Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga: Shlokas 13 to 20
If you have not already done so, I would request you to review the Chapter 3, Karma Yoga before studying chapter 4 as that would help set the right context.
You can find the explanation of the shlokas 6 to 12 of chapter 4 here. Please go through that to get a better understand and maintain continuity in your learning.
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Verse 4.13 to 4.20
चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागश: |
तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् || 13||
chātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛiṣhṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśhaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhyakartāram avyayam
चातुर्वर्ण्यं (chāturvarṇyaṃ) – the four varnas; मया (mayā) – by me; सृष्टं (sṛṣṭaṃ) – created; गुणकर्मविभागश: (guṇakarmavibhāgaśa:) – according to qualities and actions. तस्य (tasya) – its; कर्तारमपि (kartāramapi) – even the doer; मां (māṃ) – me; विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् (viddhyakartāramavyayam) – know as the non-doer, the immutable.
The four categories of occupations, known as varnas, were created by Me according to people’s qualities and actions. Although I am the Creator of the varna system, know Me to be the Non-doer and Eternal.
न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा |
इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते || 14||
na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti na me karma-phale spṛihā
iti māṁ yo ’bhijānāti karmabhir na sa badhyate
न (na) – not; मां (māṃ) – me; कर्माणि (karmāṇi) – actions; लिम्पन्ति (limpanti) – taint; न (na) – nor; मे (me) – my; कर्मफले (karmaphale) – in the results of actions; स्पृहा (spṛhā) – desire. इति (iti) – thus; मां (māṃ) – me; योऽभिजानाति (yo’bhijānāti) – who understands; कर्मभिर्न (karmabhirna) – by actions not; स (sa) – he; बध्यते (badhyate) – is bound.
Actions do not taint Me, nor do I have a desire for the fruits of action. He who understands Me thus is not bound by actions.
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभि: |
कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वै: पूर्वतरं कृतम् || 15||
evaṁ jñātvā kṛitaṁ karma pūrvair api mumukṣhubhiḥ
kuru karmaiva tasmāttvaṁ pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṁ kṛitam
एवं (evaṃ) – thus; ज्ञात्वा (jñātvā) – having known; कृतं (kṛtaṃ) – done; कर्म (karma) – action; पूर्वैरपि (pūrvairapi) – even by the ancients; मुमुक्षुभि: (mumukṣubhi:) – by those desiring liberation. कुरु (kuru) – perform; कर्मैव (karmaiva) – action only; तस्मात्त्वं (tasmāttvaṃ) – therefore you; पूर्वै: (pūrvai:) – by the ancients; पूर्वतरं (pūrvataraṃ) – previously; कृतम् (kṛtam) – done.
Knowing this truth, even seekers of liberation in ancient times performed actions. Therefore, following the footsteps of those ancient sages, you too should perform your duty.
किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिता: |
तत्ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात् || 16||
kiṁ karma kim akarmeti kavayo ’pyatra mohitāḥ
tat te karma pravakṣhyāmi yaj jñātvā mokṣhyase ’śhubhāt
किं (kiṃ) – what is; कर्म (karma) – action; किमकर्मेति (kimakarmeti) – what is inaction; कवयोऽप्यत्र (kavayo’pyatra) – even poets here; मोहिता: (mohitā:) – are deluded. तत्ते (tatte) – that to you; कर्म (karma) – action; प्रवक्ष्यामि (pravakṣyāmi) – I will explain; यज्ज्ञात्वा (yajjñātvā) – which having known; मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात् (mokṣyase’aśubhāt) – you will be liberated from the inauspicious.
What is action and what is inaction? Even the wise are confused in determining this. Now I shall explain to you the secret of action, by knowing which, you may free yourself from all things inauspicious.
कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मण: |
अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गति: || 17||
karmaṇo hyapi boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ cha vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaśh cha boddhavyaṁ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ
कर्मणो (karmaṇo) – of action; ह्यपि (hyapi) – indeed; बोद्धव्यं (boddhavyaṃ) – should be understood; बोद्धव्यं (boddhavyaṃ) – should be understood; च (ca) – and; विकर्मण: (vikarmaṇa:) – of forbidden action. अकर्मणश्च (akarmaṇaśca) – and of inaction; बोद्धव्यं (boddhavyaṃ) – should be understood; गहना (gahanā) – deep; कर्मणो (karmaṇo) – of action; गति: (gati:) – is the path.
The nature of action, forbidden action, and inaction should be well understood. The path of action is very difficult to understand.
कर्मण्यकर्म य: पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म य: |
स बुद्धिमान्मनुष्येषु स युक्त: कृत्स्नकर्मकृत् || 18||
karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśhyed akarmaṇi cha karma yaḥ
sa buddhimān manuṣhyeṣhu sa yuktaḥ kṛitsna-karma-kṛit
कर्मण्यकर्म (karmaṇyakarma) – inaction in action; य: (yaḥ) – who; पश्येद (paśyed) – sees; अकर्मणि (akarmaṇi) – in inaction; च (ca) – and; कर्म (karma) – action; य: (yaḥ) – who. स (sa) – he; बुद्धिमान (buddhimān) – is wise; मनुष्येषु (manuṣyeṣu) – among humans; स (sa) – he; युक्त: (yuktaḥ) – is in yoga; कृत्स्नकर्मकृत् (kṛtsnakarmakṛt) – the doer of all actions.
They who see inaction in action and action in inaction are wise among humans. Although performing all kinds of actions, they are yogis and masters of all their actions.
यस्य सर्वे समारम्भा: कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिता: |
ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहु: पण्डितं बुधा: || 19||
yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ
jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇaṁ tam āhuḥ paṇḍitaṁ budhāḥ
यस्य (yasya) – whose; सर्वे (sarve) – all; समारम्भा: (samārambhā:) – undertakings; कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिता: (kāmasaṅkalpavarjitā:) – are devoid of desire and resolve; ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं (jñānāgnidagdhakarmāṇaṃ) – whose actions have been burnt by the fire of knowledge; तमाहु: (tamāhuḥ) – him, they say; पण्डितं (paṇḍitaṃ) – to be wise; बुधा: (budhā:) – the learned ones.
Whose every action is devoid of desire for material pleasures, and who have burned the reactions or results of their actions in the fire of divine knowledge, the wise call such a person as a sage.
त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रय: |
कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किञ्चित्करोति स: || 20||
tyaktvā karma-phalāsaṅgaṁ nitya-tṛipto nirāśhrayaḥ
karmaṇyabhipravṛitto ’pi naiva kiñchit karoti saḥ
त्यक्त्वा (tyaktvā) – having abandoned; कर्मफलासङ्गं (karma-phala-āsaṅgaṃ) – attachment to the fruits of work; नित्यतृप्तो (nitya-tṛpto) – perpetually content; निराश्रय: (nirāśrayaḥ) – without any dependence; कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि (karmaṇy-abhipravṛtto’pi) – though engaged in work; नैव (naiva) – indeed not; किञ्चित् (kiñcit) – anything; करोति (karoti) – does; स: (saḥ) – he.
Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of work, always content, without any kind of dependence, they do nothing even though engaged in action.
The varnas created by Shri Krishna
Shri Krishna says that he created the four categories of occupations according to people’s qualities and activities.
What we need to understand is that Krishna, as he is saying, created these categories of occupations based on the people’s qualities or gunas, not based just on birth. In olden times, even the son’s of kings had to prove themselves and pass various tests before becoming eligible to rule. It was only corrupt and weak kings who eventually made it a hereditary affair.
A great example is Chandragupta Maurya. One of the most successful kings and leaders of all time. He was born of low caste and adopted by the great Chanakya and groomed to become one of the best kings that India ever produced. That was the concept of caste system which Krishna had created. Where people became Kshatriyas or Brahmanas or Vaishyas or Shudras based on their gunas.
If you notice, most avatars of Krishna lived the lives of Vaishyas and Kshatriyas. Buddha was born a Kshatriya and eventually went on to become the most successful preacher of all times although preaching was the domain of Brahmins.
Nobody should be proud simply because they were born Brahmins or feel inferior because they were born in lower castes. What is important is how we cultivate our gunas and how we conduct ourselves. Our ultimate success on the spiritual path and liberation is determined by our gunas and karmic activities along with faith and devotion and not based on our caste or race.
Maya is Shri Krishna’s own energy but He is not impacted by it
As Krishna himself has said, he is the creator of Maya however he is not impacted by Maya. He is the creator of the caste system however he is above all castes. He is also a perfect soul who is above the laws of karma and not bound by the cycles of cause and effect. As we read in chapter 3, the sages and saints who are self realized are content in the Atman and are qualified to give up all action. Then, why do they still perform various activities like preaching, writing books, performing devotional service, etc.? The reason is that they wish to serve God, and are inspired to do works for his pleasure.
The other reason is that they feel compassion on seeing the sufferings of the materially bound souls who are lacking God consciousness, and they work for their spiritual elevation. That is the example set by Krishna where he performed various duties and actions with the intent of helping humanity find the path to liberation.
Gautama Buddha once said, “After attaining enlightenment, you have two options—either you do nothing (Bhajananandi), or you help others attain enlightenment (Sevanandi).”
As we read in earlier chapters, doing your duties without achment and working in devotion attracts the grace of God. Shree Krishna is advising Arjun to also do the same, to perform actions as a service to God, without any attachment.
Action and Inaction
Krishna then says that even very learned sages are many times confused about what is action and what is inaction. He says therefore, I will tell you what action is, by knowing which you will be freed from evil. He says that ‘I will give you a philosophy by which you can do all action without being bound by those actions. Wow!
The vedas mention about the lotus leaf which never gets wet, because water cannot stick to it. This is supposed to be the nature of the mind which is trained in the spirit of detachment. Be in the world without being impacted by the world. Perform rightful actions without being bound by those actions. In the previous verse 4.16, Shri Krishna said that even the very wise get confused with regards to what is action and what is inaction. किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिता: (kiṁ karma kimkarmeti kavayo’pyatra mohitāḥ) – What is action? What is inaction? Even the wise are confused about this.
And He mentioned that he will give us a philosophy by which we can perform all actions without being bound by those actions!
Sukarma, Vikarma and Akarma
Here Krishna is saying that we must understand what is good action (sukarma), bad action (vikarma) and no action (akarma). As we discussed in chapter 3, karma is a complicated topic. Inaction is not feasible because even if we are just sitting, we are breathing and that also is an action. So, we have to understand what is inaction, continue doing rightful action and avoid bad action at all costs. It is important to understand these well to progress on the path to liberation.
We usually have questions like ‘why do bad things happen to good people’ or ‘why some educated people are poor while some uneducated people are rich’, etc. A good understanding of the topics of sukarma, vikarma and akarma will help us find answers to such questions.
Krishna himself says that the intricacies of action and inaction are mysterious and hard to understand. How this is to be understood will be explained next. After warning us about how complex this philosophy is, in verse 4.18, Krishna says, “One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.” This verse is often interpreted to mean that a person who understands the true nature of action and inaction is wise and spiritually advanced.
Beginning Nishkama Karma Yoga
The concept of “seeing action in inaction” refers to recognizing that even when we appear to be inactive (for example, when we are meditating or renouncing worldly activities), we are still performing an action. On the other hand, “seeing inaction in action” refers to understanding that when we perform our duties without attachment to the results, we are essentially inactive, as we are not creating new karma that will bind us to the cycle of birth and death.
This is where the concept of nishkama karma yoga comes in. Nishkama karma is the practice of performing one’s duties without any desire for the fruits of one’s actions. This is a form of inaction in action, as it allows us to act in the world without being bound by our actions.
To reiterate, action in inaction: We discussed the story of the two monks and how some people give up actions and renounce physically, but their mind continues to contemplate upon the objects of the senses. Such persons may appear to be inactive, but they are indulging in sinful action.
While inaction in action: When someone executes their prescribed duties without attachment to results, dedicating the fruits of their actions to God, they are not bound by the karmic reactions of their actions and in this way, they are seeing inaction in action.
The whole of chapter 3 and a good part of chapter 2 was spent by Krishna in explaining this aspect of Karma Yoga where we can perform actions without being bound by them and without being impacted by karmic reactions. This is the only way to engage in inaction.
We saw previously that no action is not the same as no reaction. So Krishna asks us to approach it from the other direction and says that no reaction is equal to no action 😊
And how can we ensure no reaction? That is what Krishna taught us in chapter 2 and 3, nishkama karma yoga.
No action is NOT equal to no reaction
We saw in chapter 3 that no action is not equal to no reaction. So, no action is not equal to inaction. We need to understand karma yoga and become a karma yogi in order to engage in inaction which equals no reaction. Therefore, when we perform nishkama karma and are free from the desire for material pleasures, we will be burning the reactions of work using the fire of this divine knowledge. Now you may be able to understand verse 2.47 better and realize that Krishna was giving us the mantra for action without reaction which is the only way to engage in inaction.
The key is to purify our samskaras using bhakti and manage our karma using our jnana.
The real secret here is to understand that it is the state of the mind that determines what is inaction and action. And understanding that karma = action with reaction while akarma = action without reaction.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna also emphasizes the importance of bhakti (devotion) and jnana (knowledge) in managing our karma. By cultivating devotion to God and acquiring spiritual knowledge, we can purify our samskaras (mental impressions) and better understand the nature of action and inaction.
You can find the explanations for the next set of shlokas, 4.21 to 4.28 over here.
References:
https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/
https://www.rkmathharipad.org/video/bhagavad-gita-lectures-by-swami-ranganathanandaji/
https://www.asitis.com/
kṛṣṇadaasa
Servant of Krishna
Aka +Vinayak Raghuvamshi