Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 17

English Translation

For there is something to be known even about action, and something to be known about prohibited action; and something has to be known about inaction. The true nature of action is inscrutable.

Detailed Commentary

Explanation - 'Karmaṇah hi api bodhavyam' - To remain unattached while performing action is to understand the essence of Karma, which is further described in the eighteenth verse by the words 'Karmanya akarma yah paśyet'. Karma, Akarma, and Vikarma are of three types. A scripturally ordained action performed with a desire for results is called 'Karma'. An action performed without desire for fruit, possessiveness, or attachment, solely for the welfare of others, becomes 'Akarma'. If even a prescribed action is performed with the intention of harming or causing distress to another, it becomes 'Vikarma'. Forbidden actions are already 'Vikarma'. 'Akarmaṇaśca bodhavyam' - To act unattached is to understand the essence of Akarma. 'Bodhavyam ca Vikarmaṇaḥ' - Actions arise from desire. When desire intensifies, Vikarma (sinful actions) occur. In the thirty-eighth verse of the second chapter, Bhagavan states that even a violent act like war, if performed according to scriptural injunction and with equanimity, does not incur sin. An action performed with equanimity, even if it appears as Vikarma, becomes 'Akarma'. A scripturally forbidden action is called 'Vikarma'. Desire is the cause of Vikarma. The essence of Vikarma is desire. To understand the essence of Vikarma means to renounce Vikarma and consequently to renounce the desire that causes it. 'Gahanā Karmaṇaḥ gatiḥ' - It is difficult to decide which action leads to liberation and which leads to bondage. What Karma, Akarma, and Vikarma are, is difficult for even great scholars of the scriptures to know. Doubt - In this verse, Bhagavan states 'bodhavyam ca Vikarmaṇaḥ', asking to understand the essence of Vikarma, but from the nineteenth to the twenty-third verse, He does not discuss Vikarma. Resolution - Bhagavan has spoken of Akarma within Karma in these verses, so that all actions become Akarma. The cause of Vikarma is desire. The renunciation of desire considers Vikarma as contemptible. 'Karma' arises from desire, and when desire intensifies, 'Vikarma' occurs. When desire is destroyed, all actions become 'Akarma'. Vikarma is not discussed in detail because it is to be renounced. However, the renunciation of 'desire' is paramount in this context. Connection - Now Bhagavan praises the person who understands the essence of actions.