Fruits of work

Expressions researched:
"fruit of his work" |"fruit of one's work" |"fruit of the work" |"fruit of their own work" |"fruit of their own work" |"fruit of work" |"fruits of his work" |"fruits of my work" |"fruits of one's work" |"fruits of our work" |"fruits of that work" |"fruits of the work" |"fruits of their work" |"fruits of this work" |"fruits of work" |"fruits of your work"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

Only misers desire to enjoy the fruit of their own work just to be further entangled in material bondage.

BG 2.49, Translation and Purport:

O Dhanañjaya, keep all abominable activities far distant by devotional service, and in that consciousness surrender unto the Lord. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.

One who has actually come to understand one's constitutional position as an eternal servitor of the Lord gives up all engagements save working in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As already explained, buddhi-yoga means transcendental loving service to the Lord. Such devotional service is the right course of action for the living entity. Only misers desire to enjoy the fruit of their own work just to be further entangled in material bondage. Except for work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all activities are abominable because they continually bind the worker to the cycle of birth and death. One should therefore never desire to be the cause of work. Everything should be done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. Misers do not know how to utilize the assets of riches which they acquire by good fortune or by hard labor. One should spend all energies working in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and that will make one's life successful. Like misers, unfortunate persons do not employ their human energy in the service of the Lord.

The criterion of perfection is to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and not with a view to enjoying the fruits of work.

BG 6.1, Translation and Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no duty.

In this chapter the Lord explains that the process of the eightfold yoga system is a means to control the mind and the senses. However, this is very difficult for people in general to perform, especially in the Age of Kali. Although the eightfold yoga system is recommended in this chapter, the Lord emphasizes that the process of karma-yoga, or acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is better. Everyone acts in this world to maintain his family and their paraphernalia, but no one is working without some self-interest, some personal gratification, be it concentrated or extended. The criterion of perfection is to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and not with a view to enjoying the fruits of work. To act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the duty of every living entity because all are constitutionally parts and parcels of the Supreme. The parts of the body work for the satisfaction of the whole body. The limbs of the body do not act for self-satisfaction but for the satisfaction of the complete whole. Similarly, the living entity who acts for satisfaction of the supreme whole and not for personal satisfaction is the perfect sannyāsī, the perfect yogi.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

He who renounces the fruits of action is called one who has truly renounced.

BG 18.11, Translation and Purport:

It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities. But he who renounces the fruits of action is called one who has truly renounced.

It is said in Bhagavad-gītā that one can never give up work at any time. Therefore he who works for Kṛṣṇa and does not enjoy the fruitive results, who offers everything to Kṛṣṇa, is actually a renouncer. There are many members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness who work very hard in their office or in the factory or some other place, and whatever they earn they give to the Society. Such highly elevated souls are actually sannyāsīs and are situated in the renounced order of life. It is clearly outlined here how to renounce the fruits of work and for what purpose fruits should be renounced.

The worker who is attached to work and the fruits of work, desiring to enjoy those fruits, and who is greedy, always envious, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow, is said to be in the mode of passion.

BG 18.27, Translation and Purport:

The worker who is attached to work and the fruits of work, desiring to enjoy those fruits, and who is greedy, always envious, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow, is said to be in the mode of passion.

A person is too much attached to a certain kind of work or to the result because he has too much attachment for materialism or hearth and home, wife and children. Such a person has no desire for higher elevation in life. He is simply concerned with making this world as materially comfortable as possible. He is generally very greedy, and he thinks that anything attained by him is permanent and never to be lost. Such a person is envious of others and prepared to do anything wrong for sense gratification. Therefore such a person is unclean, and he does not care whether his earning is pure or impure. He is very happy if his work is successful and very much distressed when his work is not successful. Such is the worker in the mode of passion.

SB Canto 1

As long as the propensity for enjoying the fruit of work is there, one has to continue the transmigration of the soul from one body or place to another.

SB 1.5.34, Purport:

As long as the propensity for enjoying the fruit of work is there, one has to continue the transmigration of the soul from one body or place to another, according to one's nature of work. The propensity for enjoyment may be turned into the desire for serving the mission of the Lord, By doing so, one's activity is changed into karma-yoga, or the way by which one can attain spiritual perfection while engaging in the work for which he has a natural tendency.

SB Canto 2

A materialistic men is forced to accept another body in one of the 8,400,000 species of life according to the fruits of the work he has performed.

SB 2.1.16, Purport:

The system of varṇāśrama-dharma, or sanātana-dharma, prescribes retirement from family encumbrances as early as possible after one has passed fifty years of age. Modern civilization is based on family comforts, the highest standard of amenities, and therefore after retirement everyone expects to live a very comfortable life in a well-furnished home decorated with fine ladies and children, without any desire to get out of such a comfortable home. High government officers and ministers stick to their prize posts until death, and they neither dream nor desire to get out of homely comforts. Bound by such hallucinations, materialistic men prepare various plans for a still more comfortable life, but suddenly cruel death comes without mercy and takes away the great planmaker against his desire, forcing him to give up the present body for another body. Such a planmaker is thus forced to accept another body in one of the 8,400,000 species of life according to the fruits of the work he has performed.

SB Canto 4

"One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no work."

SB 4.19.12, Purport:

The saffron dress worn by a sannyāsī announces to the world that he has renounced all worldly affairs and is simply engaged in the service of the Lord. Such a devotee is actually a sannyāsī, or liberated person. In Bhagavad-gītā (6.1) it is said:

anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ

kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ

sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca

na niragnir na cākriyaḥ

"One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no work."

SB Canto 7

Those who stay at home as householders must act to earn their livelihood, and instead of trying to enjoy the results of their work themselves, they should offer these results to Kṛṣṇa.

SB 7.14.2, Translation and Purport:

Nārada Muni replied: My dear King, those who stay at home as householders must act to earn their livelihood, and instead of trying to enjoy the results of their work themselves, they should offer these results to Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva. How to satisfy Vāsudeva in this life can be perfectly understood through the association of great devotees of the Lord.

The format for gṛhastha life should be dedication to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gītā (6.1) it is said:

anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ

kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ

sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca

na niragnir na cākriyaḥ

"One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no work."

SB Canto 8

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, works just like an ordinary human being, yet He does not desire to enjoy the fruits of work.

SB 8.1.16, Translation and Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, works just like an ordinary human being, yet He does not desire to enjoy the fruits of work. He is full in knowledge, free from material desires and diversions, and completely independent. As the supreme teacher of human society, He teaches His own way of activities, and thus He inaugurates the real path of religion. I request everyone to follow Him.

This is the sum and substance of our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We are simply requesting human society to follow in the footsteps of the teacher of Bhagavad-gītā. Follow the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and your life will be successful.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

O Lord, how anyone can transgress Your law and still continue to enjoy the fruits of his work.

SB 10.70.27, Translation:

You are the predominating Lord of the universe and have descended into this world with Your personal power to protect the saintly and suppress the wicked. We cannot understand, O Lord, how anyone can transgress Your law and still continue to enjoy the fruits of his work.

Even while enjoying the fruits of their work, such persons are filled with lamentation.

SB 11.14.11, Translation:

All the persons I have just mentioned obtain temporary fruits from their material work. Indeed, the meager and miserable situations they achieve bring future unhappiness and are based on ignorance. Even while enjoying the fruits of their work, such persons are filled with lamentation.

CC Madhya-lila

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said, "One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life".

CC Madhya 10.108, Purport:

Puruṣottama Ācārya did not accept the sannyāsa order formally, but he renounced worldly life. He did not want to be disturbed by the formality of the sannyāsa order. He simply wanted to worship Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa without disturbance; therefore with heart and soul he took up the renounced order but not the formalities accompanying it. Renunciation means not doing anything but serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. When one acts on this platform, trying to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is both a sannyāsī and a yogī. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (6.1):

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ

sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca na niragnir na cākriyaḥ

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead said, "One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no work.""

Renunciation Through Wisdom

One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.9:

Those who are already executing their work for the satisfaction of Lord Kṛṣṇa are not required to separately perform sacrifices, austerities, or meditation, that are not on the platform of pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Previously we explained that a pure karma-yogī is automatically a brāhmaṇa, sannyāsī, and a yogī. Like a karmī, or fruitive worker, he is expert in performing sacrifices and executing his duties; like a jñānī, or seeker of knowledge, he is renounced and austere; and like a yogī, he is also detached from the fruits of his work and has brought his senses under control. One who is completely detached from all fruitive work and has become attracted to the Supreme Lord and His loving devotional service is simultaneously ornamented with all good qualities. As Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (6.1),

One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no duty.

Since the karma-yogī knows that the ultimate enjoyer of the fruits of all his activities is Lord Kṛṣṇa, he does not hanker after those fruits and is fully detached from them. He always thinks of doing everything for Lord Kṛṣṇa. Such an unattached karma-yogī never thinks that action in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is meant for enjoying sense pleasure or avoiding pain. The sannyāsī renounces everything, including activities prescribed by the scriptures, in favor of cultivating knowledge of the Absolute. The yogī retires from active service and, desiring to see the Supersoul within his heart, spends his days in meditation with half-closed eyes. But he whose work is a sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Supreme makes no endeavors for his physical requirements. Since he is engaged in devotional service to the Supreme Lord, he is not required to execute the ritualistic activities recommended in the scriptures. Such a detached karma-yogī is superior to one who is merely unattached to the fruits of his work. The karma-yogī is automatically accomplished in the knowledge of the Absolute that the sannyāsī seeks and the eight mystic perfections that the meditating yogī aspires for.

Message of Godhead

One must not enjoy the fruits of his work himself, but must dedicate the same for the transcendental loving service of the Personality of Godhead.

Message of Godhead 2:

Those who are genuinely renounced understand that they must not give up performing their prescribed daily duties in the social order, because otherwise there will be disaster, plain and simple. When we cannot secure our everyday sustenance without doing any work, how is it possible to give up our prescribed duties? And yet one must not forget the difficult position of one's being in the network of action and reaction by which the spirit soul becomes bound up in material existence.

So, to solve this dilemma, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, advises us as follows: "The best policy for doing work is to perform all prescribed duties for the satisfaction of Yajña, the Supreme Being—Viṣṇu, the Absolute Truth. Otherwise, all actions will produce reactions that will cause bondage. If work is done for the sake of Yajña, then one can become free from all bondages."

This method of work, or prescribed duties, that does not cause any bondage is called work with transcendental results, or karma-yoga. By such work with transcendental results, or karma-yoga, not only does one become immune from the bondage of work, but also one develops his transcendental devotion toward the Absolute Personality of Godhead. One must not enjoy the fruits of his work himself, but must dedicate the same for the transcendental loving service of the Personality of Godhead.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes the enjoyer of the fruits of the work performed by the transcendentalist.

Message of Godhead 2:

The fact is that Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes the enjoyer of the fruits of the work performed by the transcendentalist. Thus, the transcendentalist has no responsibility for the results of his work, may those results be good or bad in the estimation of worldly people. The transcendentalist acts under the impetus of his obligation to do everything for the sake of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Those who are legitimate or law-abiding persons may be divided into three transcendental divisions.

Message of Godhead 2:

Those who are legitimate or law-abiding persons may be divided into three transcendental divisions: namely, the lawful workers, the empiric philosophers, and the transcendental devotees. The lawful workers are again divided into two sections: namely, the workers with a desire to enjoy the fruits of their work; and the transcendental workers, without any such desire. The worker with a desire to enjoy the fruits of his work is hankering after transient material happiness, and such a worker is rewarded with worldly or heavenly happiness within the material worlds.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Everyone should be engaged in his own work, and by the fruit of his work, he should serve Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 3.18-30 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1968:

Just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was chanting in a secluded place always. Now, if somebody, without being elevated to such high position, imitates, "Oh, Haridāsa Ṭhākura chanted. Let me sit down in a solitary place and chant," he cannot do that. It is not possible. He'll simply imitate and he'll do all nonsense.

Therefore everyone should be engaged in his own work, and by the fruit of his work, he should serve Kṛṣṇa. We cannot imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura. That is a different position. If one is elevated to that position, that is a different thing, but generally, that is not meant for ordinary person. Therefore everyone should do his occupational duty and try to serve the Lord by the result of his work. That should be the motto of life.

Everything, we do in this material world, that "I shall enjoy the fruits of this work like this, the fruits of that work in that way". That is called kāma-saṅkalpa, determination of lust.

Lecture on BG 4.14-19 -- New York, August 3, 1966:

Everything, what we do in this material world, we have got a determination, that "I shall enjoy the fruits of this work like this, the fruits of that work in that way." That is called kāma-saṅkalpa, determination of lust. So one who is free from such lust, kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ... And how it is possible? Jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇam. Jñānāgni. Just like fire, fire burns everything which you put into it. Similarly, one has developed, one who has developed the sense, the real knowledge, that "My life's mission, the, is only to go back to Kṛṣṇa and become Kṛṣṇa consciousness," that is the highest type of knowledge.

That witnessing bird is Kṛṣṇa, and the eating bird is myself. I am eating, I am enjoying the fruits of my work in this material world, and Kṛṣṇa is simply observing.

Lecture on BG 5.22-29 -- New York, August 31, 1966:

In the Vedic literature you find that two birds are sitting on the same tree. One bird is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other bird is witnessing. That witnessing bird is Kṛṣṇa, and the eating bird is myself. I am eating, I am enjoying the fruits of my work in this material world, and Kṛṣṇa is simply observing. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna was talking so many things; Kṛṣṇa was observing. But when Arjuna came to his senses, he surrendered to Kṛṣṇa: śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam (BG 2.7). Similarly, the bird, the Supersoul bird, is sitting. He's simply waiting for the opportunity when he'll say, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa I surrender unto You. Now protect me. Give me instruction." He is waiting.

So this is the formula of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Sannyāsī means he works, but not as the enjoyer of the fruit of the work. Karmī means he is working hard, day and night, but he wants the fruit of the work to enjoy himself.

Lecture on SB 1.15.39 -- Los Angeles, December 17, 1973:

Sannyāsī means renounced. No more family responsibility or any responsibility. Simply to become pure devotee of the Lord. That is sannyāsa. Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ sa sannyāsī (BG 6.1). What is the sannyāsī definition? Sannyāsī means he works, but not as the enjoyer of the fruit of the work. That is sannyāsī. Everyone, karmī... Karmī means he is working hard, day and night, but he wants the fruit of the work to enjoy himself. That is karmī.

General Lectures

If you are family man you have to work for maintaining your family; therefore you have to enjoy the fruits of your work. So this is possible only for a person who had completely dedicated for service of the Lord.

Lecture -- London, September 16, 1969:

Lord Kṛṣṇa said that one who acts for the sake of duty, not for enjoying the fruit, when it is possible... Now, if you are family man you have to work for maintaining your family; therefore you have to enjoy the fruits of your work. So this is possible only for a person who had completely dedicated for service of the Lord.

1968 Correspondence

The fruits of our work is always given to Krishna.

Letter to Gargamuni -- Los Angeles 19 December, 1968:

Actually, for the devotee who is working for Krishna there is only gain of spiritual advancement. The fruits of our work is always given to Krishna and so Krishna accepts the responsibility of what these fruits shall be. So this is our principle of work