Path of Knowledge and the Disciplines of Action

Shloka: BG 4.1

The Blessed Lord said, "I taught this imperishable Yoga to Vivasvan; he then told it to Manu; Manu proclaimed it to Iksh...

Shloka: BG 4.2

This, handed down in regular succession by the royal sages, was known. This Yoga, however, has been lost here over time,...

Shloka: BG 4.3

That same ancient yoga has been today taught to you by me, for you are my devotee and my friend; it is the supreme secre...

Shloka: BG 4.4

Arjuna said, "Later was Thy birth, and prior to it was the birth of Vivasvan (the Sun); how am I to understand that Thou...

Shloka: BG 4.5

The Blessed Lord said, "Many births of Mine have passed, as well as of thine, O Arjuna; I know them all, but thou knowes...

Shloka: BG 4.6

Though I am unborn and of imperishable nature, and though I am the Lord of all beings, yet, governing my own nature, I a...

Shloka: BG 4.7

Whenever there is a decline of righteousness and an increase of unrighteousness, O Arjuna, then I manifest Myself.

Shloka: BG 4.8

For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of righteousness, I am born...

Shloka: BG 4.9

He who thus knows, in their true light, My divine birth and actions, having abandoned the body, is not born again; he co...

Shloka: BG 4.10

Freed from attachment, fear, and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the fire of knowledge, many hav...

Shloka: BG 4.11

In whatever way men approach Me, even so do I reward them; My path do men tread in all ways, O Arjuna.

Shloka: BG 4.12

Those who long for success in action in this world sacrifice to the gods; for success is quickly attained by men through...

Shloka: BG 4.13

The fourfold caste has been created by Me according to the differentiation of Guna and Karma; though I am the author of ...

Shloka: BG 4.14

Actions do not taint Me, nor do I have a desire for the fruit of actions. He who knows Me thus is not bound by actions.

Shloka: BG 4.15

Having known this, the ancient seekers of freedom also performed action; therefore, do thou also perform action, as the ...

Shloka: BG 4.16

What is action? What is inaction? Even the wise are confused about this. Therefore, I shall teach you the nature of acti...

Shloka: BG 4.17

For verily, the true nature of action enjoined by the scriptures should be known, as well as that of forbidden or unlawf...

Shloka: BG 4.18

He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction, he is wise among men; he is a yogi and performer of all actions.

Shloka: BG 4.19

He whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and selfish purposes, and whose actions have been burned by the fire of ...

Shloka: BG 4.20

Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of the action, ever content, depending on nothing, he does not do anything eve...

Shloka: BG 4.21

Without hope, controlling the mind and the self, having abandoned all covetousness, and performing only bodily actions, ...

Shloka: BG 4.22

Content with what comes to him without effort, free from the pairs of opposites and envy, even-minded in success and fai...

Shloka: BG 4.23

To one who is devoid of attachment, who is liberated, whose mind is established in knowledge, and who works for the sake...

Shloka: BG 4.24

Brahman is the oblation; Brahman is the melted butter (ghee); by Brahman is the oblation poured into the fire of Brahman...

Shloka: BG 4.25

Some yogis perform sacrifice to the gods alone; while others, who have realized the Self, offer the Self as sacrifice in...

Shloka: BG 4.26

Some again offer the organ of hearing and other senses as a sacrifice in the fire of restraint; others offer sound and o...

Shloka: BG 4.27

Others again sacrifice all the functions of the senses and those of the breath (vital energy, or Prana) in the fire of t...

Shloka: BG 4.28

Others again offer wealth, austerity, and Yoga as sacrifice, while ascetics of self-restraint and rigid vows offer the s...

Shloka: BG 4.29

Others offer as sacrifice the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming into the outgoing, restraining the flo...

Shloka: BG 4.30

Others who regulate their diet offer life-breaths in each life-breath. All these are knowers of sacrifice, whose sins ar...

Shloka: BG 4.31

Those who eat the remnants of the sacrifice, which are like nectar, go to the eternal Brahman. This world is not for the...

Shloka: BG 4.32

Thus, manifold sacrifices are spread out before Brahman at the face of Brahman. Know them all to be born of action, and ...

Shloka: BG 4.33

Superior is wisdom-sacrifice to the sacrifice with objects, O Parantapa (scorcher of the foes). All actions in their ent...

Shloka: BG 4.34

Know that the wise who have realized the truth will instruct thee in that knowledge through long prostration, supplicati...

Shloka: BG 4.35

Knowing that thou shalt not, O Arjuna, again be deluded like this; and by that thou shalt see all beings in thyself and ...

Shloka: BG 4.36

Even if thou art the most sinful of all sinners, yet thou shalt surely cross over all sins by the raft of knowledge.

Shloka: BG 4.37

As the blazing fire reduces fuel to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge reduce all actions to ash.

Shloka: BG 4.38

Verily, there is no purifier in this world like knowledge. He who is perfected in Yoga finds it within the Self in due t...

Shloka: BG 4.39

The one who is full of faith, devoted to it, and has subdued their senses obtains this knowledge; and upon obtaining the...

Shloka: BG 4.40

The ignorant, the faithless, and the doubting self go to destruction; there is neither this world nor the other, nor hap...

Shloka: BG 4.41

He who has renounced actions through Yoga, whose doubts have been dispelled by knowledge, and who is self-possessed—such...

Shloka: BG 4.42

Therefore, with the sword of knowledge (of the Self), cut asunder the doubt of the self, born of ignorance, residing in ...