यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुतेऽर्जुन । ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा ॥
yathaidhāṃsi samiddho 'gnir bhasmasāt kurute 'rjuna | jñānāgniḥ sarva-karmāṇi bhasmasāt kurute tathā ||
As fire reduces wood to ash, so jñānāgni burns all karmas completely to ash.
Word by word (3)
- yathā edhāṃsi samiddhaḥ agniḥ bhasmasāt kurute
- — just as kindled fire reduces fuel/wood to ash · Yathā = just as. Edhāṃsi = fuel, firewood (plural of edhas). Samiddha = well-kindled, blazing (sam+iddha = completely ignited, from indh = to kindle). Agni = fire. Bhasmasāt = to the state of ash (bhasma = ash + sāt = suffix meaning 'to the state of'). Kurute = makes/reduces (from kṛ). The precision of the image: samiddha (blazing, fully kindled) fire — not a smoldering fire but one that completely consumes.
- jñāna-agniḥ sarva-karmāṇi bhasmasāt kurute tathā
- — so does the fire of knowledge reduce all karmas to ash · Jñāna-agni = the fire of knowledge (jñāna = wisdom/knowledge functioning as agni = fire). Sarva-karmāṇi = all karmas (not some — all). Bhasmasāt = to ash. Tathā = in that same way. The parallel is exact: wood/fuel = karmas; kindled fire = jñāna. Just as fire leaves nothing behind (bhasmasāt = reduced to pure ash, no trace of the original form), jñāna leaves no karma residue.
- bhasmasāt kurute / edhāṃsi
- — bhasmasāt kurute = reduces completely to ash (bhasma = ash; sāt = into the state of; bhasmasāt = ash-making; kurute = makes/does — the fire MAKES the wood into ash, it does not partially burn it); edhāṃsi = fuel/wood for fire (from edh = dry kindling, that which catches fire readily); samiddhaḥ agniḥ = the kindled/blazing fire (samiddha = fully kindled, blazing; not a smouldering fire but a fully fed blaze) — just as blazing fire completely converts fuel to ash leaving nothing, so jñānāgni leaves no karma-residue
Just as a blazing fire reduces wood to ash, O Arjuna, so the fire of knowledge reduces all karmas to ash.
A modern analogy
Burn a log: what was complex (grain, rings, bark, branches) becomes simple ash. Nothing of the original's complex structure survives — only the simplest residue. V37: jñānāgni burns the complex accumulated structure of karma — all the 'rings' of past actions and their residues — to the simplest state: pure ash. No bindable residue.
Take with you
- Samiddhaḥ agni (blazing fire): the fire of knowledge must be truly kindled — not smoldering. Partial understanding produces partial burning.
- Sarva-karmāṇi (all karmas): not selective burning — not 'some karma from this life.' All accumulated karma.
- Bhasmasāt kurute: ash has no structure, no form, no binding power. This is what jñāna produces — karma with no binding residue.
- V37 paired with V36: the boat floats over; the fire burns away — same teaching, two elemental images.
V37 pairs with V36 as the second elemental image for jñāna's transforming power: V36 used water (jñāna as boat), V37 uses fire (jñāna-agni). The fire image is particularly powerful: a well-kindled fire (samiddha agni) leaves nothing — the fuel is completely transformed into ash. Shankaracharya: just as fire does not 'gradually reduce' fuel but transforms it completely when it is truly kindled, jñāna does not gradually reduce karma but eliminates all karma residue when it is truly realized. This verse directly prepares for V38, which will specify the nature of this jñāna and how the karma-yogi obtains it: not through external seeking alone but through the ripening of yoga-practice within themselves in time.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
As the blazing fire reduces wood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge reduce all karma to ashes. [1]
As a blazing fire reduces wood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge reduce all karma to ashes. [4]
As the kindled fire reduces wood to ashes, so the fire of wisdom reduces all actions to ashes. [6]
As the kindled fire reduces wood to ash, O Arjuna, so does the fire of wisdom reduce all karma to ash. [7]
As the fire, which is well-kindled, reduces wood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge reduce all karma to ashes. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Even the most sinful — the boat of knowledge carries you across all wrong. No sin is too great for jñāna.
All actions free from desire and intention; karmas burned by jñāna's fire — the wise call this one paṇḍita.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
Your body changed from childhood to age without 'you' dying — changing bodies is no different.
The wisdom-yoked person rises above good and bad karma alike. Yoga is supreme skill in action.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?