Chapter 5 : Sannyasa Yoga – अध्याय ५: कर्म संन्यास योग

Arjuna said: O Krishna, you praise renunciation of actions and then again yoga. Tell me definitely which one of these two is decidedly better for me. ॥

Arjuna said: O Krishna! You praise the renunciation of actions and then the yoga of action. Therefore, tell me which one of these two is definitely the means of welfare for me. ॥ 1 ॥

The Lord said: Renunciation and yoga of action both lead to the supreme good; but of the two, yoga of action is superior to renunciation of action.

The Lord said: Renunciation of action and yoga of action both lead to supreme welfare, but of the two, yoga of action is superior to renunciation of action because it is easier to practice. ॥ 2 ॥

He should be known as ever renouncing who neither hates nor desires; for, free from द्वन्द्व, O mighty-armed, he is easily freed from bondage.

O Arjuna! The man who neither hates anyone nor desires anything is worthy of being understood as a perpetual renunciant; because a person free from dualities like attachment and aversion is easily liberated from the bondage of the world. ॥ 3 ॥

Children speak of सांख्य and योग as distinct, not the wise. If one is properly established in even one, he obtains the fruit of both.

The ignorant say that renunciation and yoga of action lead to different results, not the wise, because a person who is properly established in either of the two attains the Supreme Being, which is the fruit of both. ॥ 4 ॥

That place which is reached by सांख्य is reached by योग also. He sees (truly) who sees सांख्य and योग as one.

The supreme abode that is attained by the knowers of knowledge is also attained by the performers of action. Therefore, he who sees knowledge and action as one in their result, sees rightly. ॥ 5 ॥

But renunciation, O mighty-armed, is hard to attain without योग; the योग-devoted sage attains ब्रह्म ere long.

But O Arjuna! Renunciation, that is, the abandonment of the sense of doership in all actions done by the mind, senses, and body, is difficult to attain without yoga of action, and the karma yogi who contemplates the divine form quickly attains the Supreme Brahman. ॥ 6 ॥

The योग-devoted, pure in soul, master of himself, who has conquered the senses, whose self has become the self of all beings, even acting, he is not tainted.

The karma yogi whose mind is under control, who has conquered the senses and has a pure heart, and whose self is the self of all beings, is not tainted even while performing actions. ॥ 7 ॥

“I do nothing at all”—thus thinks the knower of truth, योग-yoked, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go, seizing, opening and closing the eyes, holding that the senses move among the objects of the senses.

The knower of truth, the Sankhya yogi, while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, speaking, abandoning, accepting, opening and closing his eyes, undoubtedly believes that he does nothing at all, understanding that all the senses are acting in their respective objects. ॥ 8-9 ॥

He who acts, placing actions in ब्रह्म, abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin, even as a lotus-leaf by water.

The man who performs all actions by offering them to God and abandoning attachment is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not tainted by water. ॥ 10 ॥

Yogis, abandoning attachment, perform action only with the body, mind, understanding, and also with the senses, for the purification of the self.

Karma yogis, without the sense of ownership, perform actions with the senses, mind, intellect, and body only, abandoning attachment, for the purification of the heart. ॥ 11 ॥

The योग-yoked, abandoning the fruit of action, attains to the peace of final beatitude; the non-yoked, impelled by desire, bound to fruit.

The karma yogi, abandoning the fruit of actions, attains peace in the form of God-realization, and the selfish man, driven by desire, is bound by attachment to the fruit. ॥ 12 ॥

Renouncing all actions by the mind, the embodied one sits happily in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing to act.

The man who practices Sankhya Yoga, whose heart is under control, neither acting nor causing to act, renounces all actions by the mind in the nine-gated city of the body and remains happily situated in the form of the blissful Supreme Being. ॥ 13 ॥

The Lord creates neither agency nor actions for the world, nor union with the fruit of action; but nature prevails.

The Supreme Lord creates neither agency nor actions for men, nor union with the fruit of action, but nature prevails. ॥ 14 ॥

The Lord receives neither the sin nor the merit of any; knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, thereby beings are deluded.

The all-pervading Supreme Lord neither accepts the sin nor the merit of anyone, but knowledge is covered by ignorance, by which all ignorant men are deluded. ॥ 15 ॥

But to those whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of the self, their knowledge, like the sun, illumines that Supreme.

But for those whose ignorance has been destroyed by the knowledge of the Supreme Being, that knowledge illuminates the Supreme Being like the sun. ॥ 16 ॥

Thinking of That, merged in That, established in That, solely devoted to That, they go whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by knowledge.

Those whose minds are absorbed in That, whose intellects are absorbed in That, who are constantly established in That, and who are solely devoted to That, attain the state of non-return, that is, the supreme state, by becoming free from sins through knowledge. ॥ 17 ॥

Sages look with an equal eye on a brahmin endowed with learning and humility, on a cow, on an elephant, and on a dog, and on an outcaste.

The wise see with an equal eye a Brahmin endowed with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and even an outcaste. ॥ 18 ॥

Even here on earth the world is conquered by those whose mind is established in sameness; ब्रह्म is spotless and same; therefore they are established in ब्रह्म.

Those whose minds are established in equanimity have conquered the entire world in this living state, because the Supreme Being is flawless and equal, therefore they are established in the Supreme Being. ॥ 19 ॥

Let him not rejoice on obtaining what is pleasant, nor grieve on obtaining what is unpleasant; steadfast in understanding, unbewildered, the ब्रह्म-knower is established in ब्रह्म.

The man who is not delighted on obtaining what is pleasant and is not disturbed on obtaining what is unpleasant, that man of steady intellect, free from doubt, the knower of Brahman, is eternally situated in the Supreme Brahman. ॥ 20 ॥

He whose self is unattached to external contacts finds happiness in the self; योग-yoked in ब्रह्म, he enjoys imperishable happiness.

The seeker whose heart is unattached to external objects attains the sattvic bliss born of meditation, which is situated in the self; thereafter, that man, who is united with the Supreme Brahman through meditation, experiences imperishable bliss. ॥ 21 ॥

The enjoyments that are born of contacts are verily sources of pain; they have beginning and end, O son of Kunti; the wise do not rejoice in them.

All these enjoyments that arise from the contact of the senses and objects, although they appear to be pleasurable to the sensual, are the cause of sorrow and have a beginning and an end, that is, they are impermanent. Therefore, O Arjuna! The wise and discerning man does not delight in them. ॥ 22 ॥

He who is able to resist here on earth, before the liberation from the body, the impulse born of desire and anger, he is योग-yoked, he is the happy man.

The seeker who is able to endure the impulse born of desire and anger in this human body, before the destruction of the body, is a yogi and is happy. ॥ 23 ॥

He who is happy within, who rejoices within, and who is also illumined within, that योग-yoked man, becoming ब्रह्म, attains ब्रह्म-निर्वाण.

The man who is happy within, who delights in the self, and who is enlightened in the self, that Sankhya yogi, who has attained oneness with the Supreme Brahman, attains the peaceful Brahman. ॥ 24 ॥

Sages obtain ब्रह्म-निर्वाण, they whose sins are destroyed, whose doubts are cut asunder, who are self-controlled, who rejoice in the welfare of all beings.

Those whose sins have been destroyed, whose doubts have been dispelled by knowledge, who are engaged in the welfare of all beings, and whose conquered minds are steadfastly situated in the Supreme Being, those knowers of Brahman attain the peaceful Brahman. ॥ 25 ॥

To ascetics freed from desire and anger, masters of themselves, knowers of the self, ब्रह्म-निर्वाण is on all sides.

For those wise men who are free from desire and anger, who have conquered their minds, and who have realized the Supreme Brahman, the peaceful Supreme Brahman is perfect on all sides. ॥ 26 ॥

Shutting out external contacts, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, equalizing the outgoing and incoming breaths moving within the nostrils, with senses, mind, and understanding controlled, the sage intent on liberation, who has cast away desire, fear, and anger, is verily ever liberated.

The man who does not contemplate external sense-objects, keeping them outside, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, equalizing the incoming and outgoing breaths moving within the nostrils, whose senses, mind, and intellect are conquered, that sage intent on liberation, who is free from desire, fear, and anger, is always liberated. ॥ 27-28 ॥

Knowing Me as the enjoyer of sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all the worlds, the friend of all beings, he attains peace.

My devotee, knowing Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifices and penances, the Supreme Lord of all the worlds, and the selfless, compassionate, and loving friend of all beings, attains peace. ॥ 29 ॥

ॐ Thus in the Upanishad of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the fifth discourse entitled: "The Yoga of Renunciation of Action". ॥ 5 ॥