Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 4: Knowledge and the Renouncing of Action

Bhagavad Gita 4.23

gatasaṅgasya muktasya jñānāvasthitacetasaḥ | yajñāyācarataḥ karma samagraṃ pravilīyate ||

For one who is free from attachment, liberated, with a mind settled in knowledge, and who acts as an offering, all action melts away.

Modern context

Yajna, sacrifice, becomes the key word of the next ten verses. At its simplest it means doing something as an offering and not as a purchase. A purchase expects a return and creates a claim. An offering is complete in the giving. The verse says that action done in that spirit, by a person who is unattached and clear-minded, 'melts away'. It leaves no trace of debt or claim behind.