Bhagavad Gita BG 4.20
Chapter 4, Verse 20 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रयः । कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किञ्चित्करोति सः ॥
tyaktva karma-phalasangam nitya-tripto nirasrayah karmany abhipravrtto 'pi naiva kincit karoti sah
Meaning
Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of action, always content, independent — though engaged in action, that one does nothing whatsoever.
Understanding
Three marks of the liberated actor: (1) tyaktva karma-phalasanga — having genuinely given up attachment to results (not reluctantly but from understanding); (2) nitya-tripta — always content (tript — satisfied, fulfilled from within; nitya — always, not as a mood but as a permanent state); (3) nirasraya — independent, without dependence (on outcomes, on people, on circumstances for inner peace). Such a person: karmany abhiprvrttah api — even while fully engaged in action — naiva kincit karoti — does nothing whatsoever at the level of the ego-self.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| त्यक्त्वा | tyaktva | having abandoned, given up |
| कर्मफलासङ्गम् | karma-phalasangam | attachment to the fruits of action |
| नित्यतृप्तः | nitya-triptah | always content, perpetually satisfied |
| निराश्रयः | nirasrayah | independent, without dependence |
| अभिप्रवृत्तः | abhiprvrttah | fully engaged in, deeply involved in |
| कर्मणि | karmaṇi | in action / engaged in action |
| अपि | api | even / although (even while engaged in action) |
| नैव | naiva | not at all / never |
| किञ्चित् | kiñcit | anything / nothing whatsoever |
| करोति | karoti | does / performs / acts |
| सः | saḥ | he (that liberated person) |