The Yoga of Renunciation of Action

अर्जुन उवाच |...

Arjuna said: O Krishna, You praise the renunciation of actions and also the path of yoga (action). Tell me conclusively which one of these two is more beneficial.

श्रीभगवानुवाच |...

The Blessed Lord said: Both renunciation of action and the yoga of action lead to the highest good. But of the two, the yoga of action is superior to the renunciation of action.

ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति |...

He who neither hates nor desires should be known as a perpetual renunciant. Free from all pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he is easily liberated from bondage.

साङ्ख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः |...

Only the ignorant speak of Sankhya (the path of knowledge) and yoga (the path of action) as different. The learned know that one who is truly established in either path attains the fruit of both.

यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते |...

The state that is reached by the Sankhyas is also reached by the yogis. He who sees Sankhya and yoga as one truly sees.

संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः |...

But true renunciation, O mighty-armed one, is difficult to attain without the practice of yoga. The sage who is disciplined in yoga attains Brahman without delay.

योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः |...

One who is united in yoga, whose self is pure, who has controlled the mind and senses, and who sees his own Self as the Self of all beings — though acting, he is not tainted.

नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् |...

The knower of truth, united in yoga, thinks: 'I do nothing at all' — even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, and breathing.

प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि |...

Talking, letting go, grasping, opening and closing the eyes — the knower of truth knows: 'The senses are moving among sense objects; I am not the doer.'

ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः |...

One who acts by offering all actions to Brahman, abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin — just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.

कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि |...

The yogis perform action with body, mind, intellect, and even the senses — abandoning attachment — for the purpose of self-purification.

युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् |...

The disciplined yogi, abandoning the fruit of action, attains perfect, lasting peace. The undisciplined person, driven by desire and attached to results, is bound.

सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी |...

Having mentally renounced all actions, the self-controlled embodied soul rests happily in the city of nine gates (the body), neither acting nor causing action.

न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः |...

The Self does not create the sense of agency, nor actions, nor the union of action with its results. It is nature (svabhava) that operates.

नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः |...

The all-pervading Self takes neither the sin nor the virtue of anyone. Knowledge is covered by ignorance — by that, beings are deluded.

ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः |...

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

तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः |...

Those whose intellect, self, steadfastness, and supreme refuge are all in That (Brahman) — their impurities washed away by knowledge — they go to the state of no return.

विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि |...

The wise see with equal vision a learned and humble brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and even a dog-eater (outcast).

इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः |...

Even here, birth (the cycle of existence) is overcome by those whose mind is established in equanimity. Brahman is flawless and equal — therefore they are established in Brahman.

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् |...

One who neither rejoices on obtaining something pleasant nor grieves on obtaining something unpleasant, who is steady in intellect, unbewildered — is the knower of Brahman, established in Brahman.

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् |...

With the self unattached to external contacts, he finds happiness in the Self. Being united with Brahman through yoga, he enjoys happiness that is imperishable.

ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते |...

The enjoyments that arise from sense contact are, in truth, sources of suffering — they have a beginning and an end, O son of Kunti. The wise person does not delight in them.

शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् |...

One who is able, while still in this body, to withstand the impulse of desire and anger — that person is a yogi and is happy.

योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः |...

One whose happiness is within, whose recreation is within, and whose light is within — that yogi, having become Brahman, attains the peace of Brahman (brahma-nirvana).

लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः |...

The sages who have crossed over doubt, whose impurities are destroyed, who are self-controlled, and who are devoted to the welfare of all beings — they attain the peace of Brahman.

कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् |...

For the sages who are free from desire and anger, who have controlled their minds, and who know the Self — brahma-nirvana exists on all sides (both in life and in death).

स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः |...

Keeping external sense objects outside, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, equalising the incoming and outgoing breaths within the nostrils —

यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः |...

The sage who has controlled senses, mind, and intellect, who is intent on liberation, who is free from desire, fear, and anger — he is ever liberated.

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् |...

Knowing Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all worlds, and the loving friend of all beings — one attains peace.