Shankaracharya's commentary, trans. Alladi Mahadeva Sastry (1897)
[1]Having given up attachment and without hope, with mind and self controlled, having renounced all possessions, performing action by the body alone, he incurs no sin.
BG 4.21
निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः । शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
nirāśīr yata-cittātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ | śārīraṃ kevalaṃ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam ||
"No longing, controlled mind, no possessions — acting only through the body, one incurs no sin at all."
All public-domain translations
5 translations · all pre-1928 or released to public domain · sources
Swami Swarupananda, Srimad Bhagavad Gita (1909)
[4]Without hope, with the mind and self controlled, having abandoned all possessions, performing action merely with the body, he incurs no sin.
William Quan Judge, The Bhagavad Gita (1890)
[6]Free from all desires, with mind and self subdued, having abandoned all possessions, and performing works only with the body, he contracts no sin.
Sir Edwin Arnold, The Song Celestial (1885)
[7]Who hat no wish, whose mind is fixed and free, Performing only with the body's strength, Sins not, nor is he tainted by his deeds.
K.T. Telang, Sacred Books of the East Vol. 8 (1882)
[9]Free from expectations, with mind controlled, having abandoned all possessions, doing action with the body only, he incurs no sin.