Sanskrit
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः । कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम् ॥
evaṃ jñātvā kṛtaṃ karma pūrvair api mumukṣubhiḥ kuru karmaiva tasmāt tvaṃ pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṃ kṛtam
Translation
Having thus known, our forefathers, ever seeking liberation, performed action; therefore do thou also perform action, as did our forefathers in the olden time.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna appeals to precedent — even the ancient seekers of liberation acted, on the strength of this same understanding — and turns it into a direct instruction: therefore, act as they acted. This closes the theoretical section that opened at verse 5 and opens the chapter’s most philosophically dense stretch, verses 16-23, a sustained meditation on the nature of action and inaction.
Concepts