Bhagavad Gita BG 4.16
Chapter 4, Verse 16 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिताः । तत्ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात् ॥
kim karma kim akarmeti kavayo 'py atra mohitah tat te karma pravakshyami yaj jnatva mokshyase 'shubhat
Meaning
What is action and what is inaction? Even the wise are confused about this. I shall declare to you what action is — knowing which, you shall be liberated from the inauspicious.
Understanding
Even kavayah (poets, thinkers, the learned) are mohitah (confused, deluded) about the nature of karma and akarma. This signals that what follows is deeply counter-intuitive. The promise: knowing this, you shall be liberated from ashubha (the inauspicious — the binding force of action). This verse introduces one of the most philosophically rich sections of the Gita.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| किम् कर्म | kim karma | what is action |
| किम् अकर्म | kim akarma | what is inaction |
| कवयः | kavayah | the wise, poets, learned ones |
| मोहिताः | mohitah | confused, deluded |
| अशुभात् | ashubhat | from the inauspicious, from bondage |
| इति | iti | thus (what is action? what is inaction?) |
| अपि | api | even / also |
| अत्र | atra | here / in this matter |
| तत् | tat | that (action — I shall now explain) |
| ते | te | to you / for you |
| प्रवक्ष्यामि | pravakṣyāmi | I will explain / I shall declare |
| यत् | yat | which / knowing which |
| ज्ञात्वा | jñātvā | having known / knowing |
| मोक्ष्यसे | mokṣyase | you will be liberated / you will be freed |