Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 16
किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिताः।
तत्ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात्।।
तत्ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात्।।
kiṁ karma kim akarmeti kavayo ’pyatra mohitāḥ
tat te karma pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvā mokṣyase ’śubhāt
also searched as "kim karma kim akarmeti kavayo 'pyatra mohitah"
Translation
What is action? What is non-action? Even the wise are puzzled in respect of these. I shall declare to you that kind of action, knowing which you will be freed from evil.
Vāṇi's rendering
What is action? What is inaction? Even the wise stumble here. I will tell you, and it will free you.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| किम्kiṁ | what |
| कर्मkarma | action, doing |
| किम्kim | what |
| अकर्मakarma | inaction, not-doing (sandhi: akarma + iti = akarmeti) |
| इतिiti | so, thus — closing the question |
| कवयःkavayaḥ | the seers, the far-sighted ones (sandhi: kavayaḥ + api = kavayo 'pi) |
| अपिapi | even |
| अत्रatra | here, on this point |
| मोहिताःmohitāḥ | bewildered, thrown off |
| तत्tat | that |
| तेte | to you |
| कर्मkarma | action |
| प्रवक्ष्यामिpravakṣyāmi | I will tell, I will set out plainly |
| यत्yat | which (sandhi: yat + jñātvā = yaj jñātvā) |
| ज्ञात्वाjñātvā | having known |
| मोक्ष्यसेmokṣyase | you will be freed, loosened |
| अशुभात्aśubhāt | from what harms, from the unlucky binding (sandhi: mokṣyase + aśubhāt = mokṣyase 'śubhāt) |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 16 mean?
It means the difference between action and inaction is genuinely hard to see — even the wise misjudge it. Krishna does not scold Arjuna for the confusion; he takes the question seriously and promises to answer it, adding that the answer itself frees. Understanding here is not decoration. It releases you from aśubha, from what binds and harms.
What does kim karma kim akarmeti kavayo pyatra mohitah mean?
Kiṁ karma, kim akarma — what is doing, what is not-doing. Kavayaḥ api atra mohitāḥ: even the seers are bewildered right here. The line is Krishna admitting that a question everyone assumes is simple has undone the clearest minds. Only after that admission does he offer to speak.
Why would even wise people be confused about what action is?
Because doing is not measured by movement. Someone can withdraw from work and remain feverish with wanting; someone can carry enormous labour and be untouched by it. The hands tell you nothing about the inner state. Judge yourself by outward busyness and you will get it wrong in either direction.
How can knowing something free me from harm?
Because the binding is not in the work but in the misreading of it. So long as you believe your worth rides on outcomes, every act ties another knot. See action accurately — who acts, what is yours to carry — and the knot has nothing to tighten around. Krishna says jñātvā, having known, and then loosening follows.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice that Krishna concedes the confusion before he clears it. Even kavayaḥ — the seers, the ones who see furthest — stumble at this line. So Arjuna's bewilderment is not a private failure of nerve; it is the honest difficulty of the question. What counts as doing something? What counts as doing nothing? The person sitting still may be churning, and the one in the thick of the work may be unmoved. You cannot tell by looking at the hands. Krishna does not offer a definition to memorize; he promises a knowing that loosens something. Watch where your stillness is really busy.