Bhagavad Gita · 4.22 · Path of Knowledge and the Disciplines of Action·22 of 42
यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः।समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते ॥
yadṛichchhā-lābha-santuṣhṭo dvandvātīto
vimatsaraḥ samaḥ siddhāvasiddhau cha kṛitvāpi na nibadhyate
Sanskrit recitation
What counts as real action · 4.16–4.23 · Teaching
Translation
Content 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.
Meaning
The sage is ite satisfied with what comes to him by chance. In verses IV. 18, 19, 20, 22, 22 and 23 there is only a reiteration of the results of the knowledge of the Self which is beyond action. The sage who identifies himself with the actionless Self is not bound as action and its cause which bind one to the round of birth and death have been burnt in the fire of the knowledge of the Self or BrahmaJnana. Just as a seed burnt in the fire cannot germinate, so also the Karmas or actions burnt by the fire of knowledge of the Self cannot produce future birth.Ordinary people think that the sage is also a doer of actions, an agent, active and therefore bound, when they see him doing actions. This is a mistake. From his own point of view and, in truth, he is not an agent at all. He really does no action at all. He feels and says, I do nothing at all. Nature does or the three alities of Nature do everything.He is not affected by heat and cold, pleasure and pain, success and failure, as he always has a balanced state of mind. He is not attached even to the things which are necessary for the bare maintenance of his body. He experiences neither pleasure nor pain, whether or not he obtains food and the other things which are reired for the maintenance of his body
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→
- na
- never
- api
- even
- cha
- and
- lābha
- gain
- dvandva
- duality
- samaḥ
- equipoised
- siddhau
- in success
- asiddhau
- failure
- atītaḥ
- surpassed
- kṛitvā
- performing
- nibadhyate
- is bound
- vimatsaraḥ
- free from envy
- yadṛichchhā
- which comes of its own accord
- santuṣhṭaḥ
- contented
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