Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 4
Knowledge, Action and Renunciation
Jñāna Karma Sanyāsa Yoga
An old teaching, restated — and the idea of renunciation inside action.
Bhagavad Gītā, Chapter 4 (traditional text)
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Story
What happens
Krishna places the teaching in a long line of transmission, then speaks of appearing in every age when order falters. He describes the paradox at the centre of karma yoga: seeing inaction within action and action within inaction. Knowledge, he says, is what turns work into something that does not bind.
Key ideas
What this chapter turns on
- Transmission
- Dharma
- Action in inaction
- Knowledge
Explore the verses
Verses from this chapter
Verse 4.7
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत। अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्॥
“Whenever righteousness declines and unrighteousness rises, then I bring myself forth.”
Bhagavad Gītā 4.7 (traditional Sanskrit text). English rendering by Frenly Divine — a working translation, not an authoritative one.
Understand thisVerse 4.38
न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते। तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति॥
“Nothing here purifies like knowledge. One matured in yoga finds it, in time, within themselves.”
Bhagavad Gītā 4.38 (traditional Sanskrit text). English rendering by Frenly Divine — a working translation, not an authoritative one.
Understand thisUnderstand
In plain language
Explanation — written by Frenly Divine, not scripture
Reflect
Something to sit with
- What have you inherited as a teaching rather than worked out yourself?