IV: 16

[Krishna Jaya]

Chapter 4, Verse 16

"What are action and inaction?

Even scholars are confused by it;

So I will teach you

And free you from harm."

Sri Eknath Easwaran:

"Krishna is saying in so many word, "I will give you practical hints which will enable you to cultivate this discernment.  These words are not to be put on buttons or on stickers for the back of your chariot.  They are to be practiced.  You need to carry them into your daily life, even though, at times, it may be difficult and uncomfortable."

Sri Aurobindo:

"Divine works are not defined by any outward standard through which they can be recognizable to an external gaze and measurable by the judgment of the world.  The signs by which the Gita distinguishes divine works are profoundly intimate and subjective.  The stamp by which they are known is invisible.  They are recognizable only by the light of the soul from which they come, for when these signs are judged by practical, social, ethical, and intellectual standards of the time, the root of the matter remains elusive.  In the verses to follow, Krishna will shed light on this root."

Srila Prabhupada:

“By mental speculation, one cannot ascertain what is self-realization.  Therefore, out of causeless mercy to his
devotees, the Lord explains directly to Arjuna what action is and what inaction is.  Action performed in Krishna
consciousness delivers a person from the entanglement of material existence.”