Chapter 4: Knowledge and Renouncing Action

ज्ञानकर्मसंन्यासयोग · 42 verses. Lord Shri Krishna said: I taught this imperishable philosophy to Vivaswān, the founder of the Sun dynasty; Vivaswān gave it to Manu, the lawgiver, and Manu to King Ikshvāku.

4.1 Lord Shri Krishna said: I taught this imperishable philosophy to Vivaswān, the founder of the Sun dynasty; Vivaswān gave it to Manu, the lawgiver, and Manu to King Ikshvā…
4.2 The Divine Kings knew it, for it was their tradition; then, after a long time, it was at last forgotten.
4.3 It is the same ancient path that I have now revealed to you, for you are my devotee and my friend. It is the supreme secret.
4.4 Arjuna asked: My Lord! Vyasawana was born before You; how then can You have revealed it to him?
4.5 Lord Shri Krishna replied: I have been born again and again, from time to time; thou too, O Arjuna! My births are known to me, but yours are unknown to you.
4.6 There is no beginning to Me. Though I am imperishable and the Lord of all that exists, I manifest Myself by My own will and power.
4.7 Whenever spirituality decays and materialism is rampant, then, O Arjuna, I reincarnate myself.
4.8 To protect the righteous, to destroy the wicked, and to establish the kingdom of God, I am reborn from age to age.
4.9 He who realizes the divine truth concerning My birth and life does not take birth again; and when he leaves his body, he becomes one with Me.
4.10 Many have merged their existences in Mine, being freed from desire, fear, and anger, always filled with Me and purified by the illuminating flame of self-abnegation.
4.11 However men try to worship Me, I welcome them. Whatever path they take, it leads to Me in the end.
4.12 Those who seek success worship the Powers, and their actions in this world bear immediate fruit.
4.13 The four divisions of society—the wise, the soldier, the merchant, and the laborer—were created by Me, according to the natural distribution of qualities and instincts.
4.14 My actions do not bind Me, nor do I desire anything that they can bring. He who thus realizes Me is not enslaved by action.
4.15 In the light of wisdom, our ancestors who sought deliverance performed their acts. Act thou also as our fathers of old did.
4.16 What is action and what is inaction? This is a question that has bewildered the wise.
4.17 It is necessary to consider what is right action, what is wrong action, and what is inaction, for the law of action is mysterious.
4.18 He who can see inaction in action, and action in inaction, is the wisest among men. He is a saint, even though he still acts.
4.19 The wise call him a sage, for whatever he undertakes is free from the motive of desire, and his deeds are purified by the fire of wisdom.
4.20 Having surrendered all claim to the results of his actions, he is always contented and independent; in reality, he does nothing, even though he appears to be acting.
4.21 Expecting nothing, his mind and personality controlled, without greed, doing only bodily actions; though he acts, he remains untainted.
4.22 Content with what comes to him without any effort of his own, rising above the pairs of opposites, free from envy, his mind balanced in both success and failure; though h…
4.23 He who is without attachment, free, his mind centered in wisdom, and his actions done as a sacrifice, leave no trace behind.
4.24 For him, the sacrifice is the Spirit; the Spirit and the offering are one; it is the Spirit that is sacrificed in its own fire, and the man, even in action, is united wit…
4.25 Some sages sacrifice to the powers, while others offer themselves on the altar of the eternal.
4.26 Some sacrifice their physical senses in the fire of self-control; others offer up their contact with external objects in the sacrificial fire of their senses.
4.27 Others again sacrifice their activities and vitality in the spiritual fire of self-abnegation, kindled by wisdom.
4.28 Others offer as their sacrifice wealth, austerities, and meditation. Monks, wedded to their vows, renounce their scriptural learning and even their spiritual powers.
4.29 There are some who practice controlling the vital energy and governing the subtle forces of prana and apana, thereby sacrificing their prana to apana, or their apana to p…
4.30 Others, controlling their diet, sacrifice their worldly life to the spiritual fire. All understand the principle of sacrifice, and by it their sins are washed away.
4.31 Tasting the nectar of immortality, as the reward of sacrifice, they reach the Eternal. This world is not for those who refuse to sacrifice; nor is the other world.
4.32 In this way, other sacrifices may also be undertaken for the sake of the Spirit. Know that they all depend on action. Knowing this, you will be free.
4.33 The sacrifice of wisdom is superior to any material sacrifice, for, O Arjuna, the pinnacle of action is always realization.
4.34 This you shall learn by prostrating yourself at the master's feet, questioning them, and serving them. The wise who have realized the truth will teach you wisdom.
4.35 Having known That, you shall never again be confounded; and, O Arjuna, by the power of that wisdom, you shall see all these people as if they were your own Self, and ther…
4.36 Even if you are the greatest of sinners, you will cross over all sin by the ferryboat of wisdom.
4.37 As the kindled fire consumes the fuel, so, O Arjuna, the embers of action are burnt to ashes in the flame of wisdom.
4.38 There is nothing in the world so purifying as wisdom; and he who is a perfect saint finds that at last within himself.
4.39 He who is full of faith attains wisdom, and he who can control his senses, having attained that wisdom, will soon attain Supreme Peace.
4.40 But the ignorant man, and he who has no faith, and the skeptic are lost. Neither in this world nor elsewhere is there any happiness in store for him who always doubts.
4.41 But the one who has renounced their actions for meditation, who has cleaved their doubts in two by the sword of wisdom, and who remains always enthroned in their Self, is…
4.42 Therefore, cleave asunder with the sword of wisdom the doubts of the heart, which your own ignorance has engendered, and follow the path of wisdom and arise!

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