Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 18
कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः । स बुद्धिमान्मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत्
karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśyedakarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ | sa buddhimānmanuṣyeṣu sa yuktaḥ kṛtsnakarmakṛt
Translation
He who can see inaction in action, who can also see action in inaction, he is wise among men, he is devout, he is the performer of all action.
— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri
Word meanings
- karmaṇi
- in action
- akarma
- inaction
- yaḥ
- who
- paśyet
- may see
- akarmaṇi
- in inaction
- ca
- and
- karma
- action
- yaḥ
- who
- saḥ
- he
- buddhimān
- wise
- manuṣyeṣu
- in men
- saḥ
- he
- yuktaḥ
- balanced
- kṛtsnakarmakṛt
- all, action, does, who, he
Śaṅkarācārya's commentary
To an ignorant man of the world, what in reality is inaction appears as action, and what in reality is action appears as inaction. With a view to teach what their real nature is, the Lord says, "He who can see inaction in action," etc. Action pertains to the physical body (deha) etc., but man falsely attributes action to the Self and imagines "I am the agent, mine is action, by me shall the fruit of action be reaped." Similarly, he falsely imputes to the Self the cessation of activity which really pertains to the body and the senses, as also the happiness which results from that cessation. He who has the right knowledge that action, which is commonly supposed by all to pertain to the Self, does not really belong to the Self; and he who knows that even inaction is action — he is wise among men, he is a Yogin, he is the performer of all actions. He is released from evil; he has achieved all.