निराश्रय

Nirāśraya means not depending on any āśraya, any outer support. In Gita 4.20 it marks the person who has given up clinging to the fruit of action, is inwardly content, and so can stay fully engaged in work without being bound.

The support can take many forms: the result of the work, a position, someone’s praise or approval, a guarantee about the future. When our peace rests on these, every praise lifts us and every criticism drops us. The steadiness of a nirāśraya person does not depend on whether these are present or absent.

Common misreading: taking nirāśraya to mean helpless, unsupported or alone. The verse is about the kind of support on which one’s peace of mind is pledged. It does not say that one refuses company or help.

Better sense: the work is done with the whole mind, but the string of one’s peace is not in the result’s hands.

To read further, see the topic Karma and Akarma.