|| 4.20 ||
त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रयः। कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किञ्चित्करोति सः।।
tyaktvā karma-phalāsaṅgaṁ nitya-tṛpto nirāśrayaḥ karmaṇy abhipravṛtto ’pi naiva kiñcit karoti saḥ
Word by Word
tyaktvā (having given up) karma-phala-āsaṅgam (attachment to fruitive results) nitya (always) tṛptaḥ (being satisfied) nirāśrayaḥ (without any shelter) karmaṇi (in activity) abhipravṛttaḥ (being fully engaged) api (even) na (not) eva (certainly) kiñcit (anything) karoti (does) saḥ (he)
Translation
Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.
Meaning
Kṛṣṇa explains the total freedom of the detached worker. He says that a person who has given up attachment to the results of their work is ‘nitya-tṛpto’, or always satisfied. They don’t need the result to feel good; they are satisfied in the act of service itself.
Such a person is ‘nirāśrayaḥ’, meaning they don’t depend on anything material for their security or happiness. Although they are ‘abhipravṛtto’, or intensely engaged in activities, they are technically doing nothing at all in terms of karmic reaction. They are like a fan that is turned off but still spinning—the motor of desire has stopped.
This is the state Arjuna must aim for. He can lead armies and win kingdoms, but if he does it with this ‘Nitya-tripta’ consciousness, he remains a liberated soul. Kṛṣṇa is inviting him to a life of dynamic action that carries zero psychological or spiritual weight.