Revision summary
Anasakta Yoga is Gita’s non-attachment: act fully, do not own the fruit. It is nishkama karma, not laziness or coldness. Civil servants should work the file without craving ACR, posting, or a crowd’s cheer. Honesty should not need a camera; a posting should not be avenged on citizens. Public harm still matters; illegal orders are not destiny.
Model answer
Introduction
Anasakta Yoga in the Gita is action without clinging to the fruit. For a civil servant it is the inner method of doing the file fully, without bargaining for posting, praise, or revenge.
Body
What Anasakta Yoga is
- Anasakti is non-attachment: the work is offered, the result is not clutched as personal property.
- The Gita’s nishkama karma is the same teaching: you have a right to action, not to a guaranteed fruit.
- It is not laziness and not indifference. The bow must still be drawn well; only the ego’s claim on the trophy is dropped.
- Equanimity in success and failure, heat and cold, is the yoga; the quality of duty remains high.
- Attachment here means craving, fear, and the private story “this order must make me look powerful”.
Message to civil servants
- Do the noting as if the transfer list did not exist: the widow’s pension is not a tool for a good ACR.
- Refuse the envelope without needing a camera; the fruit of honesty is not a viral clip.
- Accept a lawful, inconvenient posting without treating the district as a punishment to be avenged on citizens.
- Stay impartial when a ruling crowd wants a fruit of humiliation; anasakti is also non-attachment to popularity.
- Do not confuse anasakti with coldness: the Gita still demands care in the act; the citizen’s harm is not “someone else’s fruit”.
Limits of the teaching in office
- An illegal order is not a fruit to be accepted as destiny; dissent and written directions remain duties.
- Outcomes for the public still matter: a collapsed bridge is not excused as “I was unattached”.
- The message is inner freedom from ego-fruit, not a waiver of competence or compassion.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD A[Anasakti] --> D[Full duty] A --> N[No clutch on fruit] D --> S[Impartial service] N[N] --> S[S]
Conclusion
Anasakta Yoga is skilled duty without a private clutch on the result. Its message to the service is a clean file, an unbought hand, and equanimity — without turning the citizen into a statistic of detachment.
Quick related
Students also ask
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What is Kant's doctrine of 'duty for duty's sake'? What is the role of this principle in civil services? Discuss.
Next question in the 2020 paper (Q14). View answer →
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Does anasakti mean I should not care if a scheme fails?
No. You should care as duty. You should not clutch failure as a private insult or success as a private trophy.
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Is this only a Hindu teaching for a secular service?
The Gita is the paper’s source. The ethic — do the work, do not sell it for fruit — is also Kant, Nolan, and the Conduct Rules.
Same topic · past papers
UPPSC has asked this before
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2024 · Q9 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
Explain your suggestions to promote tolerance and compassion among civil servants to serve better the weaker sections. -
2023 · Q1 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
What do you understand by Moral insight? How does it help in the moral situation of civil servants? -
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How can liberality and objectivity be fostered among civil servants? Give your suggestions. -
2023 · Q13 · UPGS4 · 12 marks
Can Bhagavad Gita be an ethical guide for civil servants? Comment. -
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Describe the strategies that civil servants can employ to overcome resistance to change and effectively persuade stakeholders to support new policies and initiatives.
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