Chapter 5 · 29 verses

कर्मसंन्यासयोग

Karma Sannyāsa Yoga

The Yoga of Renunciation of Action

Krishna reconciles renunciation (sannyasa) and karma yoga, declaring both lead to the same goal but selfless action is easier. The realized soul acts while remaining unattached, like a lotus leaf untouched by water.

Theme: Renunciation versus selfless action

All Shlokas (Shloka 1–29)

29 verses

5.1
अर्जुन उवाचArjuna said, "O Krishna, you praise renunciation of actions and also yoga. Please tell me conclusively which is better of the two."
5.2
श्री भगवानुवाचThe Blessed Lord said, "Renunciation and the Yoga of action both lead to the highest bliss; but of the two, the Yoga of action is superior to the renunciation of action."
5.3
ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति।He should be known as a perpetual Sannyasi who neither hates nor desires; for, free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he is easily freed from bondage.
5.4
सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः।Children, not the wise, speak of knowledge and the Yoga of action, or the performance of action, as though they are distinct and different; he who is truly established in one, obtains the fruits of both.
5.5
यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते।That place which is reached by the Sankhyas or the Jnanis is also reached by the Yogis (Karma Yogis). He who sees knowledge and the performance of action (Karma Yoga) as one, sees truly.
5.6
संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः।But, O mighty-armed Arjuna, renunciation is hard to attain without Yoga; the sage who is in harmony with Yoga quickly goes to Brahman.
5.7
योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः।He who is devoted to the path of action, whose mind is pure, who has conquered the self, who has subdued his senses, and who realizes his Self as the Self in all beings, though acting, is not tainted.
5.8
नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित्।I do nothing at all," thus would the harmonized knower of Truth think, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, and breathing.
5.9
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि।Speaking, letting go, seizing, opening, and closing the eyes, one should be convinced that the senses move among the sense-objects.
5.10
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः।He who does actions, offering them to Brahman and abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not tainted by water.
5.11
कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि।Yogis, having abandoned attachment, perform actions only through the body, mind, intellect, and even the senses, for the purification of the self.
5.12
युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्।The one who is united (the well-poised or harmonized) having abandoned the fruit of action attains eternal peace; whereas the one who is not united (the unsteady or unbalanced), impelled by desire and attached to the fruit, is bound.
5.13
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी।Mentally renouncing all actions and being self-controlled, the embodied one happily rests in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing others (body and senses) to act.
5.14
न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः।Neither does the Lord create agency nor actions for the world, nor union with the fruits of actions; rather, it is Nature that acts.
5.15
नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः।The Lord takes neither the demerit nor the merit of any; knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, and beings are deluded.
5.16
ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः।But to those whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of the Self, like the sun, knowledge reveals the Supreme Brahman.
5.17
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः।Their intellect absorbed in That, their self being That, established in That, with That as their supreme goal, they go whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by knowledge.
5.18
विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।Sages look with an equal eye on a Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, on a cow, an elephant, a dog, and even an outcaste.
5.19
इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः।Even here in this world, those whose minds rest in reality overcome birth; Brahman is indeed spotless and real; therefore they are established in Brahman.
5.20
न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम्।Resting in Brahman, with a steady intellect and undeluded, the knower of Brahman neither rejoices upon obtaining what is pleasant nor grieves upon obtaining what is unpleasant.
5.21
बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम्।With the self unattached to external contacts, he finds happiness in the Self; with the self engaged in the meditation of Brahman, he attains endless happiness.
5.22
ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते।The enjoyments that arise from contact are only sources of pain, for they have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna; the wise do not rejoice in them.
5.23
शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात्।He who is able, while still here in this world, to withstand the impulse born out of desire and anger before the liberation from the body, he is a Yogi, and he is a happy man.
5.24
योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः।He who is happy within, who rejoices within, and who is illuminated within, that Yogi attains absolute freedom, or Moksha, becoming Brahman himself.
5.25
लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः।The sages obtain absolute freedom or Moksha when their sins have been destroyed, their dualities have been torn asunder, they are self-controlled, and they are intent on the welfare of all beings.
5.26
कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम्।Absolute freedom exists on all sides for those self-controlled ascetics who are free from desire and anger, who have controlled their thoughts, and who have realized the Self.
5.27
स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः।Shutting out all external contacts and fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, realizing the outgoing and incoming breaths moving within the nostrils.
5.28
यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः।With the senses, mind, and intellect ever controlled, having liberation as their supreme goal, free from desire, fear, and anger, the sage is truly liberated forever.
5.29
भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम्।He who knows Me as the enjoyer of sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all the worlds, and the friend of all beings, attains peace.

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