यस्य सर्वे समारम्भाः कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः । ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहुः पण्डितं बुधाः ॥
yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ | jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇaṃ tam āhuḥ paṇḍitaṃ budhāḥ ||
All actions free from desire and intention; karmas burned by jñāna's fire — the wise call this one paṇḍita.
Word by word (3)
- yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ
- — whose every undertaking is free from desire and resolves/intention · Yasya = whose. Sarve = all. Samārambhāḥ = undertakings, beginnings (sam+ā+rambha = complete beginning/initiation). Kāma = desire. Saṅkalpa = mental resolve, determined intention, will-toward-result (sam+kalpa = formed intention). Varjita = freed from, absent of. Every action begun without the ego-desire and result-directed intention.
- jñāna-agni-dagdha-karmāṇam tam āhuḥ paṇḍitam budhāḥ
- — whose karmas have been burned by the fire of knowledge — the wise call that one a paṇḍita · Jñāna-agni = the fire of knowledge. Dagdha = burned (from dah = to burn). Karmāṇa = whose karmas. The fire of jñāna burns up accumulated karma-residue. Paṇḍita = the truly learned, the wise (from paṇḍā = wisdom). Budhāḥ = the awakened ones (from budh). The wise recognize the wise.
- samārambhāḥ
- — samārambhāḥ = undertakings/initiatives/enterprises (sam = together/completely; ārambha = beginning/undertaking from ā + rambh = to take up; the moment of initiation of an action); 'sarve samārambhāḥ' = ALL undertakings (without exception, from the moment of initiation); kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ = free from desire and intention/resolve (kāma = desire as motivation; saṅkalpa = intention/mental resolve; varjita = excluded/free from); the paṇḍita is identified not by their actions' content but by what is ABSENT at the initiation of every action: desire and ego-intention
The one whose every undertaking is free from desire and self-directed intention, whose karmas have been burned by the fire of knowledge — the wise call that person a paṇḍita (true scholar).
A modern analogy
A master teacher who teaches purely for the learning of the students — no ego in the performance, no hope of recognition, no desire to be seen as great. Every class is offered completely, without result-directed intention. V19: that is the paṇḍita. Knowledge has burned the residue of ego-desire from their action.
Take with you
- Kāma-saṅkalpa-varjita: two things absent — desire (kāma) AND self-directed intention/resolve (saṅkalpa).
- Jñānāgni-dagdha-karma: the fire metaphor — knowledge burns karma the way fire burns fuel. Nothing remains.
- Paṇḍita (true scholar) is defined by this inner condition, not by the quantity of knowledge held.
- Budhāḥ āhuḥ — the awakened ones recognize this. You cannot fake V19's condition; those who have it see it.
V19 gives the outward portrait of V18's inner wisdom in action. The one who sees akarma in karma (V18) is recognizable by V19's two qualities: kāma-saṅkalpa-varjita (no desire or result-intention) and jñānāgni-dagdha-karma (karmas burned by knowledge). The jñāna-agni (fire of knowledge) image is one of the Gita's most powerful: fire does not merely suppress fuel — it transforms it, leaves nothing. Similarly, true jñāna does not merely suppress karma-desires but burns them completely, leaving no residue. Shankaracharya: this is the paṇḍita in the Gita's technical sense — not the scholar who has read much but the one in whom knowledge has functioned as fire.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
He whose undertakings are all free from desires and purposes, and whose actions have been burnt by the fire of knowledge — him do the wise call a sage. [1]
He whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and purposes, and whose actions have been burnt by the fire of knowledge — him the wise call a sage. [4]
He who has abandoned the desire for the results of his acts, is satisfied, independent, and not engaged in action even when engaged in action, is ever free. [6]
That man who, counting all things done by him, Loose from desire's clutch, his works are burnt By wisdom's fire; him call the Wise ones Sage. [7]
He whose undertakings are all free from desire and purpose, and whose works are burnt by the fire of knowledge — him the wise call a sage. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
As fire reduces wood to ash, so jñānāgni burns all karmas completely to ash.
Seeing inaction in action, action in inaction — that one is wise, a yogi, a complete doer of all actions.
Sāttvic kartā: attachment-free, non-egotistic, firm, enthusiastic, unmoved by success or failure.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Brahman-become, serene, neither grieving nor desiring, equal to all beings — he attains supreme bhakti to Me.
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.