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Bhagavad Gita · 4.22 · Path of Knowledge and the Disciplines of Action·22 of 42

यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरःसमः 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.

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

Related verses

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