Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 23
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 4 श्लोक 23

गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः।
यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते।।4.23।।



English Translation - Swami Gambirananda
4.23 Of the liberated person who has got rid of attachment, whose mind is fixed in Knowledge, actions undertaken for a sacrifice get totally destroyed.


English Translation - Swami Sivananda
4.23 To one who is devoid of attchment, who is liberated, whose mind is established in knowledge, who works for the sake of sacrifice (for the sake of God), the whole action is dissolved.


English Translation - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan
4.23. The action gets dissolved completely in the case of the person who undertakes it for the sake of sacrifice;  who is rid of attachment and is freed; and who has his mind fixed in wisdom.


English Commentary  - Swami Sivananda
4.23 गतसङ्गस्य one who is devoid of attachment? मुक्तस्य of the liberated? ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः whose mind is established in knowledge? यज्ञाय for sacrifice? आचरतः acting? कर्म action? समग्रम् whole? प्रविलीयते is dissolved.Commentary One who is free from attachment? who is liberated from the bonds of Karma? whose mind is centred and rooted in wisdom? who performs actions for the sake of sacrifice? in order to please the Lord -- all his actions with their results melt away. His actions are reduced to nothing. They are? in fact? no actions at all.


English Translation of Sanskrit Commentary By Sri Shankaracharya's
4.23 Muktasya, of the liberated person who has become relieved of such bondages as righteousness and unrighteousness, etc.; gatasangasya, who has got rid of attachment, who has become detached from everything; jnana-avasthita-cetasah, whose mind is fixed in Knowledge only; his karma, actions; acaratah, undertaken; yajnaya, for a sacrifice, to accomplish a sacrifice [A.G. takes yajna to mean Visnu. So, yajnaya will mean for Visnu. Sankaracarya also interprets this word similarly in 3.9.-Tr.]; praviliyate, gets destroyed; samagram, totally-saha (together) agrena (with its conseence, result). This is the meaning.
For what reason, again, does an action that is underway get destroyed totally without producing its result? This is being answered:
Because,


English Translation of Commentary  - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan
4.23 Gatasangasya etc. For sacrifice (yajnaya) :  The singular number is to be construed  with the class [yajnatva].  [Hence the meaning is] :  The sacrifice  that are being defined in the seel.						
 It has been said  for the sake of sacrifice etc.  Now their general nature,  [the Lord] describes :


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
4.23 Of a person whose attachment to all objects is gone because of his mind being established in the knowledge of the self, who is therefore liberated from accepting all worldly possessions and who is engaged in the performance of sacrifices etc., as described above - in the case of such a person his beginningless load of Karma, which is the cause of his bondgae, is completely dissolved, i.e., destroyed without leaving any residue.

So far the nature of Karma as having the form of knowledge has been described as emerging from constant contemplation on the nature of the self as different from Prakrti. And now Sri Krsna says that all actions together with their ancillaries, have the form of knowledge because of constant contemplation by the aspirant on the Supreme Person who is the Supreme Brahman, as being his soul.


Commentary  - Chakravarthi Ji
For one who performs actions for the purpose of yajna which will now be described, karma dissolves. The state of non-action or no reactions to work is attained by this.


Rudra Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary

One who is desireless, free from  attraction  and  repulsion,  who  performs
every action as an act of yagnaya or as offering and worship to the  Supreme
Lord Krishna.  For  one  situated  in  karma  yoga  or  the  performance  of
prescribed Vedic activities  all  their  actions  become  inaction  and  all
reactions along with any impressions are  dissolved.  For  one  situated  in
jnana yoga or the cultivation of Vedic knowledge who  has  already  attained
atma  tattva  or  realisation  of  the  soul;  the  word   yagnaya   denotes
worshipping the Supreme Lord to set an exemplary example in society.


Brahma Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary


Now Lord Krishna summarises the conclusion of the previous five verses.  The
compound words gata- sangasya means being freed from  desires  for  rewards.
The  word  muktasya  means  being  free  from  bodily  vanity.   The   words
jnanavasthita.cetasah  means  one  who  has  communion  with  the   ultimate
consciousness residing in the heart.

Now begins the summation.

Being free from all dependence means to take complete refuge in the  Supreme
Lord and to be totally under His protection.  Liberated  means  to  be  free
from all sense of pride.


Shri Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary


By ones mind being entirely engrossed in atma tattva  or  soul  realisation
the  attachment  to  worldly  things  has  naturally  been   withdrawn.   So
automatically conceptions of  ownership  proprietorship  are  abandoned  and
realising  the  reality  of  the  Supreme  Being  and  the   importance   of
propitiation to Him one lives their life in such a  way  that  every  action
they perform is a  yagna  or  worship  and  offering  to  the  Supreme  Lord
Krishna. All past accumulated  reactions  resulting  from  previous  actions
which bind  one  so  terribly  to  the  material  existence  are  completely
evaporated without any residue. The  spiritual  intelligence  of  performing
all actions in the perspective of the atma or  soul  rather  than  from  the
perspective of being immersed within the sense gardens  of  material  nature
has explained.  The next  verse  reveals  the  even  higher  perspective  of
comprehending that  spirit  behind  all  activities  and  their  factors  of
performance is the Supreme Spirit the Supreme Lord.


Kumara Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary
By ones mind being entirely engrossed in atma tattva  or  soul  realisation
the  attachment  to  worldly  things  has  naturally  been   withdrawn.   So
automatically conceptions of  ownership  proprietorship  are  abandoned  and
realising  the  reality  of  the  Supreme  Being  and  the   importance   of
propitiation to Him one lives their life in such a  way  that  every  action
they perform is a  yagna  or  worship  and  offering  to  the  Supreme  Lord
Krishna. All past accumulated  reactions  resulting  from  previous  actions
which bind  one  so  terribly  to  the  material  existence  are  completely
evaporated without any residue. The  spiritual  intelligence  of  performing
all actions in the perspective of the atma or  soul  rather  than  from  the
perspective of being immersed within the sense gardens  of  material  nature
has explained.  The next  verse  reveals  the  even  higher  perspective  of
comprehending that  spirit  behind  all  activities  and  their  factors  of
performance is the Supreme Spirit the Supreme Lord.


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 4.23Gatasangasya muktasya jnaanaavasthitachetasah;
Yajnaayaacharatah karma samagram pravileeyate.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 4.23gata-saṅgasya—free from material attachments; muktasya—of the liberated; jñāna-avasthita—established in divine knowledge; chetasaḥ—whose intellect; yajñāya—as a sacrifice (to God); ācharataḥ—performing; karma—action; samagram—completely; pravilīyate—are freed