Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 19
यस्य सर्वे समारम्भाः कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः।
ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहुः पण्डितं बुधाः।।
ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहुः पण्डितं बुधाः।।
yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ
jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇaṁ tam āhuḥ paṇḍitaṁ budhāḥ
also searched as "yasya sarve samarambhah kama sankalpa varjitah"
Translation
He whose every undertaking is free from desire and delusive identification (of the body with the self), whose actions are burned up in the fire of knowledge—the wise describe him as a sage.
Vāṇi's rendering
The one whose every venture is free of craving, whose karma is burnt in the fire of knowing — truly learned.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यस्यyasya | whose |
| सर्वेsarve | all |
| समारम्भाःsamārambhāḥ | undertakings, ventures begun |
| कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताःkāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ | empty of craving and of the scheming that serves it |
| ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणम्jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇam | one whose actions are burnt in the fire of knowing (jñāna + agni joined by sandhi) |
| तम्tam | him, that one |
| आहुःāhuḥ | they call |
| पण्डितम्paṇḍitam | truly learned, one who actually knows |
| बुधाःbudhāḥ | the awake, those who see clearly |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 19 mean?
It describes a person whose every undertaking begins without craving and without the private scheming that craving breeds. Such action leaves no residue; it is said to be burnt in the fire of knowing. Krishna calls this person paṇḍita — not withdrawn from work, but working without the hidden clause of personal gain.
What does 'yasya sarve samarambhah kama sankalpa varjitah' mean?
Yasya sarve samārambhāḥ — whose every venture, all of them, without exception. Kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ — stripped of desire and of the plotting desire sets in motion. The line does not say his ventures ceased. It says the wanting was removed from them, and they continued anyway.
Does this verse tell me to stop planning?
No. Saṅkalpa here is not foresight but the appetite dressed as a plan — the arrangement made so that you will end up holding something. Plan the harvest, prepare the field, think carefully. What Krishna asks you to drop is the clause underneath, the one that says this must come back to me.
How can my actions be burnt by knowledge if I still have to work?
Fire takes the fuel, not the flame. Knowing does not stop the hands; it consumes what makes action stick — the assumption that you are the owner of the outcome. The deed happens and is finished. Nothing is left over to be collected later, so nothing binds you to it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Notice what is not burnt: the work. The ventures continue — plans made, arrows loosed, letters written. What burns is the craving braided into them, the small private clause that says and then I will have. Krishna has been telling Arjuna he cannot escape action; here he shows what action looks like when the wanting has gone out of it. Knowing burns the seed, not the sowing. And the word for such a person is not saint or renouncer — paṇḍita, one who actually knows. Look at your next undertaking and find the clause. That is all that has to go.