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Chapter 5

कर्मसंन्यासयोग

Renunciation in Action (Karmasaṃnyāsayoga)

Arjuna asks whether giving up action or performing action is better. Krishna answers that both lead to the same goal, but acting without attachment is easier and wiser, like a lotus leaf that sits in water yet stays dry.

You do not need to leave the world; you need to stop clinging to it.

  1. 5.1संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि।Arjuna says to Krishna: "You praise giving up action, and then you praise yoga (acting with a steady, unattached mind). Of these two, tell me clearly which one is better."
  2. 5.2संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ।Krishna answers: both renouncing action and karma yoga (selfless action) lead to the highest good. But of the two, karma yoga is better than giving up action.
  3. 5.3ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति।Krishna says: know that person to be a true renunciate at all times who neither hates nor craves. Free from the pull of opposites such as like and dislike, such a person is easily set free from bondage.
  4. 5.4सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः।Krishna says: only the immature, not the wise, speak of Sankhya (the path of knowledge) and Yoga (the path of action) as different. Whoever truly follows even one of them gains the fruit of both.
  5. 5.5यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते।Krishna says: the state reached by followers of knowledge is reached by followers of selfless action too. The one who sees knowledge and action as one truly sees.
  6. 5.6संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः।Krishna tells Arjuna that true renunciation is hard to reach without yoga (disciplined action). The thoughtful person steady in yoga soon reaches Brahman (the Absolute).
  7. 5.7योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः।Krishna says: one who is steady in yoga, pure in mind, self-mastered, with senses under control, and who feels their own self in all beings, is not stained by action even while acting.
  8. 5.8नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित्।Krishna says: the one steady in yoga, who knows the truth, thinks "I am not really the doer of anything," even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping and breathing.
  9. 5.9प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि।Krishna continues: while speaking, letting go, taking hold, and even opening and closing the eyes, such a person holds firmly that it is only the senses moving among their objects.
  10. 5.10ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः।Krishna says: whoever acts while offering all actions to Brahman (the Absolute) and giving up attachment is not touched by wrongdoing, just as a lotus leaf stays untouched by the water around it.
  11. 5.11कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि।Krishna says: yogis act with the body, mind, intellect and even the senses alone, giving up attachment, for the purification of the self.
  12. 5.12युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्।Krishna says: the steady person, giving up the fruit of action, gains lasting peace. The unsteady person, driven by desire and attached to results, becomes bound.
  13. 5.13सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी।Krishna says: the self-controlled person, inwardly letting go of all actions, lives at ease in the body, "the city of nine gates," neither acting nor making anything act.
  14. 5.14न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः।Krishna says: the Lord does not create a sense of doership in people, nor their actions, nor the link between actions and their results. It is one's own nature that drives all this.
  15. 5.15नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः।Krishna says: the all-pervading Lord does not take on anyone's wrongdoing or good deeds. Knowledge is covered over by ignorance, and that is why beings are confused.
  16. 5.16ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः।Krishna says: but for those whose ignorance has been destroyed by knowledge of the Self, that knowledge shines like the sun and reveals the Supreme.
  17. 5.17तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः।Krishna says: those whose thoughts rest in That (the Supreme), whose being is one with it, who are devoted to it and hold it as their goal, have their impurities washed away by knowledge and reach the state from which there is no return to rebirth.
  18. 5.18विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।Krishna says: the wise look with an equal eye on a learned and humble scholar, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a person whom society shuns as an outcast.
  19. 5.19इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः।Krishna says: those whose minds rest in equality have conquered the cycle of birth even here, in this life. Brahman (the Absolute) is flawless and the same everywhere, so they are established in Brahman.
  20. 5.20न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम्।Krishna says: one should not get overjoyed on receiving what is pleasant, nor upset on receiving what is unpleasant. Steady in understanding and free of confusion, the knower of Brahman rests in Brahman.
  21. 5.21बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम्।Krishna says: one who is not attached to outer sense pleasures finds the joy that lies within the self. United with Brahman through yoga, such a person enjoys a happiness that never fades.
  22. 5.22ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते।Krishna tells Arjuna: pleasures born from contact of the senses with objects are in fact sources of sorrow. They have a beginning and an end, so the wise do not find delight in them.
  23. 5.23शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात्।Krishna says: whoever, here in this life before leaving the body, can withstand the rush that rises from desire and anger is a true yogi and a truly happy person.
  24. 5.24योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः।Krishna says: one whose happiness is within, who rejoices within and whose light is within, that yogi becomes one with Brahman and reaches brahma-nirvana (the peace of the Absolute).
  25. 5.25लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः।Krishna says: sages whose impurities are gone, whose doubts are cut away, who are self-controlled and who delight in the welfare of all beings, attain brahma-nirvana (the peace of the Absolute).
  26. 5.26कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम्।Krishna says: for disciplined seekers who are free from desire and anger, whose minds are controlled and who know the Self, brahma-nirvana (the peace of the Absolute) is close on every side.
  27. 5.27स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः।Krishna describes meditation: shutting out outside sense contacts, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, and making the inward and outward breaths even as they move through the nostrils.
  28. 5.28यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः।Krishna continues: the sage who has mastered the senses, mind and intellect, who holds liberation as the highest aim, and who is free from desire, fear and anger, is truly free at all times.
  29. 5.29भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम्।Krishna concludes: knowing Me as the one who receives all offerings and disciplines, the great Lord of all the worlds, and the friend of all beings, a person attains peace.