18-4

निश्चयम् शृणु मे तत्र त्यागे भरतसत्तम ।
त्यागो हि पुरुष व्याघ्र त्रिविधः संप्रकीर्तितः ॥ ४ ॥

nizcayam zRNu me tatra tyAge bharatasattama |
tyAgo hi puruSa vyAghra trividhaH saMprakIrtitaH || 4 ||

भरतसत्तम [bharatasattama] Arjuna, शृणु [zRNu] listen मे निश्चयम् [me nizcayam] to My resolution तत्र त्यागे [tatra tyAge] in the meaning of ‘letting go’. हि [hi] Indeed, त्यागः [tyAgaH] ‘letting go’ संप्रकीर्तितः [saMprakIrtitaH] is mentioned त्रिविधः [trividhaH] in three ways, पुरुष व्याघ्र [puruSa vyAghra] O man of courage!

Listen to My resolution in this matter of perplexing declarations of ‘letting go’. In work that complies to the scriptures, I have explained the concept of ‘letting go’ in three ways - let go the outcome of action, let go of possessiveness in actions and let go of the belief that you have made it happen.

I explained this before in 3-30: Fight without grief, dedicating all actions in Me, keeping your mind in the Self and the Lord, being uninterested in the fruits of action, without feeling ‘it is mine’.

Let go of outcomes and possessiveness. Don’t be the reason.

The first way is to let-go the outcome of our actions - outcomes such as comfort and enjoyment - with the conviction that ‘they are not mine’. This is called फल त्याग [phala tyAga] .

In terms of doing the action, it’s to let-go of the belief that ‘Actions are mine because their outcome is for me’. It’s about letting go of possessiveness in actions. This is ममता त्याग [mamatA tyAga] .

Leaving the belief that we make things happen is to let-go of the belief that the Self is the agent of actions. This is done by placing the Lord as the One who makes all actions happen. This is [kartr’tva tyAga].