bound by success or failure. Ultimately, offering the results to Krishna is an expression of offering one’s own consciousness and heart to him.
Therefore, devotees strive wholeheartedly for the results they believe will please Krishna. Yet if those results do not materialize, they do not become so disturbed that they stop serving him or lose their devotion. Their offering of the heart remains intact even when the external outcome is not what they had hoped for.
The progression of the Gita’s teaching may be understood in this way. First, we seek fruits from God—that is materialism. Next, we offer the fruits to God—that is a higher form of pious materialism. Then we offer our work itself to God—that is karma-yoga with a devotional orientation. Finally, we offer our very heart to God—that is bhakti-yoga.
When we offer our heart, we naturally want to offer our work and its results as well. But even if the work cannot be performed as we intended, or the results do not turn out as we had hoped, the devotee’s essential offering remains unchanged: the heart is still offered to Krishna.
Thus, Krishna’s primary concern is not that Arjuna become attached to a particular outcome, but that he become attached to Krishna himself. From that attachment arises the offering of one’s work, and, if Krishna so wills, the offering of its results as well.
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02.47 You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
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