Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 19

तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर | असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ||

tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ kāryaṁ karma samācara asakto hy ācarankarma paramāpnoti pūruṣaḥ

Therefore, always perform your duty without attachment. By performing action without attachment, one attains the Supreme.

After condemning those who live in vain and explaining that the truly enlightened need no duty, Krishna gives the path for everyone else: perform your duty (kāryaṁ karma) constantly (satatam), but without attachment (asaktaḥ) to outcomes. This is nishkama karma—maximum engagement, zero grasping. You stay in action, fully present, but release all need for specific results. The promise: param āpnoti—you reach the Supreme not through withdrawal but through engaged, detached action. This works. King Janaka proved it.