Sanskrit
यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुतेऽर्जुन । ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा ॥
yathaidhāṃsi samiddho 'gnir bhasmasāt kurute 'rjuna jñānāgniḥ sarva-karmāṇi bhasmasāt kurute tathā
Translation
As the burning fire reduces fuel to ashes, O Arjuna, so doth the fire of wisdom reduce all actions to ashes.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The chapter’s central metaphor arrives at full strength: as fire reduces fuel to ash, the fire of wisdom, jñānāgni, reduces every action to ash. Fire has been building as an image since verse 10 and verse 27, but here it stops being decorative and becomes mechanism — this is usually cited as the Gita’s clearest statement that jñāna doesn’t just fail to generate new bondage, the point already made about equanimous action in verses 14 and 20, but actively consumes the residue of action already performed.