Q0204

“You have a right to action alone, never to its fruits.” — Bhagavad Gita (Bhagavad Gita 2.47)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: Bhagavad Gita 2.47. Theme: action.

English

You have a right to action alone, never to its fruits.
Thinker Bhagavad Gita
School Indian Classical Philosophy
Source Bhagavad Gita 2.47
Theme Action

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Bhagavad Gita 2.47 and files it under Indian Classical Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita appears in this archive through verified English quotations associated with the Indian Classical Philosophy tradition. Biographical certainty varies by figure and text; where the “author” is a scripture or school anthology, read the name as a traditional attribution rather than a modern individual biography.

How to read this passage

Philosophy of action asks how intentions, reasons, habits, and consequences hang together. Ethical traditions often insist that knowing the good is incomplete without doing it. This passage enters that discussion through action, morality.

Concepts in this quote

Action
Action concerns agency: what it is to do something intentionally, and how thought becomes practice.
Morality
Morality in philosophy concerns right and wrong, obligation, and the standards by which we judge persons and acts.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Bhagavad Gita. (n.d.). You have a right to action alone, never to its fruits. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0204

MLA: Bhagavad Gita. “You have a right to action alone, never….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0204.

Chicago: Bhagavad Gita. “You have a right to action alone, never….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0204.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “You have a right to action alone, never…”?

The passage is attributed to Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavad Gita 2.47. The archive attributes this English wording to Bhagavad Gita 2.47 and files it under Indian Classical Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Bhagavad Gita mean by action?

Philosophy of action asks how intentions, reasons, habits, and consequences hang together. Ethical traditions often insist that knowing the good is incomplete without doing it. This passage enters that discussion through action, morality.