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Ch 4 · Jñāna-Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga
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Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 4, Verse 15: Krishna to Arjuna — Jñāna-Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 4.15Chapter 4 · Jñāna-Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः ।
कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात् त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम् ॥
evaṃ← evam(28 verses)thus, in this way jñātvā← jñā(22 verses)convto know (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaकृतं कर्म पूर्वैःviśiṣṭādvaitaअपि विमुक्तपापैः पूर्वैःdvaitaकर्मकरणे आचारोऽप्यस्तीत्याह एवमितिśuddhādvaitaपूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः कक्षीवन्नारदादिभिर्मन्वादिभिर्वा जनकादिभिर्वा कर्म स्वधर्माख्यं वक्ष्यमाणप्रकारेण कृतम् तस्मात्त्bhaktiपूर्वैर्जनकादिभिरपि मुमुक्षुभिः सत्त्वशुद्ध्यर्थं पूर्वतरं युगान्तरेष्वपि कृतम्advaita-bhaktiकृतं कर्म पूर्वैरतिक्रान्तैरपि अस्मिन् युगे ययातियदुप्रभृतिभिर्मुमुक्षुभिः kṛtaṃ← √kṛ(35 verses)accusative neuter singular participle nounto do, make (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaita(गीता 4.15) इत्युच्यते यस्मात् महत् वैषम्यं कर्मणिviśiṣṭādvaita। तस्मात् त्वम् उक्तप्रकारमद्विषयज्ञानविधूतपापः पूर्वैः विवस्वन्मन्वादिभिः कृतं पूर्वतरं पुरातनं तदानीम् एव मया उक्तं वकśuddhādvaitaतस्मात्त्वमपि कर्मैव कुरुbhakti। तस्मात्त्वमपि प्रथमं कर्मैव कुरु।advaita-bhakti। एतेनास्मिन्युगेऽन्ययुगे च पूर्वपूर्वतरैः कृतत्वादवश्यं त्वया कर्तव्यं कर्मेति दर्शयति। karma← karman(144 verses)accusative neuter singular nounaction, deed, the law of actionattested in commentariesadvaitaपूर्वैःviśiṣṭādvaitaकृतम्। तस्मात् त्वम् उक्तप्रकारमद्विषयज्ञानविधूतपापः पूर्वैः विवस्वन्मन्वादिभिः कृतं पूर्वतरं पुरातनं तदानीम् एव मया उकśuddhādvaitaप्रपञ्चयितुमनुस्मारयति एवं ज्ञात्वेति pūrvai← pūrva(8 verses)instrumental masculine plural nounformer, prior, easternattested in commentariesadvaitaअपि अतिक्रान्तैः मुमुक्षुभिःviśiṣṭādvaitaअपि मुमुक्षुभिः उक्तलक्षणं कर्म कृतम्dvaitaकृतमित्यनेनैव पूर्वतर त्वस्योक्तत्वात् पुनरुक्तिरित्यत आह पूर्वतर मितिadvaita-bhaktiजनकादिभिः पूर्वतरं अतिपूर्वं युगान्तरेऽपि कृतम्r api← api(103 verses)also, even, although mumukṣubhiḥ← mumukṣuinstrumental masculine plural noundesirous of liberationattested in commentariesadvaita। कुरु तेन कर्मैव त्वम् न तूष्णीमासनं नापि संन्यासः कर्तव्यः तस्मात् त्वं पूर्वैरपि अनुष्ठितत्वात् यदि अनात्मज्ञः त्वं तviśiṣṭādvaitaउक्तलक्षणं कर्म कृतम्śuddhādvaitaकक्षीवन्नारदादिभिर्मन्वादिभिर्वा जनकादिभिर्वा कर्म स्वधर्माख्यं वक्ष्यमाणप्रकारेण कृतम् तस्मात्त्वमपि कर्मैव कुरुbhaktiसत्त्वशुद्ध्यर्थं पूर्वतरं युगान्तरेष्वपि कृतम्
kuru← kṛ(42 verses)present imperative 2nd person singular verbto do, make (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaतेन कर्मैव त्वम् न तूष्णीमासनं नापि संन्यासः कर्तव्यः तस्मात् त्वं पूर्वैरपि अनुष्ठितत्वात् यदि अनात्मज्ञः त्वं तदा आत्viśiṣṭādvaita।वक्ष्यमाणस्य कर्मणो दुर्ज्ञानताम् आहśuddhādvaita। न चेदमाधुनिकम् किन्तु पूर्वतरं पूर्वैश्च कृतम्। इति शिष्टाचारात्कर्त्तव्यता बोधिता।advaita-bhaktiन तूष्णीमासनं नापि संन्यासम् karma← karman(144 verses)accusative neuter singular nounaction, deed, the law of actionattested in commentariesadvaitaपूर्वैःviśiṣṭādvaitaकृतम्। तस्मात् त्वम् उक्तप्रकारमद्विषयज्ञानविधूतपापः पूर्वैः विवस्वन्मन्वादिभिः कृतं पूर्वतरं पुरातनं तदानीम् एव मया उकśuddhādvaitaप्रपञ्चयितुमनुस्मारयति एवं ज्ञात्वेतिiva tasmāt← tasmāt(24 verses)therefore, from that tvaṃ← tvad(123 verses)nominative singular nounyou (2nd person pronoun stem) pūrvaiḥ← pūrva(8 verses)instrumental masculine plural nounformer, prior, easternattested in commentariesadvaitaअपि अतिक्रान्तैः मुमुक्षुभिःviśiṣṭādvaitaअपि मुमुक्षुभिः उक्तलक्षणं कर्म कृतम्dvaitaकृतमित्यनेनैव पूर्वतर त्वस्योक्तत्वात् पुनरुक्तिरित्यत आह पूर्वतर मितिadvaita-bhaktiजनकादिभिः पूर्वतरं अतिपूर्वं युगान्तरेऽपि कृतम् pūrvataraṃ← pūrvatara(2 verses)accusative neuter singular nounearlier, more ancient (pūrva 'former' + comparative -tara) kṛtam← √kṛ(35 verses)accusative neuter singular participle nounto do, make (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaita(गीता 4.15) इत्युच्यते यस्मात् महत् वैषम्यं कर्मणिviśiṣṭādvaita। तस्मात् त्वम् उक्तप्रकारमद्विषयज्ञानविधूतपापः पूर्वैः विवस्वन्मन्वादिभिः कृतं पूर्वतरं पुरातनं तदानीम् एव मया उक्तं वकśuddhādvaitaतस्मात्त्वमपि कर्मैव कुरुbhakti। तस्मात्त्वमपि प्रथमं कर्मैव कुरु।advaita-bhakti। एतेनास्मिन्युगेऽन्ययुगे च पूर्वपूर्वतरैः कृतत्वादवश्यं त्वया कर्तव्यं कर्मेति दर्शयति।
spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip
meaning

Knowing that the Self is not the doer and action leaves no stain, the ancient seekers of liberation performed their duties. Do the same, Arjuna, just as those before them did even longer ago.

Bhāṣyakāra purports

  • Śaṅkaraadvaita

    Knowing thus — that ātman is the non-doer and karma (action) leaves no stain on it — the ancient seekers of liberation (mumukṣu) performed their prescribed duties. Therefore act, Arjuna: not silence, not renunciation. If you lack self-knowledge, act to purify the mind (ātma-śuddhi); if you possess it, act for the cohesion of the world (loka-saṃgraha), as Janaka and the ancients did long before this age.

    divergence: Śaṅkara explicitly bifurcates the mandate: anātmajña acts for ātma-śuddhi; tattvavit acts for loka-saṃgraha. Both must still act — silence (tūṣṇīmāsana) and formal renunciation (saṃnyāsa) are ruled out for Arjuna here.

  • Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

    Those ancients — Vivasvān, Manu, and their lineage — whose sins were washed away by the very knowledge of Bhagavān just described, nevertheless performed this very karma in the manner He would now elaborate. Purified by that God-directed knowledge (mad-viṣaya-jñāna), you too must perform karma in the same ancient, Bhagavān-sanctioned form — not a modern improvisation.

    divergence: Rāmānuja emphasizes vimuktapāpa (liberated from sin) and mad-viṣaya-jñāna-vidhūtapāpa — the knowledge of Bhagavān Himself purifies and then qualifies the agent. The lineage (Vivasvān→Manu→Ikṣvāku) frames karma as divinely authorized succession.

  • Madhvadvaita

    Knowing thus — that prescribed action performed with this understanding constitutes right conduct (ācāra) — the ancients acted. The teaching here is that even prior to this present moment (pūrvatara: what came before) such karma was the established practice. Act accordingly.

    divergence: Madhva's commentary is deliberately terse: he treats the verse as confirming that action-with-knowledge has scriptural precedent (ācāra) and that pūrvatara means simply 'what predated even those ancients.' The laconic style is characteristic — dvaita's polemical energy enters elsewhere.

  • Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

    Having stated the incidental teaching, Kṛṣṇa now recalls Arjuna to the karma elaborated earlier: knowing — in the manner of a yogī (yogibhāvata), as Bhagavān Himself acts — that karma done thus does not bind, the ancient seekers, whether Kakṣīvat and Nārada, or Manu and his line, or Janaka and his, performed svadharma (one's own duty) in the way that will now be further explained. Therefore you too must perform karma alone. And this is no innovation: it is the most ancient practice, done by those who came long before.

    divergence: Vallabha names three distinct lineages of precedent (Kakṣīvat/Nārada, Manu-ādi, Janaka-ādi) and introduces the key phrase yogibhāvata — acting in the mode of a yogī, as Kṛṣṇa Himself acts in His līlā. The verse is a resumption of the main karma-yoga thread after a digression.

  • Śrīdharabhakti

    After the four-verse digression addressing the apparent partiality of Īśvara, Kṛṣṇa resumes the karma-yoga teaching. Knowing that karma performed without ahaṃkāra (ego-sense) does not bind, even the ancient seekers of liberation — Janaka and others — performed it in prior yugas for the purification of sattva (sattva-śuddhi). Therefore, first perform karma — begin there.

    divergence: Śrīdhara explicitly names the textual function of this verse: it is an anusmāraṇa (reminder) resuming the main thread after 4.11–4.14. He anchors the non-binding character of action in ahaṃkāra-rāhitya (freedom from ego-identification) and specifies the goal as sattva-śuddhi.

  • Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

    Because ātman is not the doer and the Self has no desire for the fruits of action — knowing from this jñāna that karma cannot bind the ātman — even those ancient seekers of liberation of this yuga, Yayāti, Yadu, and their peers, performed karma. Therefore you too must act, not sit in silence, not renounce. Whether you lack the knowledge, act for ātma-śuddhi; if you possess it, act for loka-saṃgraha, as Janaka-ādi did — and not merely in this yuga: the ancients of prior yugas did the same. Past and further-past alike confirm: this karma is your unavoidable obligation.

    divergence: Madhusūdana fuses Śaṅkara's ātma-śuddhi / loka-saṃgraha bifurcation with a devotional roll-call spanning two temporal layers (asmin yuge: Yayāti/Yadu; yuge-yuga-āntare: Janaka-ādi of prior cycles). The double temporal sweep is unique to his reading.

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