श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताShrimad Bhagavad Gita 📖 Read as a flipbook

Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 4, Shloka 12 (4.12)

Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्

काङ्क्षन्तः कर्मणां सिद्धिं यजन्त इह देवताः
क्षिप्रं हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा
॥ 4.12 ॥

kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṃ siddhiṃ yajanta iha devatāḥ
kṣipraṃ hi mānuṣe loke siddhirbhavati karmajā

Translation

"Those who desire the fruits of their actions worship the gods in this world, for in the human world results born of action come quickly."

Interpretation

The lure of quickness. Kṣipram — quickly. Material results (wealth, children, success) show up quickly; liberation comes slowly, and within.

Shankaracharya: bhinna-devatā-yājinām phalākāṅkṣiṇām — to those who worship separate gods and desire results, results come quickly. He quotes the Brihadaranyaka (1.4.10): atha yo 'nyāṃ devatām upāste anyo 'sāv anyo 'ham asmīti na sa veda yathā paśur evaṃ sa devānām — one who worships a god thinking it separate from himself does not know; he is like an animal to the gods. (According to Shankara, it is in the human world alone that there is eligibility for actions of varna, ashrama and so on, and their quick results.)

Acharya Ramanuja: sarva eva puruṣāḥ karmaṇāṃ phalaṃ kāṅkṣamāṇāḥ indrādi-devatāḥ … yajante; na tu kaścid anabhisaṃhita-phalaḥ indrādi-devatātma-bhūtaṃ sarva-yajñānāṃ bhoktāraṃ māṃ yajate — all people, wanting results, worship Indra and the other gods; no one, without desire for results, worships me — the inner self of Indra and the others, the enjoyer of all yajñas. The reason: because of a store of sins from beginningless time, aviveka (lack of discernment) and kṣipra-phalābhikāṅkṣā — the craving for quick results; na tu kaścit saṃsārodvigna-hṛdayo mumukṣuḥ — rare indeed is the seeker of liberation whose heart is stirred by the sorrow of worldly existence.

AI-assisted draft translation — under review.

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