Chapter 4 · 42 verses

Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga: Knowledge and the Renunciation of Action

अध्याय 4 — ज्ञानकर्मसंन्यासयोग

Krishna reveals that he comes into the world again and again to protect goodness, and explains how wisdom frees a person while they still act.

श्रीकृष्ण बताते हैं कि धर्म की रक्षा के लिए वे बार-बार अवतार लेते हैं, और समझाते हैं कि ज्ञान कर्म करते हुए भी मनुष्य को कैसे मुक्त करता है।

Verse 4.1इमं विवस्वते योगं प्रोक्तवानहमव्ययम् …Krishna says He first taught this timeless yoga to Vivasvan, the sun-god, who passed it to Manu, who in turn passed it to King Ikshvaku.
Verse 4.2एवं परम्पराप्राप्तमिमं राजर्षयो विदुः …This wisdom was handed down from king to king, and the royal sages understood it. But over a long stretch of time, the teaching was lost to the world.
Verse 4.3स एवायं मया तेऽद्य योगः प्रोक्तः पुरातनः …Krishna tells Arjuna that He is now sharing this same ancient yoga with him, because Arjuna is His devotee and friend — and this is a deep, precious secret.
Verse 4.4अपरं भवतो जन्म परं जन्म विवस्वतः …Arjuna is puzzled: Krishna was born recently, while Vivasvan lived long ago. How could Krishna have taught him in the beginning?
Verse 4.5बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन …Krishna replies that both He and Arjuna have had many births. Krishna remembers all of them, but Arjuna does not.
Verse 4.6अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन् …Though Krishna is unborn, unchanging, and the master of all beings, He appears in the world by His own power, working through His own nature.
Verse 4.7यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत …Whenever righteousness declines and unrighteousness rises, I manifest Myself.
Verse 4.8परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् …Krishna says He appears age after age to protect good people, to end wrongdoing, and to set dharma firmly back in place.
Verse 4.9जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः …Whoever truly understands that Krishna's birth and actions are divine is not reborn after leaving the body — that person comes to Krishna.
Verse 4.10वीतरागभयक्रोधा मन्मया मामुपाश्रिताः …Many people, freed from craving, fear, and anger, taking refuge in Krishna and purified by wisdom and self-discipline, have reached His nature.
Verse 4.11ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् …Krishna says that however people approach Him, He responds to them in the same way. Every path people walk ultimately leads toward Him.
Verse 4.12काङ्क्षन्तः कर्मणां सिद्धिं यजन्त इह देवताः …People who want quick success in worldly work worship the gods, because in this human world results from ritual action come fast.
Verse 4.13चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः …Krishna says He created the fourfold order of society based on people's qualities and work. Yet though He is its maker, He remains beyond all action.
Verse 4.14न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा …Actions do not bind Krishna, and He has no craving for their results. Whoever understands Him this way is also not bound by their own actions.
Verse 4.15एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः …Knowing this, seekers of freedom in earlier times still did their work. So Arjuna too should act, just as the ancients did.
Verse 4.16किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिताः …Even wise people get confused about what action is and what inaction is. Krishna promises to explain action clearly, so Arjuna can be free from harm.
Verse 4.17कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः …One must understand right action, wrong action, and inaction, because the way action works is deep and hard to grasp.
Verse 4.18कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः …Someone who sees inaction within action and action within inaction is truly wise. Such a person is steady in yoga even while doing everything.
Verse 4.19यस्य सर्वे समारम्भाः कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः …The wise call someone learned when all their efforts are free from selfish desire and scheming, and their actions have been burned clean in the fire of knowledge.
Verse 4.20त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रयः …Giving up attachment to results, always content and not leaning on anything, such a person does nothing binding even while fully busy with work.
Verse 4.21निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः …Without longing, with mind and body under control, and letting go of the urge to own things, one who acts only to keep the body going does not fall into wrongdoing.
Verse 4.22यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः …Happy with whatever comes naturally, beyond opposites like pleasure and pain, free of jealousy, and steady in success or failure — such a person is not bound even while acting.
Verse 4.23गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः …For someone free of attachment, liberated, with a mind settled in knowledge, who works as an offering, all their actions dissolve completely.
Verse 4.24ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्महविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम् …The act of offering is Brahman, the offering is Brahman, poured by Brahman into the fire of Brahman. One who sees the Divine in every action reaches the Divine.
Verse 4.25दैवमेवापरे यज्ञं योगिनः पर्युपासते …Some yogis offer worship to the gods, while others offer the self itself as an offering into the fire of the Supreme.
Verse 4.26श्रोत्रादीनीन्द्रियाण्यन्ये संयमाग्निषु जुह्वति …Some offer their senses like hearing into the fire of restraint; others offer sounds and other sense objects into the fire of the senses.
Verse 4.27सर्वाणीन्द्रियकर्माणि प्राणकर्माणि चापरे …Others offer all the workings of the senses and of life-energy into the fire of self-control, lit by knowledge.
Verse 4.28द्रव्ययज्ञास्तपोयज्ञा योगयज्ञास्तथापरे …Some offer wealth, some offer austerity, some offer yoga practice, and others with firm vows offer the study of scripture and knowledge.
Verse 4.29अपाने जुह्वति प्राण प्राणेऽपानं तथाऽपरे …Some, devoted to breath control, offer the outgoing breath into the incoming and the incoming into the outgoing, holding the flow of breath.
Verse 4.30अपरे नियताहाराः प्राणान्प्राणेषु जुह्वति …Others, eating in moderation, offer their life-breaths into themselves. All of these know the meaning of sacrifice, and through it their faults are washed away.
Verse 4.31यज्ञशिष्टामृतभुजो यान्ति ब्रह्म सनातनम् …Those who enjoy what remains after sacrifice reach the eternal. But for someone who never gives or offers anything, there is no good even in this world, let alone the next.
Verse 4.32एवं बहुविधा यज्ञा वितता ब्रह्मणो मुखे …Many kinds of sacrifice are described in the Vedas. Know that all of them come from action; understanding this, you will be set free.
Verse 4.33श्रेयान्द्रव्यमयाद्यज्ञाज्ज्ञानयज्ञः परन्तप …Offering knowledge is higher than offering material things, Arjuna, because all action finds its completion in wisdom.
Verse 4.34तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया …Learn this truth by approaching wise teachers with humility, sincere questions, and service. Those who have seen the truth will teach you.
Verse 4.35यज्ज्ञात्वा न पुनर्मोहमेवं यास्यसि पाण्डव …Once you know this, you will never be confused like this again. Through it you will see all beings within yourself and also in Krishna.
Verse 4.36अपि चेदसि पापेभ्यः सर्वेभ्यः पापकृत्तमः …Even if you were the worst wrongdoer of all, you would cross over every wrong on the boat of knowledge.
Verse 4.37यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुतेऽर्जुन …Just as a blazing fire turns firewood to ash, the fire of knowledge turns all karma to ash.
Verse 4.38न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते …Nothing in this world purifies like true knowledge.
Verse 4.39श्रद्धावाँल्लभते ज्ञानं तत्परः संयतेन्द्रियः …A person with faith, devoted to it, and in control of their senses gains this knowledge. Having gained it, they soon find supreme peace.
Verse 4.40अज्ञश्चाश्रद्दधानश्च संशयात्मा विनश्यति …Someone who lacks understanding and faith and is full of doubt is ruined. For a doubting mind there is happiness neither in this world nor the next.
Verse 4.41योगसंन्यस्तकर्माणं ज्ञानसंछिन्नसंशयम् …Actions no longer bind someone who has given up their work to God through yoga, whose doubts are cut away by knowledge, and who is centered in the self.
Verse 4.42तस्मादज्ञानसंभूतं हृत्स्थं ज्ञानासिनाऽऽत्मनः …Krishna urges Arjuna to cut the doubt in his heart, born of ignorance, with the sword of knowledge — then to take up yoga and stand up to act.