“Devoted to (delighting in) his own duty (sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ), a man attains perfection.” A fair puzzle: how can one be nirata / abhirata — “delighting in, intent upon” — one’s work, and yet asakta, unattached? Are these not opposites? The resolution is subtle and important. The delight sanctioned here is delight in the doing well — in the wholehearted, skilful, offered performance of one’s duty — not attachment to its fruit. One may pour oneself joyfully into the action (that is nirata) while renouncing all grasping at the result (that is asakta). Indeed the two go together: only the mind freed from anxiety about outcomes is free enough to delight in the work itself. The craftsman lost happily in his craft, indifferent to the applause, is both abhirata and asakta. So there is no contradiction: love the labour, release the reward. And 18.46 completes it — this “delight” is really worship: “by worshipping, through his own duty, Him from whom all beings spring, a man attains perfection.” Work done as offering is the delight.