Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 4, Shloka 20 (4.20)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रयः
कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किञ्चित् करोति सः
॥ 4.20 ॥
tyaktvā karmaphalāsaṅgaṃ nityatṛpto nirāśrayaḥ
karmaṇyabhipravṛtto'pi naiva kiñcit karoti saḥ
Translation
"Giving up attachment to the fruit of action, ever content and not depending on any (outer) support, such a person, though fully engaged in action, in truth does nothing at all."
Interpretation
Three marks. (1) Giving up attachment to results; (2) nitya-tṛpta — ever content; (3) nirāśraya — without support.
"Nirāśraya" — two readings.
- Shankaracharya: āśrayo nāma yat āśritya puruṣārthaṃ sisādhayiṣati — a support means the means a person relies on to reach a goal; dṛṣṭādṛṣṭeṣṭa-phala-sādhanāśraya-rahitaḥ — free from reliance on the means to seen or unseen desired results. The action of such a wise person is paramārthato 'karmaiva — in ultimate truth no action at all, because that person is niṣkriyātma-darśana-sampanna — endowed with the vision of the actionless self. Even if engaged in action loka-saṅgraha-cikīrṣayā śiṣṭa-vigarhaṇā-parijihīrṣayā vā — out of a wish for the welfare of the world, or to avoid the censure of the good — that person "does nothing at all".
- Acharya Ramanuja: nityatṛptaḥ nitye svātmani eva tṛptaḥ — content in the eternal self alone; nirāśrayaḥ asthira-prakṛtau āśraya-buddhi-rahitaḥ — one who does not take unstable prakriti (the body and so on) as a support. Such a person karmāpadeśena jñānābhyāsam eva karoti — under the name of action, is really practising knowledge.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.