Sannyasa Yoga
The Yoga of Renunciation
5:1: Arjuna said: O Krishna, you are praising sannyasa-yoga [therenunciation of all activities] as well as karma-yoga [performance ofactivities]. Please tell me decisively which of the two is better.
5:2: The Blessed One replied: Renunciation and the yoga of action[with devotion] both lead to the highest good, but of the two,karma-yoga and sannyasa-yoga, the yoga of action [with devotion] issuperior.
5:3: O mighty armed one, it should be understood that the truerenouncer neither hates nor desires and is free from duality. Such aperson is free from bondage and is easily; liberated.
5:4: The ignorant say that knowledge [sankhya] and action [withdevotion] are different. According to the learned, one who isestablished in one of these obtains the complete fruit of both.
5:5: By means of sankhya philosophy one achieves that place which karma-yoga [with devotion] also attains. Sankhya philosophyand karma-yoga [with devotion] are one. One who sees this sees things as they are.
5:6: By renunciation alone, O mighty armed one [Arjuna], oneattains only suffering, but absorbed in yoga [with devotion] a sage soonrealizes brahman.
5:7: One who is yoked by karma-yoga, who is purified, who isself-controlled, who has conquered the senses and who considers thewelfare of all living entities, such a person is not tainted [by sinfulreactions].
5:8, 9: Such a person who knows the truth and is so yoked [bykarma-yoga], thus being convinced, considers him/herself to be doingnothing although 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 allattachment, is not tainted by inauspiciousness as a lotus leaf isuntouched by the water.
5:11: For the purification of the self yogis perform actions without attachment, utilizing the body, mind, intellect and senses.
5:12: One who is yoked [by karma-yoga] gives up the fruits of allactivities and achieves a firm and lasting peace, whereas one who isnot so yoked, who is motivated by the desire for the fruits of performedactions, is bound by those attachments.
5:13, 14: Having mentally renounced all activities, one who isself-controlled remains happily in the 'city of nine gates' [thematerial body], knowing that the embodied living entity neither acts norcauses others to act.
It is not the apparent doer who creates in this world, nor is it due tothe connection of fruitive activities with one's own nature; the actualstimulus 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. Itis by ignorance that knowledge is covered and by this the livingentities are deluded.
5:16: By knowledge, through which ignorance is destroyed, thehighest knowledge is revealed to the living entity as the rising sun.
5:17: With the intellect absorbed in That [i.e. the highest],fully established in That, with That as the supreme goal, go forth,never returning, and by knowledge purify that which is soiled.
5:18: By their knowledge and humility the fully equipped sagessee equally the brahmana, the cow, the elephant, the dog, and even theoutcaste.
5:19: Here, in this life, those who abide in equanimity conquerthe transitory nature of the world. The minds of those who constantlyabide in Brahman are flawless like Brahman.
5:20: One who does not rejoice in obtaining the pleasant norlament in obtaining the unpleasant, whose intelligence is steadfast, whois undeluded and who knows Brahman, truly abides in Brahman.
5:21: With the self yoked in meditation on Brahman, one who isunattached to external contacts enjoys unlimited happiness within.
5:22: Those external contacts and material enjoyments arefactually wombs of sorrow. They have beginnings and endings, O son ofKunti, and one who is intelligent does not rejoice in them.
5:23: One who is able to resist the urges of desire and angerbefore leaving the body is yoked [in meditation on Brahman] and is ahappy 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 inBrahman, linked to Brahman and attains the highest.
5: 25: The seers, those whose sins are nullified, whose dualitiesare 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 practiceself-restraint and who control their thoughts, such people are quicklyliberated in Brahman and attain self-realization.
5:27, 28: Blocking out external distractions, focusing the gazebetween the eyebrows, and maintaining a steady rhythm of outgoing andincoming breaths within the nostrils,
With the senses, mind and intellect completely under control, the sagewho is resolute on achieving liberation, who is free from desire, fearand anger, achieves eternal liberation.
5:29: Knowing Me (Shri Krishna) to be the enjoyer of allsacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets [includingthe gods and goddesses who manage them], the benefactor of all livingbeings, you will attain [eternal] peace.
Here Ends Chapter Five
Go to: Chapter Six.
Go to: Notes and References.
Go to: Cover Page.
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