निवृत्तं कर्म सेवेत प्रवृत्तं मत्परस्त्यजेत् । जिज्ञासायां सम्प्रवृत्तो नाद्रियेत् कर्मचोदनाम् ॥ ४ ॥
nivṛttaṁ karma seveta pravṛttaṁ mat-paras tyajet jijñāsāyāṁ sampravṛtto nādriyet karma-codanām
- nivṛttam
- regulative duties
- karma
- such work
- seveta
- one should perform
- pravṛttam
- activities for sense gratification
- mat-paraḥ
- one who is dedicated to Me
- tyajet
- should give up
- jijñāsāyām
- in searching for spiritual truth
- sampravṛttaḥ
- being perfectly engaged
- na
- not
- ādriyet
- one should accept
- karma
- any material activity
- codanām
- injunctions governing
One who has fixed Me within his mind as the goal of life should give up activities based on sense gratification and should instead execute work governed by the regulative principles for advancement. When, however, one is fully engaged in searching out the ultimate truth of the soul, one should not accept the scriptural injunctions governing fruitive activities.