{ "verse_id": "4.17", "mūla": { "devanāgarī": "कर्मणो ह्य् अपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः | अकर्मणश् च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गतिः", "iast": "karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṃ boddhavyaṃ ca vikarmaṇaḥ | akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṃ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ", "chapter_position": "Chapter 4 (Jñāna-Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga (The Yoga of Renunciation of Action in Knowledge)), verse 17", "speaker": "Krishna", "addressed_to": "Arjuna" }, "word_by_word": [ { "surface_form": "karmaṇaḥ", "lemma": "karman", "grammar": "genitive neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "शास्त्रविहितस्य हि यस्मात्", "school": "advaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "shankara" ] }, { "sense": "स्वरूपे बोद्धव्यम् अस्ति विकर्मणि", "school": "viśiṣṭādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "ramanuja" ] }, { "sense": "स्वरूपमिति शेषः", "school": "śuddhādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "vallabha" ] }, { "sense": "शास्त्रविहितस्यापि तत्त्वं बोद्धव्यमस्ति", "school": "advaita-bhakti", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "madhusudan" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "कर्मणः" }, { "surface_form": "hi", "lemma": "hi", "grammar": "", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "हि" }, { "surface_form": "api", "lemma": "api", "grammar": "", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "अपि" }, { "surface_form": "boddhavyam", "lemma": "budh", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular gdv noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "बोद्धव्यम्" }, { "surface_form": "boddhavyam", "lemma": "budh", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular gdv noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "बोद्धव्यम्" }, { "surface_form": "ca", "lemma": "ca", "grammar": "", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "च" }, { "surface_form": "vikarmaṇaḥ", "lemma": "vikarman", "grammar": "genitive neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "प्रतिषिद्धस्य तथा अकर्मणश्च तूष्णींभावस्य बोद्धव्यम् अस्ति इति त्रिष्वप्यध्याहारः कर्तव्यः", "school": "advaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "shankara" ] }, { "sense": "कर्मादि कर्माकर्म", "school": "dvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "jayatirtha" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "विकर्मणः" }, { "surface_form": "akarmaṇaḥ", "lemma": "akarman", "grammar": "genitive neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "अकर्मणः" }, { "surface_form": "ca", "lemma": "ca", "grammar": "", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "च" }, { "surface_form": "boddhavyam", "lemma": "budh", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular gdv noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "बोद्धव्यम्" }, { "surface_form": "gahanā", "lemma": "gahana", "grammar": "nominative feminine singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "विषमा दुर्ज्ञेया कर्मणः इति उपलक्षणार्थं कर्मादीनाम् कर्माकर्मविकर्मणां गतिः याथात्म्यं तत्त्वम् इत्यर्थः", "school": "advaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "shankara" ] }, { "sense": "दुर्विज्ञाना मुमुक्षोः कर्मणो गतिः", "school": "viśiṣṭādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "ramanuja", "vedantadeshika" ] }, { "sense": "दुर्ज्ञाना", "school": "advaita-bhakti", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "madhusudan" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "गहना" }, { "surface_form": "karmaṇaḥ", "lemma": "karman", "grammar": "genitive neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "शास्त्रविहितस्य हि यस्मात्", "school": "advaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "shankara" ] }, { "sense": "स्वरूपे बोद्धव्यम् अस्ति विकर्मणि", "school": "viśiṣṭādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "ramanuja" ] }, { "sense": "स्वरूपमिति शेषः", "school": "śuddhādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "vallabha" ] }, { "sense": "शास्त्रविहितस्यापि तत्त्वं बोद्धव्यमस्ति", "school": "advaita-bhakti", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "madhusudan" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "कर्मणः" }, { "surface_form": "gatiḥ", "lemma": "gati", "grammar": "nominative feminine singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "याथात्म्यं तत्त्वम् इत्यर्थः", "school": "advaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "shankara" ] }, { "sense": "। विकर्मणि च बोद्धव्यम् नित्यनैमित्तिककाम्यद्रव्यार्जनादौ कर्मणि फलभेदकृतं वैविध्यं परित्यज्य मोक्षैकफलतया एकशास्त्रार्थ", "school": "viśiṣṭādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "ramanuja", "vedantadeshika" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "गतिः" } ], "intertextual_panel": [ { "verse": "4.18", "type": "next-verse continuation", "score": 0.9478, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8778, "theme_graph": 3.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 10.411, "stem_prefix": 4.0 } }, { "verse": "2.47", "type": "cross-chapter thematic parallel", "score": 0.9018, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8618, "theme_graph": 1.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, 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0.8881, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8581, "theme_graph": 0.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 5.4678, "stem_prefix": 3.0 } }, { "verse": "4.20", "type": "thematic-cluster continuation", "score": 0.8861, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8561, "theme_graph": 1.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 4.3988, "stem_prefix": 2.0 } } ], "doctrinal_projections": { "advaita": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "shankara_4.17", "anandgiri_4.17" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Śaṅkara insists that all three — karma (vidhi-mandated action), vikarma (prohibited action), and akarma (quiescence, tūṣṇīmbhāva) — must each be understood in their tattva, their essential nature, not merely their popular appearance. The triad is not self-evident: even the 'stillness' of akarma conceals a metaphysical depth that confounds the unexamined mind. Because karma's gati (trajectory) is gahana — intrinsically obscure — the discerning seeker cannot rest on conventional categories; correct understanding is prerequisite for niṣkāma-karma, which alone prepares the jīva for jñāna." }, "viśiṣṭādvaita": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "ramanuja_4.17", "vedantadeshika_4.17" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Rāmānuja reads the triad through the lens of mokṣa-sādhanā: karma here is not merely prescribed action but kainkarya (service) oriented toward liberation, while vikarma encompasses the varied forms of action — nitya, naimittika, kāmya — whose fruit-distinctions must be surrendered in favor of a single ekāgra understanding (referenced explicitly at BG 2.41, vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekā). Akarma is jñāna itself, the knowledge-aspect of the liberative path. The path is gahana — difficult for even the mumukṣu — precisely because the seeker must collapse all fruit-multiplicity into the one purpose of serving Bhagavān." }, "dvaita": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "madhva_4.17", "jayatirtha_4.17" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Madhva anchors the verse in a cited verse from his own paraṃparā: one who does not know Bhagavān's karman, akarman, and vikarman cannot attain liberation — mukti is simply absent without this discriminative knowledge. Akarma is the non-performance of action; vikarma is prohibited action that binds (bandhakatva); and even the wise (kavayas) are confounded, making gahana not merely a figure of speech but an epistemological statement about the jīva's dependence on Hari's grace for correct discernment. The jīva's eternally distinct status means it cannot self-certify its own understanding — Bhagavān must be known as the authoritative knower." }, "śuddhādvaita": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "vallabha_4.17" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Vallabha foregrounds the practical peril: karma-mārga is duratyaya (very difficult to cross), and the mutual cancellation (anyonyanaśakatva) of actions makes fruit impossible to determine reliably — hence the verse's injunction points toward bhajana rather than ritual calculation. The categories of permitted (vihita), unpermitted (avihita), and prohibited (niṣiddha) karma are signaled, but Vallabha's commentary closes with the observation that even karma alone has a gahana gati — what then of the others? — using the singular as an upalakṣaṇa for all three. This is Kṛṣṇa's prasāda-pedagogy: show the seeker the impenetrable density of karma-mārga so the heart turns toward līlā-rooted surrender." }, "bhakti": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "sridhara_4.17" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Śrīdhara addresses an objection directly: surely karma (bodily activity) and akarma (its absence) are common knowledge — why claim even poets are bewildered? His answer is that the tattva of each category goes beyond its popular sense (lokasiddha-mātra); the prescribed action (vihita-vyāpāra), the non-prescribed (avihita), and the prohibited (niṣiddha) each carry an inner reality that demands separate investigation. The term karmaṇaḥ in the final pāda is upalakṣaṇa — it points to the entire triad. Genuine bhakti-aligned action requires this discrimination, else the devotee mistakes enthusiasm for correctness." }, "advaita-bhakti": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "madhusudan_4.17" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Madhusūdana begins by demolishing the objection of the complacent student who believes he already knows — 'bodily activity is karma, sitting still is akarma, what more is there to say?' — and replies that the tattva of even śāstra-vihita karma remains to be understood, let alone the prohibited and the quiescent. All three sentences (vākyatraya) carry the same ellipsis: 'its tattva exists to be known.' The synthesis is characteristically Madhusūdana's: Advaita's dialectical exposure of false certainty serves Kṛṣṇa-bhakti by clearing the ground — only when the devotee stops assuming he knows karma can he receive Kṛṣṇa's actual teaching in the verses that follow." } }, "prosodic_information": { "meter": "anuṣṭubh", "meter_shift_from_previous": true, "meter_shift_to_next": true, "pragmatic_context": { "vocative": "", "preceding_question": "", "following_response": "" } }, "theme_list_memberships": [ { "list": "अकर्म", "role": "supporting", "other_verses_in_list": [ "2.47", "3.5", "3.8", "4.16", "4.18", "4.23", "4.24", "5.12", "12.17" ] }, { "list": "कामना", "role": "supporting", "other_verses_in_list": [ "2.56", "2.63", "2.71", "3.30", "3.37", "3.39", "3.41", "4.23", "6.24", "7.15", "7.16", "10.1", "12.10" ] }, { "list": "निराशीः", "role": "supporting", "other_verses_in_list": [ "4.21", "6.10" ] }, { "list": "विकर्म", "role": "supporting", "other_verses_in_list": [ "3.37", "4.23" ] } ], "audit_trail": { "substrate_version": "v2.6-frozen", "fitted_weights": { "a": 1.0, "b": 0.01, "e_v": 0.005, "z": 0.2, "h": 0.0, "th": 0.01 }, "corpus_provenance": { "mūla": "Belvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness", "panel_witnesses": [ "bg-mula", "bg-shankara", "bg-ramanuja", "bg-madhva", "bg-vedantadeshika", "bg-vallabha", "bg-jayatirtha", "bg-anandgiri", "bg-sridhara", "bg-madhusudan" ] }, "extraction_date": "2026-04-21", "score_methodology_documented_at": "Paper 1, Section II.B", "word_by_word_parser": "ByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)" }, "so_what_questions": [ "If even sanctioned (vihita) action has a tattva that exceeds common understanding, what assumption about 'doing the right thing' does this verse directly destabilize?", "Śaṅkara identifies akarma as tūṣṇīmbhāva (silent quiescence) — how does treating inaction as a category requiring investigation change how you evaluate a decision to 'do nothing'?", "Madhva cites a verse tying ignorance of the triad directly to the impossibility of mukti — what does this imply about the relationship between doctrinal precision and soteriological outcome?", "Vallabha observes that actions can mutually cancel each other (anyonyanaśakatva) — in which contemporary domains (law, institutional policy, personal commitments) does this structural problem most visibly appear?", "All six schools read gahana as an epistemic warning, not merely a poetic phrase — what is the practical difference between 'this is complicated' and 'the category structure itself confounds even the learned'?", "Rāmānuja collapses the fruit-distinctions of different karma types into a single mokṣa-orientation — where in your own decision-making do competing motivations prevent a similarly unified aim?", "The verse announces understanding as prerequisite before giving the content of that understanding (which comes in 4.18) — what does this sequencing imply about how wisdom traditions structure disclosure?" ], "everyday_applications": { "advaita": "Before labeling a choice 'inaction' or 'neutrality,' apply Śaṅkara's check: has tūṣṇīmbhāva (genuine quiescence) been investigated, or is it mere avoidance wearing the costume of non-attachment? The tattva of akarma demands scrutiny equal to that of any overt act.", "viśiṣṭādvaita": "When facing a task with multiple competing purposes — career advancement, obligation, genuine service — apply Rāmānuja's fruit-collapse: identify whether the action can be reoriented toward a single unifying aim (ekāgra), and if not, interrogate why the motivations remain fragmented.", "dvaita": "Before concluding that you understand what you are doing and why, apply Madhva's epistemic humility test: have you consulted a source of knowledge outside your own reasoning? The jīva's self-certification of correct action is structurally unreliable — seek authoritative confirmation from tradition, teacher, or scripture.", "śuddhādvaita": "When ritual or procedural effort feels overwhelming and the outcomes seem to cancel each other out, recognize this as the signal Vallabha names (anyonyanaśakatva) — the appropriate response is not harder calculation but a shift toward bhajana (loving engagement) where the action is its own complete offering.", "bhakti": "When you believe you already understand a situation fully (the Śrīdhara objector's position), treat that certainty as a flag: the lokasiddha (commonly understood) account is rarely the tattva. Re-examine one assumption in your model of the situation before acting on confidence alone.", "advaita-bhakti": "Madhusūdana's move — demolishing the student's premature closure before transmitting new content — is a teaching method. When advising or teaching others, identify the assumption they are confident in and surface it for examination before offering your own framing; premature certainty blocks reception." }, "primary_meaning": "You must understand what action really is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is, for the way of action runs deep and is hard to fathom." }