Bonded work is compensation, free work is compassion || Acharya Prashant, on Bhagavad Gita (2020)

यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्च मानवः।

आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते।। 3.17 ।।

yas tvātma-ratir eva syād ātma-tṛiptaśh cha mānavaḥ

ātmanyeva cha santuṣhṭas tasya kāryaṁ na vidyate

The man who rejoices only in the Self and is satisfied with the Self, and is contended only in the Self — for him there is no duty to perform

~ Shrimad Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 17

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न बुद्धिभेदं जनयेदज्ञानां कर्मसङ्गिनाम्।

जोषयेत्सर्वकर्माणि विद्वान् युक्तः समाचरन्।। 3.26 ।।

na buddhi-bhedaṁ janayed ajñānāṁ karma-saṅginām

joṣhayet sarva-karmāṇi vidvān yuktaḥ samācharan

The wise man established in the Self should not unsettle the mind of the ignorant one attached to action, but should get them to perform all their duties while dually performing his own duties.

~ Shrimad Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 26

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Question: In verse 17, Shri Krishna says that there is no duty to perform for the one who rejoices only in the Self. Yet, when we look at the…