Gita 04.19 – Discern the path of liberation with the vision of the enlightened, not the ignorant

Yasya sarve samarambha kaama sankalpa varjitaha yanaagni dhagdha karmanam tamaho panditambudhaha yasya sarve samarambha by whose sarve samarambha samarambha is endeavours one whose endeavours all of one whose endeavours are kaama sankalpa varjitaha are freed from the desire for gratification kaama sankalpa yanaagni dhagdha karmanam yanaagni the fire of knowledge dhagdha karmanam dhagdha is burnt karmanam is karma so here the word karma refers to fruitive reactions karmic reactions basically tamaho panditambudhaha by pandita such a person is considered budhaha by the wise such a person is considered learned so the recurrence of the word budhaha and pandita can lead to some confusion but essentially it is that sometimes some people are considered very wise but the person still doesn't know who is wise if a person I know is illiterate says that person is a scholar of English literature well that person may just be knowing a little bit of English literature and somebody may think that person is a scholar because he doesn't know what actually scholarship is so that's why budhaha those who know consider such a person to be pandita that is important now the word budhaha and the word pandita both will come again in the bhagavad gita several times most famously in 5.18 pandita will come where it refers to one who sees the atma tattva everywhere and again here we will see that the word budhaha comes also in many places especially in 10.8 where it says that those who understand that I am the source of everything and everything emanates from me such a person becomes budha and that person worships me with or devotes himself to me with all his heart all the emotions of the heart so here the point being made is that now one who is all desires attempts it's interesting Krishna doesn't say one who gives up all attempts so Krishna is clearly not endorsing inaction over here he is simply stating that one who is all his attempts samarambha kam sankalpa varjitaha they are freed from the desire kam sankalpa now in one sense kam and sankalpa could mean the same thing but sankalpa is more of a stronger so kam sankalpa means the resolution for sense gratification resolution for kam for material desire so one who is free from kam sankalpa varjitaha such a person so when one works with material desires then there is always a profit loss calculation and then when the chances of loss seem far greater than the chances of profit one starts feeling what is the point of working over here what is the point of doing anything but sometimes one needs to work for a higher cause irrespective of failure or success and the higher cause is pleasure of Krishna the higher cause is realization of the soul so essentially the point is that Krishna is talking about this higher principle over here and he is guiding us towards that higher principle by telling us that such a person who works like this is situated at a higher level of reality a higher level of consciousness, higher level of intelligence so working for that selfless motive is what leads to jnanagni daddha karmanam the knowledge that I am not the body, I am the soul and the knowledge that I am here to realize the soul so here Krishna has not elaborately talked about the atma tattva but he has, sorry he has not talked about the bhagwat tattva elaborately although he has talked a little bit in the verses from 5 to 15 but jnanagni, knowledge can be of atma it can be atma and relationship with bhagwan, whatever but that knowledge, daddha karmanam at this place Krishna is still talking about karma yoga primarily, although these principles can apply to bhakti yoga also essentially the fire of knowledge burns the karmic reactions so why? because what brings reaction is intention not action, if the intention is self-centered then definitely there will be karmic reaction, if there is no self-centered intention there are no karmic reactions so Krishna is telling that if one acts in knowledge knowing oneself to be atma and does not act for material desires one is kamasankalpa varchitaha then jnanagni daddha karmanam the karmic reactions will be burned by the fire of karma now for most people living in today's world this whole concept is incomprehensible in the sense that people think what is this whole idea of burning karmic reactions what is this idea of working without fruity motive how can you work without any fruity motive because they don't understand the spiritual dimension of life at all that's why if we have to decide or evaluate we have to evaluate according to standards of those who know not according to standards of those who don't know so common people may consider something to be good and something else to be bad but especially in a field which requires deep knowledge there one has to actually consider the opinion, one has to consider the stance taken by the learned so that's why tam ahu panditam budhaha which a person is called a pandita by the budhaha the wise people recognize that such a person is special, this person is not ordinary this person is a pandita so the bhagavatam also has a famous verse which says that samsutaha purushaha pashu shavitvaraha ushtrapadari samsutaha purushaha pashu shavitvaraha ushtrapadari that men who are hogs, dogs camels and asses, such people praise others who are bigger dogs, hogs, camels and asses or they praise those in whose ears the glories of kadhaagrajaha, the lord who holds the gada, his glories are not entered so essentially what the bhagavatam is stating is that ignorant people glorify other ignorant people and despite their mutual glorification they cannot save themselves from their inglorious destination but if we recognize that the wise know what is the truth and then we follow the standards given by the wise then we are on the path to illumination, to liberation, to real growth and Krishna is urging us to follow that standard in Arjuna's context it is Arjuna don't simplistically think that somebody who renounces the world is actually on the path to liberation and somebody who stays engaged in the world is on the path to bondage that is the vision of the uninformed but the truly informed is that one who is unselfishly motivated that person on the path to liberation whether that person is engaged whatever the person's engagement externally even if that person is engaged in an activity like war that person is unselfishly motivated that is first the person who is learned and this is the vision of the true knowers and Arjuna you should act according to the vision of the true knowers act like a learner and take up your responsibility of.