Bg. 4.21

BG 4.21

Devanagari

निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः । शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्‍नोति किल्बिषम् ॥ २१ ॥

Verse text

nirāśīr yata-cittātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ śārīraṁ kevalaṁ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam

Synonyms

nirāśīḥ without desire for the result ; yata controlled ; citta-ātmā mind and intelligence ; tyakta giving up ; sarva all ; parigrahaḥ sense of proprietorship over possessions ; śārīram in keeping body and soul together ; kevalam only ; karma work ; kurvan doing ; na never ; āpnoti does acquire ; kilbiṣam sinful reactions.

Translation

Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

21. Having given up all sense of taking from others, being without desire and controlled in mind and body, performing acts only to support his body, he does not incur sin.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

21. Having given up all sense of taking from others, being without desire, and controlled in mind and body, performing acts only to support his body, he does not incur sin.

Purport

A Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not expect good or bad results in his activities. His mind and intelligence are fully controlled. He knows that because he is part and parcel of the Supreme, the part played by him, as a part and parcel of the whole, is not his own activity but is only being done through him by the Supreme. When the hand moves, it does not move out of its own accord, but by the endeavor of the whole body. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is always dovetailed with the supreme desire, for he has no desire for personal sense gratification. He moves exactly like a part of a machine. As a machine part requires oiling and cleaning for maintenance, so a Kṛṣṇa conscious man maintains himself by his work just to remain fit for action in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. He is therefore immune to all the reactions of his endeavors. Like an animal, he has no proprietorship even over his own body. A cruel proprietor of an animal sometimes kills the animal in his possession, yet the animal does not protest. Nor does it have any real independence. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person, fully engaged in self-realization, has very little time to falsely possess any material object. For maintaining body and soul, he does not require unfair means of accumulating money. He does not, therefore, become contaminated by such material sins. He is free from all reactions to his actions.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

He is controlled in mind (cit) and gross body (ātmā). For the purpose of maintaining his body he may accept things even from sinful persons, but does not incur sin. This is an extended explanation of the statement “one must understand the truth concerning vikarma.”

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Three verses now speak of the state of āruḍha or one who has attained the goal, steadiness in jṣāna. He from whom desire for results has departed (nirāśīḥ), whose mind and body are controlled (yata cittātmā), who is devoid of possessiveness of material objects, because his purpose is only to see ātmā, though engaging in action to gain material objects to support his body (śāṛiram kevalam karma), does not incur sin (kilbiṣam).