Verse 4.37
यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुतेऽर्जुन ।
ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा ॥
Transliteration
yathaidhāṃsi samiddho'gnirbhasmasātkurute'rjuna |
jñānāgniḥ sarvakarmāṇi bhasmasātkurute tathā ||
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3
Translation
As the blazing fire reduces fuel to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge reduce all actions to ashes.
From the owner's sheet · +1 more
As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, Arjuna, so the fire of knowledge turns all actions to ashes.
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
Krishna gives another image. As a strong fire reduces fuel to ashes, so the fire of knowledge (jñāna) burns up all actions. What is burned here is the binding power of past action, the seeds of future results. Traditions often distinguish actions whose results have already begun to unfold from those still stored up; many hold that knowledge destroys the stored ones. The verse echoes the earlier image of actions burned in the fire of knowledge and confirms that understanding has real power over bondage.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08