4.23
गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः ।
यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते ॥
gatasaṅgasya muktasya jñānāvasthitacetasaḥ
yajñāyācarataḥ karma samagraṃ pravilīyate
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking, to Arjuna.
The verse
For the one whose attachment is gone, who is free, whose mind rests in knowledge, and who acts for sacrifice, the whole action dissolves.
नेपालीमा
जसको आसक्ति गएको छ, जो मुक्त छ, जसको मन ज्ञानमा अडेको छ, र जो यज्ञका लागि कर्म गर्छ, त्यसको सारा कर्म विलीन हुन्छ।
Where it sits
This closes the stretch that began at 4.16: the man who sees rightly does act, and the action does not remain as a bond. The next verse renames the offering itself, once the one who offers has become this man.
Split: गत-सङ्गस्य + मुक्तस्य + ज्ञान-अवस्थित-चेतसः + यज्ञाय + आचरतः + कर्म + समग्रम् + प्रविलीयते
gata-saṅgasya + muktasya + jñāna-avasthita-cetasaḥ + yajñāya + ācarataḥ + karma + samagram + pravilīyate
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| गत-सङ्गस्य | gata-saṅgasya | genitive | of the one whose attachment has gone. |
| मुक्तस्य | muktasya | genitive | of the freed one. |
| ज्ञान-अवस्थित-चेतसः | jñāna-avasthita-cetasaḥ | genitive | of the one whose mind rests in knowledge. cetas (चेतस्) is mind. |
| यज्ञाय | yajñāya | dative | for sacrifice. |
| आचरतः | ācarataḥ | genitive, present participle | of the one who is performing. From ā-car (आ-चर्). |
| कर्म | karma | nominative | action. The subject. |
| समग्रम् | samagram | nominative neuter | whole, entire. Agrees with karma (कर्म). |
| प्रविलीयते | pravilīyate | present, 3rd singular, middle | it dissolves, it melts away. From pra-vi-lī (प्र-वि-ली). |
The phrases
gatasaṅgasya muktasya jñānāvasthitacetasaḥ (गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः) is the person, in the genitive, three times. Attachment gone, freed, mind resting in knowledge. None of these genitives is the subject of the verb.
yajñāya ācarataḥ (यज्ञाय आचरतः) says what he is doing, still in the genitive. Of him who acts for the sake of sacrifice. yajñāya ācarataḥ (यज्ञाय आचरतः) is yajñāyācarataḥ (यज्ञायाचरतः). The dative yajñāya (यज्ञाय) is the "for."
karma samagraṃ pravilīyate (कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते) is the only nominative clause. His action, the whole of it, dissolves. samagram (समग्रम्) before p (प्) is samagraṃ (समग्रं).
Sanskrit in this line
The genitives name the man. They do not name the thing that dissolves. karma (कर्म) is nominative, and pravilīyate (प्रविलीयते) agrees with it. If you make gatasaṅgasya (गतसङ्गस्य) the subject, the verb has the wrong number and the wrong case. Ask "whose action?" and then let the action be what the verb is about.
Say it back
Whose action, and what happens to the whole of it. If pravilīyate (प्रविलीयते) is given a personal subject, "he dissolves," stay here. The action dissolves.