Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 21
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 4 श्लोक 21

निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः।
शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम्।।4.21।।



English Translation - Swami Gambirananda
4.21 One who is without solicitation, who has the mind and organs under control, (and) is totally without possessions, he incurs no sin by performing actions merely for the (maintenance of the) body.


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
4.21 Free from desire means having no attachment to the fruits of actions. His intellect and mind controlled means one whose intellect and mind are under control. Giving up all possessions means one who, on account of his having the self as his primary objective, is devoid of the sense of ownership in relation to Prakrti and its derivatives. One who is thus engaged in bodily work alone as long as he lives, does not incur any sin, i.e., does not get engrossed in Samsara. He gets the vision of the self by Karma Yoga of this kind itself, and need not resort to any exlusive practice of Jnana Yoga in between liberation and the practice of Karma Yoga of the alone description.


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 4.21Niraasheer yatachittaatmaa tyaktasarvaparigrahah;
Shaareeram kevalam karma kurvannaapnoti kilbisham.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 4.21nirāśhīḥ—free from expectations; yata—controlled; chitta-ātmā—mind and intellect; tyakta—having abandoned; sarva—all; parigrahaḥ—the sense of ownership; śhārīram—bodily; kevalam—only; karma—actions; kurvan—performing; na—never; āpnoti—incurs; kilbiṣham—sin