4.41
योगसंन्यस्तकर्माणं ज्ञानसञ्छिन्नसंशयम् ।
आत्मवन्तं न कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनञ्जय ॥
yogasaṃnyastakarmāṇaṃ jñānasañchinnasaṃśayam
ātmavantaṃ na karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañjaya
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking, to Arjuna.
The verse
Actions do not bind the self-possessed man whose actions are laid down in yoga and whose doubt is cut by knowledge, Dhanañjaya (धनञ्जय).
नेपालीमा
जसका कर्म योगमा राखिएका छन्, जसको शङ्का ज्ञानले काटिएको छ र जसले आफूलाई वशमा राखेको छ, त्यस मानिसलाई कर्महरूले बाँध्दैनन्, हे धनञ्जय।
Where it sits
4.40 said doubt destroys, and this verse says the man whose doubt knowledge has cut is not bound by actions, which brings 4.14 onto Arjuna's own case. 4.42 turns that into the last order, cut the doubt and stand up.
Split: योग-संन्यस्त-कर्माणम् + ज्ञान-सञ्छिन्न-संशयम् + आत्मवन्तम् + न + कर्माणि + निबध्नन्ति + धनञ्जय
yoga-saṃnyasta-karmāṇam + jñāna-sañchinna-saṃśayam + ātmavantam + na + karmāṇi + nibadhnanti + dhanañjaya
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| योग-संन्यस्त-कर्माणम् | yoga-saṃnyasta-karmāṇam | accusative, bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) | him whose actions have been laid down by yoga. saṃnyasta (संन्यस्त) is "laid down, renounced," from sam-ni-as (सम्-नि-अस्). |
| ज्ञान-सञ्छिन्न-संशयम् | jñāna-sañchinna-saṃśayam | accusative, bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) | him whose doubt has been cut by knowledge. sañchinna (सञ्छिन्न) is "cut off," from sam-chid (सम्-छिद्). |
| आत्मवन्तम् | ātmavantam | accusative | the self-possessed one, the one who has the self in hand. --vant (वन्त्) as in śraddhāvān (श्रद्धावान्). |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| कर्माणि | karmāṇi | nominative plural | actions. The subject. |
| निबध्नन्ति | nibadhnanti | present, 3rd plural | they bind. From ni-bandh (नि-बन्ध्), class 9 badhnāti (बध्नाति). |
| धनञ्जय | dhanañjaya | vocative | winner of wealth. dhana (धन) plus jaya (जय). Arjuna. |
The phrases
योगसंन्यस्तकर्माणं ज्ञानसञ्छिन्नसंशयम् आत्मवन्तम् yogasaṃnyastakarmāṇam jñānasañchinnasaṃśayam ātmavantam is one man, three accusatives, before the verb arrives. The one whose actions are laid down in yoga, whose doubt is cut by knowledge, who has himself in hand. ātmavantam na (आत्मवन्तम् न) is ātmavantaṃ na (आत्मवन्तं न).
na karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañjaya (न कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनञ्जय) is the statement. Actions do not bind him. The nominative is the actions. The accusatives are the man. The word order puts the man first. dhanañjaya (धनञ्जय) is the vocative, outside that grammar.
Sanskrit in this line
karmāṇi (कर्माणि) is nominative plural, the subject of nibadhnanti (निबध्नन्ति). The long accusatives are the person who is not bound. English wants "actions do not bind him," and the Sanskrit says that, but the him is in the accusative at the front and the actions are the grammatical subject. If you take karmāṇi (कर्माणि) as the object, the verb has no subject and the accusatives have no verb to receive them.
Say it back
Who is not bound, and what fails to bind him. If karmāṇi (कर्माणि) is said as the object, stay here.