A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter
“Right action is the path even for those seeking freedom.”
Even seekers of freedom acted after knowing this. Therefore, do the work that your ancestors always did.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallythus · having known · done · action · by the earlier ones · also · by seekers of freedom · do · action · indeed · therefore · you · by the earlier ones · from ancient times
People seeking freedom acted in this way before you. So you should do the same rightful work that has long been done.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga" (Knowledge and Renunciation of Action).
Verse 15 sits in Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita — Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga, "Knowledge and Renunciation of Action". The chapter has 42 verses in total.
You are standing outside a hospital room, phone in hand, about to tell the truth no one wants. The path is not to escape the hard duty, but to do it cleanly.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts the mind from hesitation to inherited responsibility: act because the work is right, not because it feels easy.
What this verse means
People seeking freedom acted in this way before you. So you should do the same rightful work that has long been done.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is frozen before the war. Krishna reminds him that earlier seekers of freedom also understood this and still acted. The teaching pushes Arjuna back into his rightful duty.
Why this verse still matters
You are standing outside a hospital room, phone in hand, about to tell the truth no one wants. The path is not to escape the hard duty, but to do it cleanly.
“You are not inventing the path alone. Steady action has always been the way through.”
Explore related themes: karma yoga (55 verses)