4.15
Chapter 4, Verse 15
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः। कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम्৷৷
ēvaṅ jñātvā kṛtaṅ karma pūrvairapi mumukṣubhiḥ. kuru karmaiva tasmāttvaṅ pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṅ kṛtam৷৷
Translation
In the light of wisdom, our ancestors, who sought deliverance, performed their acts. Act thou also, as did our fathers of old.
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
एवं thus, ज्ञात्वा having known, कृतम् (was) done, कर्म action, पूर्वैः by ancients, अपि also, मुमुक्षुभिः seekers after freedom, कुरु perform, कर्म action, एव even, तस्मात् therefore, त्वम् thou, पूर्वैः by ancients,,पूर्वतरम् in the olden time, कृतम् done. Commentary: Knowing thus that the Self can have no desire for the fruits of actions and cannot be tainted by them, and knowing that no one can be tainted if he works without egoism, attachment and expectation of fruits, do thou perform your duty.If your heart is impure, perform actions for its purification. If you have attained AtmaJnana or the knowledge of the Self, work for the wellbeing of the world. The ancients such as Janaka and others performed actions in the days of yore. So do thou also perform action.
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.