“Your right is to the work alone, never to its results. Don't let the reward be your reason, and don't fall into doing nothing.”

Do your best, then let go

This may be the most quoted verse in the Gita, and also one of the most misunderstood.

Lord Krishna is not saying results don’t matter, or that you shouldn’t plan. He is saying something gentler and more practical: the effort is yours, and the outcome isn’t. Many things you can’t control decide the outcome: other people, timing, luck, a hundred small causes. If your peace of mind depends on the result, you hand your happiness to things outside your control.

Notice the last line. Lord Krishna immediately closes the escape route: mā te saṅgo ‘stv akarmaṇi, “don’t be attached to inaction either.” Letting go of results is not an excuse to stop trying. It is what lets you try without fear.

For a student: study well for the test. The mark is not the measure of you. For a parent: guide your child with care. Who they become is not only yours to decide. At work: do the job beautifully, then let the review be the review.

This is the heart of karma yoga, the path of action: doing your duty fully, offering the result, and staying steady either way.