Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 15
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः।
कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम्।।
कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम्।।
evaṁ jñātvā kṛtaṁ karma pūrvair api mumukṣubhiḥ
kuru karmaiva tasmāttvaṁ pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṁ kṛtam
also searched as "evam jnatva kritam karma purvair api mumukshubhih"
Translation
Knowing thus, even ancient seekers of liberation did their work. Therefore, do your work only as the ancients did in olden times.
Vāṇi's rendering
The ancients who sought freedom knew it, and still they worked. Work as they worked, in older days.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| एवम्evaṁ | thus, in this way |
| ज्ञात्वाjñātvā | having known |
| कृतम्kṛtaṁ | was done, was performed |
| कर्मkarma | action, work |
| पूर्वैःpūrvaiḥ | by the ancients, by those who came before (sandhi: pūrvair before api) |
| अपिapi | even, also |
| मुमुक्षुभिःmumukṣubhiḥ | by those longing for freedom |
| कुरुkuru | do, perform |
| कर्मkarma | action, work |
| एवeva | indeed, only (sandhi: karma + eva = karmaiva) |
| तस्मात्tasmāt | therefore |
| त्वम्tvaṁ | you (sandhi: tasmāt + tvaṁ) |
| पूर्वैःpūrvaiḥ | by the ancients |
| पूर्वतरम्pūrvataraṁ | in still older days, long before |
| कृतम्kṛtam | done, as it was done |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 15 mean?
It means the seekers of old did not treat freedom as a reason to stop acting. They understood how action works — that it need not bind the one who acts — and then they went on working. Krishna offers Arjuna their example: not a new experiment, but an old and tested way of standing in the world.
What does 'evam jnatva kritam karma purvair api mumukshubhih' teach?
That knowledge and work belong together. The mumukṣu — one who burns for liberation — is exactly the person Krishna cites as having worked. Understanding did not excuse them from the field. It changed what the field could do to them. The hands stayed busy; the heart stopped being hostage to results.
If I want liberation, should I give up my responsibilities?
Krishna answers no, and he does not argue it philosophically — he points to those who came before. They wanted freedom and they worked. What must be surrendered is the grip on outcomes, not the task in front of you. Put down the weight, keep the work.
Why does Krishna appeal to the ancients here?
Because Arjuna is being asked something that feels impossible, and it helps to know it has been done. This is not a new burden invented for him. Older hands have already walked this way, acted without clinging, and been free. You are joining something already in motion.
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Commentary
Arjuna wants renunciation to look like stopping. Krishna answers with a lineage: those who came before, who wanted freedom as badly as he does, worked. They knew what he has just been told — that action need not bind, that the doer can act without being smeared by the doing — and knowing it did not empty their hands. It filled them. Freedom was never the end of work; it was the end of work's weight. So the instruction is not new. You are being handed a craft that older hands have already used, and asked to pick it up where they set it down.