Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 21 (BG 4.21) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 4.21 Actions performed by the body alone cannot generate reactions in the form of desires. Desires arise in the inner consciousness, and their origin lies in actions performed with the sense of doership and ego. These desires become binding only when selfishness becomes predominant. Through the false identification of the soul with the body, mind, and intellect—these instruments born of ignorance—ego arises. This ego is sustained by hopes for the future and satisfaction derived from sensory pleasures in the present. Therefore, this verse declares that the person who (a) is free from desires, (b) has disciplined the body and mind, and (c) is liberated from all possessions—in such a person, this false ego cannot exist. When ego is destroyed, mere bodily actions lose the power to create new impressions in the inner consciousness. When a person sleeps and becomes unclothed, no blame can be attached for any unseemly conduct. If during sleep one's foot strikes one's own child, no cruelty can be attributed to that person, for in that state, the "I" was not present in the body. The reason is that in both these situations, the person had no sense of doership. Thus it is clear that all suffering, bondage, and affliction befall only the one who identifies with doership, and without this identification, bodily actions have no power to bind a person. The actions of a saint established in self-realization cannot touch him, for he is not their doer—actions merely express themselves through him. Such a great soul is not the doer of actions, but rather the supreme instrument or medium through which the will of the Divine is expressed. If sweet music does not flow from a veena, the listeners do not attack the instrument, though the musician himself may not escape blame. The veena does not produce melodious sound by itself; it merely allows music to express through it at the touch of the musician's fingers. The instrument's duty is fulfilled merely by yielding to the musician's will and touch. Similarly, the self-realized person, free from ego, is that supreme medium through which the Divine's will is fully expressed. The actions of such a person cannot create bondage in the form of sin or merit—he is merely the instrument. The person established in the yoga of knowledge, while performing actions necessary to sustain the body, remains eternally free. The Blessed Lord says: