Bhagavad Gita 4.19
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 19 of 42
यस्य सर्वे समारम्भाः कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः । ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहुः पण्डितं बुधाः ॥
yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ | jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇaṃ tam āhuḥ paṇḍitaṃ budhāḥ ||
All actions free from desire and intention; karmas burned by jñāna's fire — the wise call this one paṇḍita.
Word by word (3)
- yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ
- — whose every undertaking is free from desire and resolves/intention · Yasya = whose. Sarve = all. Samārambhāḥ = undertakings, beginnings (sam+ā+rambha = complete beginning/initiation). Kāma = desire. Saṅkalpa = mental resolve, determined intention, will-toward-result (sam+kalpa = formed intention). Varjita = freed from, absent of. Every action begun without the ego-desire and result-directed intention.
- jñāna-agni-dagdha-karmāṇam tam āhuḥ paṇḍitam budhāḥ
- — whose karmas have been burned by the fire of knowledge — the wise call that one a paṇḍita · Jñāna-agni = the fire of knowledge. Dagdha = burned (from dah = to burn). Karmāṇa = whose karmas. The fire of jñāna burns up accumulated karma-residue. Paṇḍita = the truly learned, the wise (from paṇḍā = wisdom). Budhāḥ = the awakened ones (from budh). The wise recognize the wise.
- samārambhāḥ
- — samārambhāḥ = undertakings/initiatives/enterprises (sam = together/completely; ārambha = beginning/undertaking from ā + rambh = to take up; the moment of initiation of an action); 'sarve samārambhāḥ' = ALL undertakings (without exception, from the moment of initiation); kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ = free from desire and intention/resolve (kāma = desire as motivation; saṅkalpa = intention/mental resolve; varjita = excluded/free from); the paṇḍita is identified not by their actions' content but by what is ABSENT at the initiation of every action: desire and ego-intention
The one whose every undertaking is free from desire and self-directed intention, whose karmas have been burned by the fire of knowledge — the wise call that person a paṇḍita (true scholar).
A modern analogy
A master teacher who teaches purely for the learning of the students — no ego in the performance, no hope of recognition, no desire to be seen as great. Every class is offered completely, without result-directed intention. That is the paṇḍita. Knowledge has burned the residue of ego-desire from their action.
Take with you
- Kāma-saṅkalpa-varjita: two things absent — desire (kāma) AND self-directed intention/resolve (saṅkalpa).
- Jñānāgni-dagdha-karma: the fire metaphor — knowledge burns karma the way fire burns fuel. Nothing remains.
- Paṇḍita (true scholar) is defined by this inner condition, not by the quantity of knowledge held.
- Budhāḥ āhuḥ — the awakened ones recognize this. You cannot fake the freedom from desire and intention this verse describes; those who have it see it.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
He whose undertakings are all free from desires and purposes, and whose actions have been burnt by the fire of knowledge — him do the wise call a sage. [1]
He whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and purposes, and whose actions have been burnt by the fire of knowledge — him the wise call a sage. [4]
He who has abandoned the desire for the results of his acts, is satisfied, independent, and not engaged in action even when engaged in action, is ever free. [6]
That man who, counting all things done by him, Loose from desire's clutch, his works are burnt By wisdom's fire; him call the Wise ones Sage. [7]
He whose undertakings are all free from desire and purpose, and whose works are burnt by the fire of knowledge — him the wise call a sage. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
As fire reduces wood to ash, so jñānāgni burns all karmas completely to ash.
Seeing inaction in action, action in inaction — that one is wise, a yogi, a complete doer of all actions.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Brahman-become, serene, neither grieving nor desiring, equal to all beings — he attains supreme bhakti to Me.
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
Verse 19 of 42 · back to Chapter 4