4.21

Sanskrit

निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः । शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥

nirāśīr yata-cittātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ śārīraṃ kevalaṃ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam

Translation

Hoping for naught, his mind and self controlled, having abandoned all greed, performing action by the body alone, he doth not commit sin.

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

Adds a further specification to verse 20’s portrait: such a person acts “by the body alone,” having renounced all acquisitiveness and controlled mind and self, and incurs no sin by so acting. It’s the same figure as verse 20, now described from the angle of what has been relinquished rather than what has been attained.