never think of the successful outcome of your action, nor expect any rewards from such action

 

कुर्वन्नेवैह कर्माणि जिजीविषेच्च्छतं समा।

एष त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म लिप्यते नरे॥

यजुर्वेद ४०-२ ईशवास्य उपनिषद् २

kurvannevaiha karmāṇi jijīviṣeccchataṁ samā|

eṣa tvayi nānyatheto'sti na karma lipyate nare||

yajurveda 40-2 īśavāsya upaniśad 2

A very relevant advice contained in Yajurveda, which is reiterated in Isha Upanishad and reinforced by all spiritual text from Gita onwards.

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You should have desire to live for the full hundred years given to you. However, you spend that life performing noble deeds. Once you are born, you have no other option. In addition, never think of the successful outcome of your action, nor expect any rewards from such action. If you live that way, the effects of the karmas like papas and punya will never stick on to you.

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Our existence with utter indifference to result, with keen dedication to the work on hand-- The Vedas underlined the idea, although Upanishads and Bhagavat Gita later developed this idea into the ultimate slogan or clarion call for good lifestyle.

Gita’s noble call

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचान

मा कर्म फल हेतुर्भूः मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि

Meaning

Do your duty (in the best way possible) and never care much for the results, because you have control only over the deeds and not on the results

Do not become a fellow who waits anxiously for the results of your work, nor develop any propensity to be inactive.

The quotes and the comments may look very archaic since every person worth his salt reiterated the idea, and those who were successful actually lived by such dicta.

Nevertheless, they are worth remembering repeatedly as long as we live. The ideas are something like the water we drink or the air we breathe.

Regards

k v ananthanarayanan