|| 5.12 ||
युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्। अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते।।
yuktaḥ karma-phalaṁ tyaktvā śāntim āpnoti naiṣṭhikīm ayuktaḥ kāma-kāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate
Word by Word
yuktaḥ (one who is engaged in devotion) karma-phalam (results of all activities) tyaktvā (giving up) śāntim (peace) āpnoti (achieves) naiṣṭhikīm (unadulterated/steady) ayuktaḥ (one who is not in union) kāma-kāreṇa (for enjoying the result) phale (in the result) saktaḥ (attached) nibadhyate (becomes entangled)
Translation
The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.
Meaning
Kṛṣṇa contrasts two types of people: the ‘yuktaḥ’ (the connected/devoted) and the ‘ayuktaḥ’ (the disconnected/selfish). The devoted person gives up the results of their work and consequently attains ‘naiṣṭhikīm śāntim’—unadulterated and steady peace. They are satisfied because they are aligned with the Source.
However, the person who is not in union with the Divine works out of ‘kāma-kāreṇa’, a desire for self-enjoyment. Because they are ‘sakto’, or attached to the fruits of their labor, they become ‘nibadhyate’—strangled and entangled by their own actions. They are prisoners of their own expectations.
This is the difference between a free man and a slave. The free man works for the love of the work or for God, while the slave works for the reward. Kṛṣṇa is telling Arjuna that peace is not found by running away from the war, but by running away from the ‘greed for the result’. Real peace is the privilege of those who have surrendered their selfish interest.