Bhagavad Gita 4.21
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 21 of 42
निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः । शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
nirāśīr yata-cittātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ | śārīraṃ kevalaṃ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam ||
No longing, controlled mind, no possessions — acting only through the body, one incurs no sin at all.
Word by word (3)
- nirāśīḥ yata-citta-ātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ
- — without longing, with controlled mind-and-self, having abandoned all possessions · Nirāśī = without hope/desire for results (nir + āśā = free from hope). Yata = controlled, restrained. Citta-ātmā = the mind-and-self compound (both the thinking instrument and the ego-sense). Tyakta = having abandoned (from tyaj). Sarva-parigraha = all acquisition/possession (parigraha = accepting, taking in, accumulation — the opposite of aparigraha). Three inner qualities of the liberated actor: no longing, controlled inner life, no hoarding.
- śārīraṃ kevalaṃ karma kurvan na āpnoti kilbiṣam
- — performing only bodily action — does not incur sin/pollution · Śārīram = pertaining to the body (śarīra = body). Kevalam = merely, only. Karma = action. Kurvan = performing (present participle). Na āpnoti = does not obtain, does not incur. Kilbiṣam = sin, fault, pollution, moral stain (from kilbiṣa = guilt). The remarkable claim: action reduced to 'merely bodily' — stripped of desire, ego, and accumulation — does not generate karmic residue. The body acts; the Self is unstained.
- nirāśīḥ — tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ — śārīram karma
- — the sequence: no longing → no hoarding → only bodily action → no sin · The logical chain of V21: the inner condition (nirāśī, yata-cittātmā) produces the outer condition (tyakta-sarva-parigraha), which makes action (śārīram karma) automatically pure. You cannot perform pure action by forcing the body to be disciplined while the mind desires — you must start from nirāśī inward.
Without longing, with a controlled mind and self, having abandoned all possessions — performing action with the body alone, one does not incur any sin.
A modern analogy
A surgeon: hands performing a complex procedure, mind completely focused — no thought of payment, reputation, or tomorrow. The act is purely physical-technical in the moment. When action is genuinely stripped to the pure doing (śārīram kevalam karma), nothing stains. The hands act; the Self watches, unstained.
Take with you
- Nirāśī — the literal meaning: without hope. Not hopelessness but freedom from result-expectation.
- Tyakta-sarva-parigraha: accumulation (material or reputational) is part of desire. Let it go.
- Śārīram kevalam karma: can you reduce your next action to simply 'what the body does' — without mental layering?
- This verse follows directly from the ever-content, fully active actor of the previous teaching: it describes the inner portrait of the nitya-tṛpta (ever-content) one.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Having given up attachment and without hope, with mind and self controlled, having renounced all possessions, performing action by the body alone, he incurs no sin. [1]
Without hope, with the mind and self controlled, having abandoned all possessions, performing action merely with the body, he incurs no sin. [4]
Free from all desires, with mind and self subdued, having abandoned all possessions, and performing works only with the body, he contracts no sin. [6]
Who hat no wish, whose mind is fixed and free, Performing only with the body's strength, Sins not, nor is he tainted by his deeds. [7]
Free from expectations, with mind controlled, having abandoned all possessions, doing action with the body only, he incurs no sin. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Attachment to fruits abandoned, ever content, no dependence — fully active yet truly doing nothing at all.
Who acts in duty without depending on fruit — that one is the true sannyāsī and yogī, not the fireless or the inactive.
Abandon all desires born of mental planning — without remainder — and restrain the senses completely, by the mind alone.
Therefore remember Me at all times and fight — mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will come to Me without doubt.
Destroyed is my delusion, memory restored by Your grace — I stand firm, free of doubt, and will do Your word.
Move through the world with senses free from attraction and aversion — that clarity is the natural reward.
Verse 21 of 42 · back to Chapter 4