The birds sing for him. The cattle crowd around him. He strokes their backs with affection. He looks with loving eyes on the plants and trees that he has raised. There is a pure, a sattvik joy in these actions. And this joy itself is the foremost, the real fruit of action. Weighed against this, the outer, the material fruit is quite secondary.
By taking man's attention away from the fruit, the Gita multiplies a hundredfold his concentration on his work. The disinterested worker's concentration on his work is itself a kind of samadhi (an experience of oneness). It follows that his joy is many times greater than that of others. If we look at it this way, it becomes at once clear that desireless action is itself a great reward.

Does not Jnanadev ask, "The tree yields fruit. Would you have the fruit yield further fruit?" When this body, like a tree, has brought the beautiful fruit of disinterested pursuit of svadharma, why look for any other fruit? Why should the farmer who has sown wheat, sell it and eat bread of millets? Why grow bananas and, selling the fruit, buy chilies instead? Eat what you sow, my brother. But the world does not accept all this. Though they have the good fortune to be able to live on bananas, they relish chilies. The Gita says, "Don't do this; but eat action itself, drink action itself, digest action itself." Everything else comes with the performance of action. A child plays for the joy of playing. The benefit of exercise comes of its own accord. But the child does not think of this benefit. All his joy is in the playing.

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