Verse 4.18
कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः ।
स बुद्धिमान्मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत् ॥
Transliteration
karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśyedakarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ |
sa buddhimānmanuṣyeṣu sa yuktaḥ kṛtsnakarmakṛt ||
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3
Translation
He who seeth inaction in action and action in inaction, he is wise among men; he is a Yogi and performer of all actions.
From the owner's sheet · +1 more
One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among people; he is disciplined and does all his work.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08 · +1 more
Word by word
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08
Explanation
This verse is one of the Gita's famous paradoxes. The wise person sees inaction in action and action in inaction. One reading: such a person acts without attachment, so that inwardly nothing binds him, while one who refrains from action outwardly but craves inwardly is in truth acting. Another reading: the self is never the doer even when the body acts. Either way, the verse turns the ordinary view upside down. What matters is not the outward activity but the inner relation to it.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08