Karma Yoga
Also known as: The path of selfless service
Sanskrit: कर्म योग, from karma ('action') and yoga ('union').
Karma Yoga is the path of selfless action described in the Bhagavad Gita, teaching that one can attain spiritual liberation by performing one's duties and work without attachment to personal outcomes or reward, offering the fruits of action rather than grasping at them.
The Bhagavad Gita presents Karma Yoga through Krishna's counsel to Arjuna: act according to one's duty (dharma) with full effort, but without personal attachment to success, failure, or reward. This reframing of ordinary action as a spiritual practice makes Karma Yoga distinct among the classical paths for not requiring withdrawal from worldly life.
The Bhagavad Gita's central teaching on Karma Yoga is nishkama karma, action performed without attachment to its results, illustrated through Krishna's counsel to Arjuna to fulfill his duty as a warrior without craving victory or fearing defeat. This is often misread as indifference or passivity; the classical teaching is closer to the opposite, full and engaged effort combined with releasing one's grip on the outcome, since outcomes are always shaped by many factors beyond any individual's control.
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Related Terms
Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion, one of the four classical yogic paths described in the Bhagavad Gita, cultivating union with the divine through love, surrender, prayer, chanting, and worship rather than through knowledge or physical practice alone.
Jnana Yoga
Jnana Yoga is the path of knowledge and discernment, one of the four classical yogic paths, using rigorous self-inquiry and philosophical study to distinguish the eternal Self (Atman) from the temporary, changing contents of body and mind. It is often considered the most intellectually demanding of the classical paths.