Adhikara
adhikāra · अधिकार
What does adhikara mean?
Adhikāra means claim, charge, or rightful scope: the field that is yours to stand in and act on. The Bhagavad Gita uses the word once, in 2.47, where Krishna tells Arjuna that his adhikāra is in action alone and never in the fruits of action.
In Sanskrit generally the word is formed from adhi, over, and the root kṛ, to do or make; adhi-kṛ is to place someone over a thing, to appoint. What someone is placed over is in their charge. So adhikāra is a field of authority or claim, the work that is properly yours, more like a jurisdiction than a wish.
The Gita has it only once, at 2.47: karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana. Telang renders the line "Your business is with action alone; not by any means with fruit." The verse places the claim in karmaṇi, in action, narrows it with eva, only, and denies it in phaleṣu, the fruits, with mā kadācana, never at any time.
The boundary cuts both ways. The same verse goes on: mā karmaphalahetur bhūḥ, do not make the fruit of action your motive, and mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi, let there be no attachment to inaction. A claim to action is not a licence to drop action.
Taken as a right to work, the line is fair if right means what is properly yours. It misleads if it suggests an entitlement to be demanded from others. In this verse adhikāra draws a line between what belongs to you, the deed, and what does not, the outcome.
Questions
How often does the Bhagavad Gita use the word adhikāra?
Once, in 2.47. Other Gita verses with adhika, such as 6.46, use a different word meaning greater or more.
Does adhikāra mean "right"?
Roughly, in the sense of what is properly yours. The word is closer to claim or charge: a field placed under you. Telang translates it as "business".
If my claim is not to the fruits, should I stop acting?
No. The same verse says mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi, let there be no attachment to inaction. The claim is to the action itself.
Related terms
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