Context: Karma, Ego & Freedom – The True Meaning of "Karmanye Vadhikaraste" | Acharya Prashant This is perhaps the most quoted and most misunderstood verse of the Bhagavad Gita – Chapter 2, Verse 47. In this powerful and eye-opening session, Acharya Prashant dismantles the ego’s illusions about doership, control, and results. What does it really mean to "act without attachment to results"? Why is the obsession with outcomes the root of human suffering? And how can one act without ego?
Discover the essence of Nishkam Karma, understand why doership is a myth, and see how freedom lies in total immersion in the present.
00:00 - Introduction: The most misunderstood Gita verse 03:15 - Ego and the myth of doership 08:20 - God and ego: Two sides of the same coin 12:00 - Action ≠ Actor: Breaking the false logic 16:45 - Why the ego must control the result 21:30 - Obsession with the future: A symptom of false self 26:00 - What really drives action? 30:40 - Who wakes you up? You or Prakriti? 36:00 - The universe moves itself – no personal doer 41:15 - Bacterium on the tire: A metaphor for the ego 46:00 - Results are random, not yours to control 51:00 - The futility of excessive work 56:15 - Why human labor never ends 59:50 - Living without control – A life of faith 1:03:00 - Clarity vs Confusion: Two centers of living 1:07:00 - Being like the wind: Working without desire 1:12:00 - Nishkam Karma: Misunderstood & misrepresented 1:17:20 - Critique of traditional Karma philosophy 1:23:00 - Freedom from results is not passivity 1:28:10 - Real action flows from realization 1:34:45 - The true meaning of surrender 1:38:40 - Motherhood, duties & false love 1:43:30 - Final reflections: What drives the realized one? 1:46:30 - Q&A: Existential angst, Sartre, simulations, and the core of suffering
