© 2025 All Rights Reserved. Blog by Bhagavad Gita Explanation
Chapter 04, Verse 22
श्रीभगवानुवाच:
यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सर: |
सम: सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते || 4.22||
sri-bhagavan uvaca:
yadrichchaa-labha-santushto dvandvatito vimatsarah|
samah siddhavasiddhau cha kritvapi na nibadhyate || 4.22||
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
श्रीभगवानुवाच: (sri-bhagavan uvaca) |
The Supreme Lord said: This marks Krishna’s first direct
speech in the Bhagavad Gita, where he begins guiding
Arjuna. |
|
यदृच्छा-लाभ-सन्तुष्टः (yadrichchaa-labha-santushtah) |
Content with whatever comes by chance |
|
द्वन्द्वातीतः (dvandvatitah) |
Transcended dualities (like heat-cold, pleasure-pain) |
|
विमत्सरः (vimatsarah) |
Free from envy |
|
समः (samah) |
Even-minded, balanced |
|
सिद्धौ-असिद्धौ (siddhau-asiddhau) |
In success and failure |
|
च (cha) |
And |
|
कृत्वा अपि (kritva api) |
Even while acting |
|
न निबध्यते (na nibadhyate) |
Is not bound (by Karma/actions) |
Translation
“He who having relinquished attachment for fruits, is content with what comes to him without (his effort), and is free (from the pairs of opposites), and does not envy, he is never bound, even though he (maybe) engaged in (actions).”
Context of the Verse:
Chapter 4 – Lord Krishna explains how action becomes sublimated into knowledge. This verse describes how a liberated yogi comes to feel in a state of Samadhi when he acts without attachment or desire for the fruit of action. This occurs after previous explanation of how such wise one’s function in the world and yet are untainted by Karma and exempt from it because they are detached within and have evenness of mind.
Key Teachings in This Verse:
- Steadiness in Life: True spiritual progress is not soaring up in heaven but staying calm and steady even between pleasure and pain, success and failure.
- Liberty from Envy: Liberation is also freedom from jealousy, which is generated due to comparison and ego.
- Contentment: Being satisfied with anything that arises unasked, without searching or wanting.
- Karma Without Attachment: Deeds without Egoism and without Attachment do not bind the soul.
- Matured State of Mind: This means the state of a Sthita-Pragya, as described in Chapter 2.
Relevance to Arjuna:
- Arjuna is deluged by inner conflict (grief, doubt and fear).
- Krishna directs him inch by inch toward the mental poise and renunciation he needs to fulfil his duty as a warrior.
- This verse is clarifying for Arjuna that he can participate in the war but without being affected by the reactions of the Karmas involved, if he acts with non-attachment and equanimity.
- Instructs Arjuna that inner renunciation, not outward renunciation, is the path to spiritual liberation.
Explanation:
One is satisfied with whatever comes, whatever gains one gets of its own accord. We are not satisfied with that; we want more and more. Why? Because we think something is good and something else is bad. So, heat is good, cold is bad or cold is good, heat is bad. Profit is good, loss is bad. For spiritual advancement, both things are good. If one gets profit, one uses it for Krishna. If one gets loss, one gets mental or physical miseries, then these memories of miseries are also very important. Miseries purify the heart. As we discussed, they bring one to the platform of spiritual knowledge. They bring detachment from this material world. So, miseries are also important for the purification of the heart. Lust and greed go away in miseries. So, thus, one should understand what is the purpose of this life. The purpose of this life is getting liberation from this material entanglement.
So, if you get profit, you use it for Krishna. If you get loss, if there is any physical or mental misery, that is anyway purification. So, why should a person take anxiety for profit and loss? That is Krishna’s intention here. To remain satisfied with the gains that come of their own accord and for destiny.
A transcendental person is free from envy. Today, the whole society is based on envy. And that is what results in competition. Suppose there is only one loaf of bread left in the house and two brothers want to have it. Will they fight for it? If there is actually love between the brothers, one would sacrifice. Oh, you please take. I am not hungry. You please have it. If the child wants to be fed and the mother is also hungry, the mother will choose to remain hungry to satiate the hunger of the child because the mother is not envious of the child. If the child wants to be fed and the mother is also hungry, the mother will choose to remain hungry to satiate the hunger of the child because the mother is not envious of the child. So, thus, there is no competition, no fight for resources when there is love. But now our heart burns if our friends or relatives advance more than us. So, just to maintain the status quo in society, there is so much pressure. Mainly, pressure, stress, and anxiety are only because of this envy. Others are progressing more than me. I also have to work hard. I am not able to produce results. So, if you really love them, you should try to let them perform better than you. But no, there is no love, there is envy.
A pure devotee, a transcendentalist, is free from envy. Thus, he is equipoised in success and failures. So, he does not get disturbed. Others have gone more than me, I have failed. No, they are all part and parcels of Krishna. If they are happy, I am satisfied.
Chapter 04, Verse 23
गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः।
यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते॥ 4.23॥
gata-sangasya muktasya gyanavasthita-cetasah।
yagyayacaratah karma samagram praviliyate॥ 4.23॥
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
गतसङ्गस्य (gata-sangasya) |
Of one who is free from attachment |
|
मुक्तस्य (muktasya) |
Of the liberated |
|
ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः |
(gyanavasthita-cetasah) Whose intellect is established in knowledge
|
|
यज्ञाय (yagyaya) |
For the sake of sacrifice (spiritual offering) |
|
आचरतः (acaratah) |
Performing (action) |
|
कर्म (karma) |
Action/work |
|
समग्रम् (samagram) |
Entirely, completely |
|
प्रविलीयते (praviliyate) |
Is dissolved, ceases to exist |
Translation
“That work in which a man is not attached to the modes of material nature, and in which the work of transcendental devotion is established in his consciousness, and wherein the truth is attained – this sort of work is laid down in the Vedas, as well as in the Stilled Mind.
Context of the Verse:
This stanza extends the course of selfless work and spiritual knowledge. In Chapter 4, Krishna says that knowledge works to change action, that action free from “I” consciousness, or union plus selfish motivation, leads to liberation rather than enslavement. Krishna is describing what it is like for the one whose karma has passed away.
Key Teachings in This Verse:
- Freedom from Attachment (Gata-Sanga): One who is spiritually developed is detached from results and beings.
- Liberation (Muktasya): Liberation occurs when one is free from attachment and enlightened with wisdom.
- Stability in Knowledge (Gyanavasthita-Cetasah): The wisdom-centered mind sees oneness in all activity.
- Selfless Action (Yagyaya-Acaratah): Actions performed as offerings i.e. not for their fruit – do not bind.
- Dissolution of Karma: Such clean action leaves behind no residues for Karma and does not result in further bondage.
Relevance to Arjuna:
- Arjuna is worried that action (any action, but particularly violent action such as war) will bind him to sin.
- Krishna says to him that if one works by self-sacrifice without attachment, his actions purify rather than bind him.
- This verse exhorts Arjuna to fight, as part of his duty as a Kshatriya, but to fight as a mere instrument of dharma, a body-mind constitution which is rooted in wisdom.
- It trains Arjuna to become a Karma-yogi, a warrior who does his duty without attachment.
Chapter 04, Verse 24
ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम्।
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना॥ 4.24॥
brahmarpanam brahma havir brahmagnau brahmana hutam।
brahmaiva tena gantavyam brahma-karma-samadhina ॥ 4.24॥
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
ब्रह्मार्पणम् (brahmarpanam) |
The offering is Brahman |
|
ब्रह्म (brahma) |
Brahman (the Absolute) |
|
हविः (havih) |
The oblation |
|
ब्रह्माग्नौ (brahmagnau) |
In the fire of Brahman |
|
ब्रह्मणा (brahmana) |
By the performer who is Brahman |
|
हुतम् (hutam) |
Is offered |
|
ब्रह्मैव (brahma eva) |
Brahman alone |
|
तेन (tena) |
By him |
|
गन्तव्यम् (gantavyam) |
Is to be reached (should be attained) |
|
ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना (brahma-karma-samadhina) |
By one absorbed in Brahman through Brahman-action |
Translation
The doer of such work is equally qualified as the non-doer.) One needs no fight for his existence, but should fight in order to maintain his Krishna consciousness. “One who is fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness is sure to attain the spiritual kingdom because of his full contribution to spiritual activities, in which the consummation is absolute and that which is offered is of the same spiritual nature.”
Context of the Verse:
This verse is very philosophical and Vedantic one which demonstrates the oneness of all forms of sacrifice with Brahman (the highest). Krishna is pointing out that a performer of sacrifice with knowledge has the offeror as sacrifice, the offering as sacrifice and action as none other than the Self (Brahman). This takes us to Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga (The Path to Renunciation through Action), explaining how action combined with spirituality steers one to liberation.
Key Teachings in This Verse:
- Non-Dual Vision (Advaita): All action and sacrifice are expressions of the same one Reality – Brahman.
- Triad in the Deed of Doer, Deed and Object: The man of knowledge has no division in himself between the doer, the action, and instrumentality.
- Sacrifice as Ritual: Adopt an attitude of submission and surrender and treat everything you do as an offering, making your entire day an act of worship.
- Realization by Knowledge: Freedom lies not in non-action but in working for God.
- Brahman-Centered Living: A person dwelling rooted in Brahman (Brahma–Karma–Samadhina) attains Brahman – the supreme end.
Relevance to Arjuna:
- Arjuna is being encouraged to transcend the pairs of opposites of war, action, and ego.
- Krishna teaches him that when action is done with the consciousness of the Divine in our heart, it becomes a spiritual sadhana.
- Helps Arjuna identify himself, not as the doer, but only as the instrument, and offer all actions into the fire of Dharma and truth.
- This verse assists Arjuna to connect the dots from a materialized approach to the duty reinforcing his spirituality.
Explanation:
Here Krishna has explained work should be done only for sacrifice. When you sacrifice there is ‘Ahuti’ there is offering, there is butter to be offered. There is ‘Agni’ fire in which the offering has to be made. When a person is completely Krishna conscious, then all his activities is object of offering. And the result of that Yagya everything is completely spiritual. This kind of Yagya is expected of Arjuna. When a person has taken shelter of Krishna is absorbed in thoughts of Krishna. Then any action that he does and the result of that activity, the performer of that activity, everything is Brahm, everything is completely spiritual.
But if a person is not completely absorbed in Krishna, then even though he may do Yagya, his result may not be spiritual. And what is that? Krishna explains in next Verse.
Chapter 04, Verse 25
दैवमेवापरे यज्ञं योगिनः पर्युपासते।
ब्रह्माग्नावपरे यज्ञं यज्ञेनैवोपजुह्वति॥ 4.25॥
daivam evapare yagyam yoginah paryupasate।
brahmagnav apare yagyam yagyenaivopajuhvati॥ 4.25॥
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
दैवम् (daivam) |
To the deities / divine powers |
|
एव (eva) |
Alone / exclusively |
|
अपरे (apare) |
Others |
|
यज्ञम् (Yagyam) |
Sacrifice |
|
योगिनः (yoginah) |
Yogis (spiritual practitioners) |
|
पर्युपासते (paryupasate) |
Worship / perform with devotion |
|
ब्रह्माग्नौ (brahmagnau) |
In the fire of Brahman (spiritual knowledge) |
|
अपरे (apare) |
Others |
|
यज्ञम् (Yagyam) |
Sacrifice |
|
यज्ञेन (yagyena) |
By sacrifice itself |
|
एव (eva) |
Only / indeed |
|
उपजुह्वति (upajuhvati) |
Offer / perform as an offering |
Translation
“There are Yogis – real Sages who successfully worshipped Demigods by different types of sacrifices; and there are Yogis even who offered sacrifices in the fire of the supreme Brahman – they made Yagya to the Self.”
Context of the Verse:
The current verse starts a set of verses (4.25-4.30) wherein Lord Krishna explains about different Yagyas (sacrifice) performed by seekers at different levels of understanding.
Here, Krishna highlights:
- Devotional Yagya: performed for deities (for the purpose of spiritual or material benefit).
- Gyana Yagya: the internal Yagya, consisting of offering oneself (or one’s actions) to the fire of Brahman, which denotes knowledge and renunciation.
He maintains that all such devotion-desire to do something from without; internal-external activity, can purify the aspirant, if it is sincerely done with devotion and awareness.
Key Teachings in This Verse:
- Spiritual Paths Diverge: Spiritual seekers are not all worshipping in the exact same way; one may worship through external rituals, while another does through internal realization.
- Yagya as Spiritual Ideal: Sacrifice is not only symbolic- any true offering to the Divine is a sacred act.
- Bhakti vs Gyan: Devotion based acts of worship (for devas), as also knowledge based, introspective sacrifices (in Brahman) are valid and transformational.
- Uniformity of Goal: Irrespective of the sacrifice being external or internal, both have the same objective, to go beyond and to be one with the Divine.
Relevance to Arjuna:
- Arjuna is a soldier at a crossroads between engagement and renunciation.
- Krishna instructs him everything, that selfless action is a kind of Yagya, it is also spiritually elevating.
- It encourages Arjuna to look upon his actions (war/duty) as an offering, like that of Yagya into the fire of Brahman.
- Gives readers a context to connect duty with spirituality.
Explanation:
There are now so many different types of Yagyas. Krishna has laid down that we should work only in Yagya, only in sacrifice. And there are sacrifices of so many types, as it is possible according to the living entities’ nature and capacity. Some Yogis offer Yagya to ‘Devatas‘, the demigods, others in the Supreme Brahman. So, the demigod worshipers and the personalists are described here. Sacrificing ourselves to the fire of the Supreme Brahman means the personal identity of a man. That is the impersonalist’s aim. He desires not to be; he desires but to become one with the sum total, the Brahman Jyoti. Therefore, Brahman is said to be the fire and the individual identity the offering. One loses what one is and does not lose what one is. But there one stays as an atom in a particle’s world. But the sensual aspect is shut down. So, in that way, it is a loss of identity.