Chapter 4 · Verse 16 · Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga
Bhagavad Gita 4.16
Sanskrit
किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिताः। तत्ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात्।।4.16।।
Transliteration
kiṁ karma kim akarmeti kavayo ’pyatra mohitāḥ tat te karma pravakṣhyāmi yaj jñātvā mokṣhyase ’śhubhāt
In plain words
You are paralyzed because you cannot see the difference between the right move and the wrong one—between what matters and what doesn't. Krishna says: the confusion itself is the signal that you're looking for certainty in the wrong place. When you act from what you actually understand about yourself and what you're called to do, not from fear or others' expectations, the bondage of doubt falls away.
Word by Word
Lord Krishna here addresses the deepest confusion of the spiritual seeker: the paradox between doing and not-doing, between action and renunciation. Even the most accomplished sages have stumbled on this threshold, unable to discern true karma from its opposite.
What Krishna reveals is not a rule but a *recognition*—that right action flows from wisdom, and wisdom itself becomes the liberating sword that cuts through all bondage. When you understand the nature of karma as taught here, you transform your daily work from a burden into a path of freedom.
Listen
Bhagavad Gita 4.16 — BG 4.16
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