Karma Sanyasa Yoga
Action and renunciation are not two paths. They are one. The yogi acts in the world while remaining unshaken by it.
All 29 verses of this chapter on one page. Read straight through, or press play and follow each verse as it is recited.
अर्जुन उवाच संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि । यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम् ॥
Arjuna said: Krishna, you praise both renunciation of action and yoga of action. Tell me clearly which one is definitely better for my welfare.
श्री भगवानुवाच संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ । तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ॥
Renunciation and karma yoga both lead to the highest good, but karma yoga is better than renouncing action.
ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति । निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥
One who neither hates nor desires is always a renunciant. Free from opposites, such a person is easily released from bondage, O mighty-armed one.
सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः । एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ॥
The unwise say that renunciation and yoga lead to different results. The wise see that one who is firmly established in either reaches the same fruit.
यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते । एकं सांख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥
The state reached by the wise is also reached through yoga. One who sees wisdom and yoga as one sees rightly.
संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः । योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥
But, mighty-armed one, renunciation without yoga is hard to attain. The disciplined seeker in yoga quickly reaches the supreme reality.
योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः । सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥
A disciplined yogi, pure in mind, self-mastered, and senses conquered, sees the same self in all beings and is not tainted by action while acting.
नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् । पश्यन् श्रृणवन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपन् श्वसन् ॥
The knower of reality should think, "I do nothing at all," while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, taking, speaking, discarding, sleeping, breathing, and opening and closing the eyes.
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि । इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥
Even while speaking, releasing, taking, opening, and closing the eyes, the wise know: the senses move among their objects.
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः । लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥
One who offers actions to Brahman, renounces attachment, and acts is not stained by wrongdoing, just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.
कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि । योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मशुद्धये ॥
Yogis perform action with body, mind, intellect, and the senses, giving up attachment, only for inner purification.
युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् । अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते ॥
The disciplined one gives up the fruit of action and attains steady peace. The undisciplined one, clinging to results through desire, becomes bound.
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी । नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥
The embodied one, who has mastered the senses and mind, dwells happily in the city of nine gates, mentally renouncing all actions, neither doing nor causing action.
न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः । न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥
The supreme being creates neither doership nor actions nor the link between action and result for people. Nature alone keeps moving.
नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः । अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः ॥
The all-pervading one takes neither anyone's wrongdoing nor anyone's good deed. Knowledge is covered by ignorance, and that is why living beings are deluded.
ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः । तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम् ॥
But for those whose ignorance has been destroyed by knowledge of the true self, that knowledge reveals the supreme reality like the sun.
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः । गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ॥
Those whose intellect is fixed in That, whose mind is That, who are established in That, and who are devoted to That, go to the state of no return, their impurities washed away by knowledge.
विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि । शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥
The wise see the same reality in a learned, humble brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and an outcaste.
इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः । निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः ॥
Those whose mind rests in sameness conquer rebirth here itself. The supreme reality is flawless and equal, so they are established in it.
न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् । स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ॥
One who does not rejoice at the pleasant, and does not shrink from the unpleasant, is steady in understanding, free from delusion, and established in the supreme reality.
बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् । स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥
One who is not attached to outer contacts finds the joy within the true self. Unified with the supreme reality, that person enjoys unending happiness.
ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते । आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥
The pleasures born from contact with the senses are only sources of suffering. They have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna, and the wise do not delight in them.
शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् । कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ॥
Whoever can withstand the surge of desire and anger here before the body falls, is a disciplined person and is truly happy.
योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः । स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥
One who finds happiness within, delights within, and has inner light alone, becomes one with the supreme reality and reaches freedom in the supreme reality.
लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः । छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥
Sages who are free of impurity, free of doubt, self-controlled, and devoted to the welfare of all beings attain freedom in the supreme reality.
कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् । अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम् ॥
For those free from desire and anger, with disciplined minds and self-knowledge, freedom in the supreme reality is near on both sides.
स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः । प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ ॥
Leaving outer objects outside, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, and balancing the inward and outward breaths moving through the nose.
यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः । विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः ॥
One who has controlled the senses, mind, and intellect, who seeks freedom as the highest aim, and who is free from desire, fear, and anger is forever free.
भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् । सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥
Knowing me as the enjoyer of all sacrifice and austerity, the great lord of all worlds, and the friend of all beings, one attains peace.