Chapter 4 - Verse 19

The man who has realized the truth described above, whose works are all free from desires and from purposes (sankalpa) which cause those desires, who performs mere deeds without any immediate purpose,—if he be engaged in wordly action, he does so with a view to set an example to the masses; if he has renounced wordly life, he performs deeds only for bodily maintenance,—whose actions, good and bad, are consumed in the fire of wisdom which consists in the realization of inaction and vice versa : him the wise who know Brahman call a real sage (pandita).

The Sage’s Worldly Action as an Example to the Masses.

He who can see action in inaction and vice versa, (i.e., who has realized the true nature of action and inaction), is, by virtue of that very realization, free from action; he renounces (the world) and engages in no action,—only doing what is required for the bare existence of his body,—even though he had been engaged in action before realizing the truth. On the other hand, there may be a person who, having started with action and having since obtained the right knowledge of the Self, really abandons action with all its accessories, as he finds action of no use; but who, finding that for some reason he cannot abandon action, may continue doing action as before, with a view to set an example to the world at large, devoid of attachment to action and its result, and therefore having no selfish end in view; such a man really does nothing. His action is equivalent to inaction, since all his actions are consumed in the fire of knowledge. To teach this, the Lord says :