The Path of Transcendental Knowledge

Arjuna did not want to fight, because he thought that killing would cause him to incur sin, whereas his real interest was in the attainment of liberation. Arjuna understood Kṛṣṇa’s previous instructions to mean that one should acquire knowledge by renouncing actions. Consequently, in the beginning of Chapter 3, Arjuna asked Śrī Kṛṣṇa, “Why do You engage me in this terrible battle?” In reply, Kṛṣṇa emphasized the performance of selfless action. Later in the same chapter, Arjuna inquired as to what causes a person to commit sin. Kṛṣṇa responded that it is material desire that impels a person to act inauspiciously. Carrying on from this discussion, Kṛṣṇa continues to speak in Chapter 4 about niṣkāma-karma-yoga, the discipline of selfless action, which liberates a person from material bondage. It appears that Kṛṣṇa had not completed His explanation of karma-yoga in Chapter 3 before he was interrupted by Arjuna’s question. This is understood from the very first verse of the present chapter, in which Kṛṣṇa refers to the yoga that He had outlined in the previous chapter. This reference is made by use of the pronoun imam (this) in the very first verse.
There are forty-two verses in Chapter 4; one is spoken by Arjuna and the rest by Śrī Kṛṣṇa. While in Chapter 3, Kṛṣṇa covers the performance of action, in Chapter 4, He imparts specific knowledge about the nature of such actions. Kṛṣṇa begins the chapter by explaining that the knowledge of selfless action (niṣkāma-karma-yoga), in spite of being beginningless, was lost to the world over time, because of the non-availability of qualified teachers. Kṛṣṇa describes how this teaching was handed down from ancient times (1–3).
Kṛṣṇa reveals knowledge about Himself and about how He is not bound by action (5–15). He declares, “I shall now explain to you the truth of action, knowing which, you will be freed from bondage to action,” referring to liberation from the cycle of birth and death (16). He provides a detailed description of appropriate action undertaken in wisdom and how to convert such action into an offering to the Supreme without harboring attachment to the fruits of actions (17–32). Arjuna learns how karma-yoga leads to wisdom, as Kṛṣṇa declares, “The sacrifice through awareness is superior to that involving external articles, for all actions in their entirety, O Pārtha, culminate in awareness” (33).
Kṛṣṇa then points out the significance of approaching a teacher who has realized the truth. He instructs Arjuna in the methods of imbibing wisdom from such a teacher, urging him with the advice, tad-viddhi, “You are to assimilate this wisdom” (34). Kṛṣṇa sums up this discussion, saying, “In this world, there is certainly nothing as purifying as wisdom. To one fully perfected through niṣkāma-karma-yoga, that wisdom is revealed to the self of its own accord in due course of time” (38). He concludes by requesting Arjuna once again to fulfill his duty, that is, to fight (42). Thus, karma-yoga leading to transcendental knowledge as the means of self-realization has been recommended here.