Karma Yoga (karma-yoga)

Karma yoga is the path of liberation through action rather than away from it, offered in the Bhagavad Gita to a warrior who would rather walk off the field. Krishna argues that no one can stay actionless even for a moment, that renouncing work while brooding on it is hypocrisy, and that work done as offering leaves no residue. It is the Mahabharata's answer to the ascetic ideal, insisting that a king, a soldier or a butcher can reach the same end as a forest hermit.