Verset 4.18

कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः ।

स बुद्धिमान्मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत् ॥

4.18

Translittération

karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśyedakarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ |

sa buddhimānmanuṣyeṣu sa yuktaḥ kṛtsnakarmakṛt ||

Par Sanskrit System · Brouillon automatique · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Traduction

He who seeth inaction in action and action in inaction, he is wise among men; he is a Yogi and performer of all actions.

D’après la feuille du propriétaire · +1 de plus

Mot à mot

in action
inaction
who
sees
in inaction
and
action
who

he
is wise
among people
he
is a yogi
doer of all actions

Par Sanskrit System · Brouillon automatique · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explication

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.