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← Chapter 4: The Yoga of Knowledge and Renunciation of Action

Verse 4.23

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः। यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते।।

Transliteration (IAST)

gata-saṅgasya muktasya jñānāvasthita-cetasaḥ yajñāyācarataḥ karma samagraṁ pravilīyate

Word-by-Word Meanings

gata-saṅgasya-free from attachment
muktasya-of the liberated
jñānāvasthita-situated in knowledge
cetasaḥ-whose mind
yajñāya-for the sake of sacrifice
pravilīyate-entirely dissolves

Translation

The work of a man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully situated in transcendental knowledge merges entirely into transcendence when performed as sacrifice.

Commentary

When action is performed as yajña (sacrifice/offering) by one established in knowledge, all karmic residue dissolves completely. This verse transitions to the extended metaphor of sacrifice that follows, where every aspect of life becomes an offering to the divine.

Themes

karmajnanayoga