Devanagari
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः ।
कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम् ॥ १५ ॥
Verse text
evaṁ jṣātvā kṛtaṁ karma
pūrvair api mumukṣubhiḥ
kuru karmaiva tasmāt tvaṁ
pūrvaiḥ pūrva-taraṁ kṛtam
Synonyms
evam
—
thus
;
jṣātvā
—
knowing well
;
kṛtam
—
was performed
;
karma
—
work
;
pūrvaiḥ
—
by past authorities
;
api
—
indeed
;
mumukṣubhiḥ
—
who attained liberation
;
kuru
—
just perform
;
karma
—
prescribed duty
;
eva
—
certainly
;
tasmāt
—
therefore
;
tvam
—
you
;
pūrvaiḥ
—
by the predecessors
;
pūrva-taram
—
in ancient times
;
kṛtam
—
as performed.
Translation
All the liberated souls in ancient times acted with this understanding of My transcendental nature. Therefore you should perform your duty, following in their footsteps.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
15. Those desiring liberation in ancient times performed actions knowing this. Therefore, perform action which the ancients performed.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
15. Knowing this about Me, those desiring liberation in ancient times performed actions without desire. Therefore perform action which the ancients performed, following after their predecessors.
Purport
There are two classes of men. Some of them are full of polluted material things within their hearts, and some of them are materially free. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is equally beneficial for both of these persons. Those who are full of dirty things can take to the line of Kṛṣṇa consciousness for a gradual cleansing process, following the regulative principles of devotional service. Those who are already cleansed of the impurities may continue to act in the same Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that others may follow their exemplary activities and thereby be benefited. Foolish persons or neophytes in Kṛṣṇa consciousness often want to retire from activities without having knowledge of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Arjuna’s desire to retire from activities on the battlefield was not approved by the Lord. One need only know how to act. To retire from the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and to sit aloof making a show of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is less important than actually engaging in the field of activities for the sake of Kṛṣṇa. Arjuna is here advised to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, following in the footsteps of the Lord’s previous disciples, such as the sun-god Vivasvān, as mentioned hereinbefore. The Supreme Lord knows all His past activities, as well as those of persons who acted in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the past. Therefore He recommends the acts of the sun-god, who learned this art from the Lord some millions of years before. All such students of Lord Kṛṣṇa are mentioned here as past liberated persons, engaged in the discharge of duties allotted by Kṛṣṇa.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Understanding how I have acted without being bound, previously person like Janaka performed karma in order to promote it with the people.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Knowing Me thus (evam), previous persons desiring liberation (pūrvaiḥ mumukṣubhiḥ), My students such as Vivasvān, who followed the teaching, performed niṣkāma karma. You also should indeed perform action, and not renounce action. If one is impure in heart one should perform these actions to purify the heart, which lead to jṣāna. If one is already pure in heart one should perform the action to teach others. How did the previous persons perform the actions? They performed actions, following the actions of people much previous to them, long ago (pūrvataram).
Surrender Unto Me
Knowing Krsna's position and acting for Him ‑ therefore Arjuna should fight. But he should fight in knowledge about Krsna's position that Krsna wants him to fight. But yet Krsna is not like some clever politician instigating the fight to have his own ends met, because He said He is aloof, and He is not attached to the fruit of the work, therefore unlike the politician, He is unbounded by His actions and His position is completly transcendental. If one does his duty with understanding, he will attain liberation.
[ C . NISKAMA KARMA‑YOGA.
UNDERSTANDING HOW TO WORK AS A SACRIFICE (4. 16‑24)
Acts serving Krsna are akarma, actions without reactions. A person acting with mind and intelligence free from sense gratification, without a sense of propriertoship, attai sinful reactions. Free from dualities and envy, satisfied in both success and failure, one will attain the spiritual kin Thus Krsna has explained how karma can be seen as jnana. ]
(Understanding karma on the platform of transcendental knowledge)
This Section is quite tricky and maybe a little more philosophical than the rest of this Chapter.