I am free from everything, yet I do My duty.

Yog of Knowledge and Action 

Chapter 4, Verse 15

 

evaṁ jñātvā kṛtaṁ karma 

pūrvair-api mumukṣubhiḥ 

kuru karmaiva tasmāt tvaṁ 

pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṁ kṛtam

 

Having known this, the ancient seekers for liberation also performed action. Therefore, you also should engage in action alone, as the ancients did in days gone past.

 

Earlier Krishna says, “I am free from everything, yet I do My duty.” He was reminding Arjuna of this again and again. Until the mind is completely subdued, it’s good to remind people continuously.

“The ancient seekers for liberation” were doing their duty, but they were engaged “in action alone” and were not attached to the fruit of their actions. They knew that by mere renunciation of action, one would not be free. They were truly, sincerely detached from the fruits of their actions, so they were truly free. They had realised God seated inside their hearts, so they knew that every activity that they performed as their duty, was done by Him. They were not attached to doership. They lived this knowledge. They would go through the stages of life, performing every duty with a quiet mind, in a calm state, renouncing the sense of possession, renouncing the ‘I’. They would not say, “I am doing this” or “I am doing that.” They were not bound by this ‘I’, or by the desire to gain more. Krishna says, “Arjuna, follow in their footsteps! These great sages attained perfection and liberation. They never thought of running away from their duty saying, “Oh my goodness! I will not do this duty, because this will attach me to the result.” They did their duty, but they were not attached to the result of it.

Bhagavad Gita