Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 38

सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ । ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि

sukhaduḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau | tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṃ pāpamavāpsyasi

Translation

Then, treating alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, success and defeat, prepare for the battle, and thus wilt thou not incur sin.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

sukhaduḥkhe

pleasure, and, pain, and

same

equal

kṛtvā

having made

lābhālābhau

gain, and, loss, and

jayājayau

victory, and, defeat, and

tataḥ

then

yuddhāya

for the battle

yujyasva

join (thou)

na

not

evam

thus

pāpam

sin

avāpsyasi

(thou) shalt obtain

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

When you go into battle treating alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, you incur no sin. The sin attaches not to the act but to the attachment that prompts it. With this verse the Lord turns from the Sāṅkhya teaching (concerning the eternal Self) to the Yoga teaching — the path of right action without attachment — which is unfolded in what follows.