Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 4, Shloka 23 (4.23)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः
यज्ञायाऽऽचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते
॥ 4.23 ॥
gatasaṅgasya muktasya jñānāvasthitacetasaḥ
yajñāyā''carataḥ karma samagraṃ pravilīyate
Translation
"One whose attachment is gone, who is free, whose mind is established in knowledge, and who acts for the sake of yajña — that person's entire action dissolves away."
Interpretation
Four conditions, one result. Gata-saṅga, mukta, jñānāvasthita-cetas, yajñāya ācarataḥ → action samagraṃ pravilīyate (dissolves away entirely).
Shankaracharya: gata-saṅgasya sarvato nivṛttāsakteḥ, muktasya nivṛtta-dharmādharmādi-bandhanasya — one whose attachment has ceased on every side, whose bonds of merit and sin have fallen away; jñāne eva avasthitaṃ ceto yasya (whose mind is established in knowledge alone); yajña-nirvṛtty-artham ācarataḥ — the action of one who acts to accomplish the yajña, together with its fruit, vinaśyati — is destroyed. And the next question: why does the action being performed not bear its fruit? — the answer is 4.24.
Acharya Ramanuja: ātma-viṣaya-jñānāvasthita-manastvena vigata-tad-itara-saṅgasya — because the mind is established in knowledge of the self, attachment to everything else has gone; bandha-hetu-bhūtaṃ prācīnaṃ karma samagraṃ pravilīyate niḥśeṣaṃ kṣīyate — the old karma that causes bondage wears away completely. And as a lead-in: so far it has been said that action takes the form of knowledge through contemplation of the self as distinct from prakriti; now it will be said that action takes the form of knowledge through sarvasya saparikarasya karmaṇaḥ para-brahma-bhūta-parama-puruṣātmakatvānusandhāna — seeing all action, with all its parts, as having the Supreme Person, the Supreme Brahman, as its self (4.24).
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.