5:1: Arjuna said: O Krishna, you are praising Sannyasa Yoga [the renunciation of activities] as well as karma-yoga [performance of activities]. Please tell me decisively which of the two is better.
5:2: The Blessed One replied: Renunciation and the yoga of action [with bhakti—devotion to God] both lead to the highest good, but of the two, karma-yoga and Sannyasa-yoga, the yoga of action [with bhakti—devotion to God] is superior.
5:3: O Arjuna [mighty-armed one], understand that the true renouncer neither hates nor desires and is therefore free from duality. Such a person is free from bondage and is easily liberated.
5:4: The ignorant say that knowledge [sankhya] and action [with bhakti—devotion to God] are different. However, according to the learned ones, whoever is established in one of these achieves the complete fruit of both.
5:5: Utilizing Sankhya [knowledge] philosophy, one also achieves the platform of karma-yoga [with bhakti—devotion to God]. Sankhya philosophy and karma-yoga [with bhakti—devotion to God] is one. One who understands this sees things as they are.
5:6: By renunciation alone, O Arjuna [mighty-armed one], one attains only suffering, but absorbed in yoga [with bhakti—devotion to God] a sage soon realizes Brahman.
5:7: One who is yoked [or led] by karma-yoga [with bhakti—devotion to God], who is purified, who is Self-controlled, who has conquered the senses and who considers the welfare of all living entities, such a person is not tainted [by sinful reactions].
5:8, 9: Such a person who knows the truth and is so yoked [by bhakti—devotion to God], thus being convinced, considers himself to be doing nothing although he is seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing, talking, giving up, holding, opening, or closing the eyes, and applying the senses to the sense organs.
5:10: One who resigns all activities unto Brahman, abandoning all attachment, is not tainted by inauspiciousness as a lotus leaf is untouched by the water.
5:11: For the purification of the Self, yogis perform their actions without attachment, using the body, mind, intellect, and senses without desire.
5:12: One who is yoked [by karma-yoga] gives up the fruits of all activities and achieves a firm and lasting peace [through bhakti—devotion to God], whereas one who is not so yoked, who is motivated by the desire for the fruits of their actions is bound by those attachments.
5:13, 14: Having mentally renounced all activities, one who is Self-controlled remains happily in the ‘city of nine gates’ [the material body], knowing that the embodied living entity neither acts nor causes others to act. It is not the apparent doer who creates in this world, nor is it because of the connection of the fruits of activities within one’s own nature; the actual stimulus is the Master [of the ‘city of nine gates,’ i.e., God].
5:15: The Omnipotent God does not take anyone’s sin or merit. By ignorance, knowledge is covered, and by this, the living entities are deluded.
5:16: By knowledge, through which ignorance is destroyed, the highest knowledge is revealed to the living entity as the rising sun.
5:17: With the intellect absorbed in That [i.e., the Highest, God], fully established in That, with That as the supreme goal, go forth, never returning, and by knowledge, purity that which is soiled.
5:18: By their knowledge and humility, the fully equipped sages see equally the brahmana, the cow, the elephant, the dog, and even the outcaste.
5:19: Here, in this life, those who abide in equanimity conquer the world's transitory nature. The minds of those who constantly abide in Brahman are flawless like Brahman.
5:20: One who does not rejoice in obtaining the pleasant nor lament in obtaining the unpleasant, whose intelligence is steadfast, who is undeluded and who knows Brahman [abiding God within one’s consciousness], truly abides in Brahman.
5:21: With the Self yoked in meditation on Brahman, one who is unattached to external contacts enjoys unlimited happiness and equanimity within.
5:22: Those external contacts and material enjoyments are factually wombs of sorrow. They have beginnings and endings, O Arjuna [son of Kunti], and one who is intelligent does not rejoice in them.
5:23: One who can resist the urges of desire and anger before leaving the body is yoked [in meditation on Brahman/Self] is a fortunate person, even here in this world.
5:24: One whose happiness is within, whose pleasure is within, and whose illumination comes from within, that yogi is liberated in Brahman, linked to Brahman, and attains the highest.
5:25: The seers, those whose sins are nullified, whose dualities are shredded, and who are devoted to the welfare of all living entities, obtain liberation in Brahman.
5:26: Those who are free from desire and anger, who practice self-restraint and control their thoughts, are quickly liberated in Brahman and attain self-realization.
5:27, 28: Blocking out external distractions, focusing the gaze between the eyebrows, and maintaining a steady rhythm of outgoing and incoming breaths within the nostrils, with the senses, mind, and intellect completely under control, the sage who is resolute in achieving liberation, who is free from desire, fear, and anger, achieves eternal liberation.
5:29: Knowing Me (Shri Krishna/God) to be the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets [including the gods and goddesses who manage them], the benefactor of all living beings, you will attain [eternal] peace.
Here Ends Chapter Five