Chapter 4Verse 19 of 42

Bhagavad Gita 4.19

यस्य सर्वे समारम्भाः कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः । ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहुः पण्डितं बुधाः ॥

yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ | jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇaṃ tam āhuḥ paṇḍitaṃ budhāḥ ||

Translation

Him whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and resolves, and whose actions are burned up by the fire of knowledge, the wise call learned.

Kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ. Desires and intentions absent from his beginnings. The verse names the operator. Every starting move free of the gripping wish and the binding resolve. Jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇaṃ, his actions burned in the fire of knowledge. The image of fire arrives here for the first time in the chapter and will return as the central metaphor. The work is still done; the binding residue is consumed. Aurobindo: the fire does not stop the work, it ends the karmic adherence. The hand moves; nothing sticks.

Reflection

What did you start this week with the grip already on it before the work began?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Four

Ask the Gita about this verse →