2.38
सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ | ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि ||३८||
sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi
Translation
Do battle for the sake of battle — treating pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as the same. Then you will incur no sin.
Interpretation
This is the first teaching of Nishkama Karma (action without attachment). Fight not for pleasure, gain, or victory — but simply because it is your duty. When the outcome is surrendered to the divine, when the fruits of action are not held as personal, the action itself becomes pure. No sin accrues from action done with this equanimity.