Bhagavad Gita · 4.21 · Path of Knowledge and the Disciplines of Action·21 of 42
निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः।शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
nirāśhīr yata-chittātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ
śhārīraṁ kevalaṁ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣham
Sanskrit recitation
What counts as real action · 4.16–4.23 · Teaching
Translation
Without hope, controlling the mind and the self, having abandoned all covetousness, and performing only bodily actions, one incurs no sin.
Meaning
The liberated sage renounces all actions except what is necessary for the bare maintenance of the body. He has abandoned all possessions. He incurs no sin which will cause evil effects. For a man who thirsts for liberation (Mumukshu) even righteous activity (Dharma) is a sin as it causes bondage to Samsara. Dharma is a golden fetter for him. A golden fetter is also a fetter. A sage is liberated from both Dharma and Adharma, good and evil or virtue and vice. (Cf.III.7)
After Swami Sivananda
What counts as real action· 4.16–4.23→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 4.16What is action? What is inaction? Even the wise are confused about this. Therefore, I shall teach you the nature of action and inaction, by knowing which you will be liberated from the evil of Samsara, the wheel of birth and death.
- 4.17For verily, the true nature of action enjoined by the scriptures should be known, as well as that of forbidden or unlawful action, and of inaction; the nature of action is hard to understand.
- 4.18He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction, he is wise among men; he is a yogi and performer of all actions.
- 4.19He whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and selfish purposes, and whose actions have been burned by the fire of knowledge, the wise call him a sage.
- 4.20Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of the action, ever content, depending on nothing, he does not do anything even while being engaged in activity.
4.21Without hope, controlling the mind and the self, having abandoned all covetousness, and performing only bodily actions, one incurs no sin.
- 4.22Content with what comes to him without effort, free from the pairs of opposites and envy, even-minded in success and failure, he acts yet is not bound.
- 4.23To one who is devoid of attachment, who is liberated, whose mind is established in knowledge, and who works for the sake of sacrifice (for the sake of God), the whole action is dissolved.
Word-by-word→
- nirāśhīḥ
- free from expectations
- yata
- controlled
- chitta-ātmā
- mind and intellect
- tyakta
- having abandoned
- sarva
- all
- parigrahaḥ
- the sense of ownership
- śhārīram
- bodily
- kevalam
- only
- karma
- actions
- kurvan
- performing
- na
- never
- āpnoti
- incurs
- kilbiṣham
- sin
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