Bhagavad Gita · 4.18 · Path of Knowledge and the Disciplines of Action·18 of 42
कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः।स बुद्धिमान् मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत् ॥
karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśhyed akarmaṇi cha karma yaḥ sa
buddhimān manuṣhyeṣhu sa yuktaḥ kṛitsna-karma-kṛit
Sanskrit recitation
What counts as real action · 4.16–4.23 · Teaching
Translation
He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction, he is wise among men; he is a yogi and performer of all actions.
Meaning
In common parlance action means movement of the body, movement of the hands and feet, and inaction means to sit quiet.It is the idea of agency, the idea I am the doer that binds man to Samsara. If this idea vanishes, action is no action at all. It will not bind one to Samsara. This is inaction in action. If you stand as s spectator or silent witness of Natures activities, feeling Nature does everything I am nondoer (Akarta), if you identify yourself with the actionless Self, no matter what work or how much of it is done, action is no action at all. This is inaction in action. By such a practice and feeling, action loses its binding nature.A man may sit quietly. He may not do anything. But if he has the idea of agency or doership, or if he thinks that he is the doer, he is every doing action, though he is sitting quietly. This is action in inaction. The restless mind will ever be doing actions even though one sits quietly. Actions of the mind are real actions. Nor can anyone even for one moment remain really actionless, for helplessly is everyone driven to action by the alities of Nature. (Chapter III.5)Inaction also induces the feeling of egoism. The inactive man says, I sit quietly I do nothing. Inaction, like action, is wrongly attributed to the Self.He is the performer of all actions who knows this truth
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→
- cha
- also
- karma
- action
- saḥ
- they
- yaḥ
- who
- akarma
- in inaction
- paśhyet
- see
- yuktaḥ
- yogis
- karmaṇi
- action
- akarmaṇi
- inaction
- buddhi-mān
- wise
- manuṣhyeṣhu
- amongst humans
- kṛitsna-karma-kṛit
- performers all kinds of actions
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