Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 4: Knowledge and the Renouncing of Action
Bhagavad Gita 4.37
यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुतेऽर्जुन ।
ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा ॥
yathaidhāṃsi samiddho'gnirbhasmasātkurute'rjuna | jñānāgniḥ sarvakarmāṇi bhasmasātkurute tathā ||
As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, Arjuna, so the fire of knowledge turns all actions to ashes.
Modern context
A second image follows the boat. Fire does not sort the wood. Fresh or old, large or small, all of it burns. In the same way understanding consumes the whole binding force of past action, the good with the bad. What is burned is the residue that actions leave in the doer: pride in merit, shame at faults, and the habits that both lay down. The actions themselves did happen. A person who truly understands is no longer driven by the past.