4.21
Chapter 4, Verse 21
निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः। शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम्৷৷
nirāśīryatacittātmā tyaktasarvaparigrahaḥ. śārīraṅ kēvalaṅ karma kurvannāpnōti kilbiṣam৷৷
Translation
Expecting nothing, his mind and personality controlled, without greed, doing bodily actions only; though he acts, yet he remains untainted.
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
निराशीः without hope, यतचित्तात्मा one with the mind and self controlled, त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः having abandoned all covetousness, शारीरम् bodily, केवलम् merely, कर्म action, कुर्वन् doing, न not, आप्नोति obtains, किल्बिषम् sin. Commentary: The liberated sage renounces all actions except what is necessary for the bare maintenance of the body. He has abandoned all possessions. He incurs no sin which will cause evil effects. For a man who thirsts for liberation (Mumukshu) even righteous activity (Dharma) is a sin as it causes bondage to Samsara. Dharma is a golden fetter for him. A golden fetter is also a fetter. A sage is liberated from both Dharma and Adharma, good and evil or virtue and vice. (Cf.III.7)
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.