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Home · Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 4

Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 4

Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Knowledge & Renunciation of Action

Krishna reveals the lineage of the teaching and the deepest analysis of action: seeing inaction in action, action as sacrifice, and knowledge as the fire that burns all karma to ash.

All 42 verses

Each verse links to its full Sanskrit text, transliteration, plain-English meaning, key learning and practical application.

Gita 4.1-3imaṃ vivasvate yogaṃ proktavānahamavyayam | vivasvānmanave prāha manurikṣvākave'…The Blessed Lord said: I taught this imperishable yoga to Vivasvan; Vivasvan told it to Manu; Manu spoke it to Ikshvaku.…Gita 4.4aparaṃ bhavato janma paraṃ janma vivasvataḥ | kathametadvijānīyāṃ tvamādau prokt…Arjuna said: Your birth was later, Vivasvan's birth was earlier, how am I to understand that You taught this in the begi…Gita 4.5bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna | tānyahaṃ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṃ vettha …The Blessed Lord said: Many births of Mine have passed, and of yours too, O Arjuna. I know them all; you do not know the…Gita 4.6ajo'pi sannavyayātmā bhūtānāmīśvaro'pi san | prakṛtiṃ svāmadhiṣṭhāya sambhavāmyā…Though unborn and imperishable by nature, though Lord of all beings, yet presiding over My own nature, I take birth by M…Gita 4.7-8yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānirbhavati bhārata | abhyutthānamadharmasya tadātmānaṃ…Whenever there is a decline of dharma and a rise of adharma, O Bharata, then I manifest Myself. For the protection of th…Gita 4.9janma karma ca me divyamevaṃ yo vetti tattvataḥ | tyaktvā dehaṃ punarjanma naiti…One who thus knows in truth My divine birth and action does not take birth again on leaving the body, but comes to Me, O…Gita 4.10vītarāgabhayakrodhā manmayā māmupāśritāḥ | bahavo jñānatapasā pūtā madbhāvamāgat…Freed from passion, fear, and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the austerity of knowledge, many h…Gita 4.11ye yathā māṃ prapadyante tāṃstathaiva bhajāmyaham | mama vartmānuvartante manuṣy…In whatever way people approach Me, in that same way I receive them; all paths, O Partha, lead to Me.Gita 4.12kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṃ siddhiṃ yajanta iha devatāḥ | kṣipraṃ hi mānuṣe loke siddhir…Longing for success in actions, people here worship the gods; for quickly in the human world comes success born of actio…Gita 4.13cāturvarṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭaṃ guṇakarmavibhāgaśaḥ | tasya kartāramapi māṃ viddhyakart…The fourfold order was created by Me according to divisions of guna and action. Though I am its creator, know Me as the …Gita 4.14-15na māṃ karmāṇi limpanti na me karmaphale spṛhā | iti māṃ yo'bhijānāti karmabhirn…Actions do not taint Me, nor do I long for their fruit. One who knows Me thus is not bound by actions. Knowing this, the…Gita 4.16kiṃ karma kimakarmeti kavayo'pyatra mohitāḥ | tatte karma pravakṣyāmi yajjñātvā …What is action? What is inaction? Even the wise are confused herein. I shall declare to you that action, knowing which y…Gita 4.17karmaṇo hyapi boddhavyaṃ boddhavyaṃ ca vikarmaṇaḥ | akarmaṇaśca boddhavyaṃ gahan…For the nature of action must be known, and the nature of wrong action, and the nature of inaction, profound is the way …Gita 4.18karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśyedakarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ | sa buddhimānmanuṣyeṣu sa yuktaḥ …One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is wise among humans; that one is a yogi, accomplisher of all a…Gita 4.19yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāmasaṅkalpavarjitāḥ | jñānāgnidagdhakarmāṇaṃ tamāhuḥ pa…One whose every undertaking is free from desire and selfish purpose, whose actions are burnt by the fire of knowledge, t…Gita 4.20-21tyaktvā karmaphalāsaṅgaṃ nityatṛpto nirāśrayaḥ | karmaṇyabhipravṛtto'pi naiva ki…Abandoning attachment to the fruits of action, ever content, dependent on nothing, such a one, though engaged in action,…Gita 4.22yadṛcchālābhasantuṣṭo dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ | samaḥ siddhāvasiddhau ca kṛtvāpi …Content with whatever comes unsought, beyond the pairs of opposites, free from envy, the same in success and failure, ev…Gita 4.23gatasaṅgasya muktasya jñānāvasthitacetasaḥ | yajñāyācarataḥ karma samagraṃ pravi…Of one whose attachment is gone, who is liberated, whose mind is established in knowledge, who acts for sacrifice, all k…Gita 4.24brahmārpaṇaṃ brahma havirbrahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam | brahmaiva tena gantavyaṃ br…Brahman is the offering, Brahman the oblation, poured by Brahman into the fire of Brahman; Brahman alone is attained by …Gita 4.25-30daivamevāpare yajñaṃ yoginaḥ paryupāsate | brahmāgnāvapare yajñaṃ yajñenaivopaju…Some yogis offer sacrifice to the gods; others offer sacrifice itself into the fire of Brahman. Some offer hearing and t…Gita 4.31yajñaśiṣṭāmṛtabhujo yānti brahma sanātanam | nāyaṃ loko'styayajñasya kuto'nyaḥ k…Eating the nectar of the remnant of sacrifice, they go to the eternal Brahman. Even this world is not for the non-sacrif…Gita 4.32evaṃ bahuvidhā yajñā vitatā brahmaṇo mukhe | karmajānviddhi tānsarvānevaṃ jñātvā…Thus many forms of sacrifice are spread out before the face of Brahman. Know them all to be born of action; knowing thus…Gita 4.33śreyāndravyamayādyajñājjñānayajñaḥ parantapa | sarvaṃ karmākhilaṃ pārtha jñāne p…Better than the sacrifice of material things is the sacrifice of knowledge, O scorcher of foes; all action in its entire…Gita 4.34tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā | upadekṣyanti te jñānaṃ jñāninastattv…Know that by prostration, by inquiry, and by service; the knowers of truth who have seen the reality will teach you know…Gita 4.35yajjñātvā na punarmohamevaṃ yāsyasi pāṇḍava | yena bhūtānyaśeṣeṇa drakṣyasyātman…Knowing this, you will not fall again into such delusion, O Pandava; by this you will see all beings in the Self, and al…Gita 4.36api cedasi pāpebhyaḥ sarvebhyaḥ pāpakṛttamaḥ | sarvaṃ jñānaplavenaiva vṛjinaṃ sa…Even if you were the most sinful of all sinners, you would cross over all sin by the raft of knowledge alone.Gita 4.37yathaidhāṃsi samiddho'gnirbhasmasātkurute'rjuna | jñānāgniḥ sarvakarmāṇi bhasmas…As a blazing fire reduces wood to ashes, O Arjuna, so the fire of knowledge reduces all karma to ashes.Gita 4.38na hi jñānena sadṛśaṃ pavitramiha vidyate | tatsvayaṃ yogasaṃsiddhaḥ kālenātmani…There is nothing in this world as purifying as knowledge. One perfected in yoga finds it in oneself, in time.Gita 4.39śraddhāvā~llabhate jñānaṃ tatparaḥ saṃyatendriyaḥ | jñānaṃ labdhvā parāṃ śāntima…One who has faith, who is devoted to it, who has mastered the senses, obtains knowledge; having obtained knowledge, one …Gita 4.40ajñaścāśraddadhānaśca saṃśayātmā vinaśyati | nāyaṃ loko'sti na paro na sukhaṃ sa…But the ignorant, the faithless, the doubting self perishes. For the doubter there is neither this world, nor the next, …Gita 4.41yogasaṃnyastakarmāṇaṃ jñānasañchinnasaṃśayam | ātmavantaṃ na karmāṇi nibadhnanti…Actions do not bind one who has renounced action through yoga, whose doubt is cut by knowledge, who is possessed of the …Gita 4.42tasmādajñānasambhūtaṃ hṛtsthaṃ jñānāsinātmanaḥ | chittvainaṃ saṃśayaṃ yogamātiṣṭ…Therefore, with the sword of knowledge cut this doubt born of ignorance residing in your heart, take refuge in yoga, and…

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All 18 chapters

1Arjuna Vishada YogaThe Yoga of Arjuna's Despair 2Sankhya YogaThe Yoga of Knowledge 3Karma YogaThe Yoga of Action 4Jnana Karma Sanyasa YogaKnowledge & Renunciation of Action 5Karma Sanyasa YogaThe Yoga of Renunciation 6Dhyana YogaThe Yoga of Meditation 7Jnana Vijnana YogaKnowledge of the Absolute 8Akshara Brahma YogaThe Imperishable Absolute 9Raja Vidya Raja Guhya YogaThe Royal Knowledge & Royal Secret 10Vibhuti YogaThe Yoga of Divine Glories 11Vishvarupa Darshana YogaThe Vision of the Universal Form 12Bhakti YogaThe Yoga of Devotion 13Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga YogaThe Field & the Knower of the Field 14Gunatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Gunas 15Purushottama YogaThe Supreme Person 16Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga YogaThe Divine & Demonic Natures 17Shraddhatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Kinds of Faith 18Moksha Sanyasa YogaLiberation through Renunciation