Chapter 5: Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Sanskrit Transliteration:

arjuna uvācha sannyāsaṁ karmaṇāṁ kṛiṣhṇa punar yogaṁ cha śhaṁsasi yach chhreya etayor ekaṁ tan me brūhi su-niśhchitam

Translation:

Arjuna said: O Krishna, you praise renunciation of action and also yoga (selfless action). Tell me conclusively which of the two is better.

Commentary:

Arjuna remains confused about the relative merits of renunciation (sannyasa) and karma yoga. He asks for a definitive answer, wanting to know which path is superior. This reflects the common human desire for clear-cut answers in spiritual matters.

Learning:

It's natural to want definitive answers, but spiritual truths often involve understanding apparent paradoxes. The question itself shows progress—Arjuna is genuinely seeking to understand, not just looking for an easy way out.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

śhrī bhagavān uvācha sannyāsaḥ karma-yogaśh cha niḥśhreyasa-karāv ubhau tayos tu karma-sannyāsāt karma-yogo viśhiṣhyate

Translation:

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

Commentary:

Krishna states that both paths lead to liberation, but karma yoga is better. Why? Because karma yoga is more practical for most people and involves inner renunciation without requiring external withdrawal. True renunciation requires a level of detachment that few possess naturally.

Learning:

Action with detachment is generally more accessible and safer than attempting complete withdrawal from the world. Most of us grow faster by engaging with life wisely than by retreating from it prematurely.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

jñeyaḥ sa nitya-sannyāsī yo na dveṣhṭi na kāṅkṣhati nirdvandvo hi mahā-bāho sukhaṁ bandhāt pramuchyate

Translation:

One who neither hates nor desires should be known as a perpetual renunciant. Free from dualities, O mighty-armed one, such a person is easily liberated from bondage.

Commentary:

True renunciation is not about external circumstances but internal freedom from attraction and aversion. One who is free from these dualities is effectively a renunciant, regardless of their external situation. Such inner freedom leads easily to liberation.

Learning:

Real renunciation is mental, not physical. You can live a normal life while being internally free from compulsive likes and dislikes. Work on reducing the grip of attraction and aversion rather than just changing external circumstances.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

sāṅkhya-yogau pṛithag bālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ ekam apy āsthitaḥ samyag ubhayor vindate phalam

Translation:

Only the ignorant speak of knowledge (sankhya) and yoga (action) as different. The wise know them to be one. One who is established in either attains the fruit of both.

Commentary:

Immature understanding sees knowledge and action as separate paths. The wise understand they lead to the same goal and ultimately merge. A person truly established in either path naturally gains the benefits of both, because at their depth, they are not different.

Learning:

Don't create artificial divisions between contemplation and action, study and practice, knowing and doing. At the highest level, they merge. Pursue your path deeply enough and it will open into the other.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

yat sāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṁ tad yogair api gamyate ekaṁ sāṅkhyaṁ cha yogaṁ cha yaḥ paśhyati sa paśhyati

Translation:

The state attained by the followers of knowledge is also reached by the followers of yoga. One who sees knowledge and yoga as one truly sees.

Commentary:

The destination is identical whether reached through contemplative knowledge or through selfless action. The person who recognizes this unity has true vision. The apparent difference is in method, not in goal or ultimate nature.

Learning:

All authentic spiritual paths converge at the summit. Respect different approaches while pursuing your own. True wisdom recognizes the underlying unity in diverse paths and practitioners.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

sannyāsas tu mahā-bāho duḥkham āptum ayogataḥ yoga-yukto munir brahma na chireṇādhigachchhati

Translation:

But renunciation, O mighty-armed one, is difficult to attain without yoga. The sage united with yoga quickly attains Brahman.

Commentary:

External renunciation without the inner discipline of yoga leads to suffering, not liberation. The mind continues to create desires even in physical isolation. But the sage who practices karma yoga—action with detachment—quickly reaches the supreme state.

Learning:

Don't try to renounce externally what you haven't released internally. Work on inner purification through dedicated action. Premature external renunciation creates frustration and hypocrisy.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

yoga-yukto viśhuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ sarva-bhūtātma-bhūtātmā kurvann api na lipyate

Translation:

One who is devoted to yoga, whose soul is purified, who has conquered the self and senses, whose self has become the Self of all beings—though acting, such a person is not tainted.

Commentary:

This verse describes the perfected karma yogi: united with yoga, purified in heart, self-controlled, sense-controlled, and identified with all beings. Such a person acts in the world without accumulating karma, because the sense of separate doership has dissolved.

Learning:

Purity, self-mastery, and universal identification together create immunity from karmic bondage. Work toward these qualities. When you genuinely feel connected to all beings, selfish action becomes impossible.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

naiva kiñchit karomīti yukto manyeta tattva-vit paśhyañ śhṛiṇvan spṛiśhañ jighrann aśhnan gachchhan svapañ śhvasan pralapan visṛijan gṛihṇann unmiṣhan nimiṣhann api indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣhu vartanta iti dhārayan

Translation:

The yogi who knows the truth thinks "I do nothing at all"—while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, speaking, releasing, grasping, opening and closing the eyes—convinced that only the senses are engaged with their objects.

Commentary:

The enlightened person, though performing all normal activities, maintains the awareness "I am not the doer." They understand that the senses naturally engage with their objects while the true Self remains uninvolved. This is not suppression but understanding.

Learning:

Practice witnessing awareness during daily activities. Observe that seeing happens, hearing happens, eating happens—but ask who is the observer of all this? This practice gradually reveals your nature as awareness, not the doer of actions.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ lipyate na sa pāpena padma-patram ivāmbhasā

Translation:

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

Commentary:

The beautiful lotus analogy illustrates detachment in action. Though growing in water, the lotus leaf remains dry. Similarly, the yogi engages with the world while remaining untouched by its binding effects. The secret is dedicating all action to the divine and releasing attachment.

Learning:

Be in the world but not of it. Like the lotus, you can thrive in your environment without being polluted by it. The key is offering your actions to something higher and releasing your grip on results.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalair indriyair api yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṁ tyaktvātma-śhuddhaye

Translation:

With body, mind, intellect, and senses alone—abandoning attachment—yogis perform action for the purification of the self.

Commentary:

Yogis engage all their faculties—body, mind, intellect, and senses—in action, but without attachment. The purpose of such action is self-purification. Work becomes a spiritual practice when done with detachment and the intention of inner cleansing.

Learning:

Use your work as a tool for growth. Whatever you do with body or mind, do it without attachment and with the intention of becoming purer. This transforms mundane work into spiritual practice.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

yuktaḥ karma-phalaṁ tyaktvā śhāntim āpnoti naiṣhṭhikīm ayuktaḥ kāma-kāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate

Translation:

The united one, renouncing the fruit of action, attains lasting peace. The disunited, attached to fruit through desire, is bound.

Commentary:

The yogi who releases attachment to results gains permanent peace. The one driven by desire, attached to outcomes, remains bound in the cycle of action and reaction. The difference is not in the action but in the relationship to its fruits.

Learning:

Your peace depends not on what happens but on whether you're attached to what happens. Release your grip on outcomes, and stable peace becomes possible regardless of how things turn out.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

sarva-karmāṇi manasā sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśhī nava-dvāre pure dehī naiva kurvan na kārayan

Translation:

Mentally renouncing all actions, the self-controlled embodied being dwells happily in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor causing action.

Commentary:

The body is compared to a city with nine gates (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, and two organs of elimination and generation). The wise person lives in this body-city having mentally renounced all action—not doing nor causing others to do. This is liberation while living.

Learning:

True renunciation is in the mind. You can live in your body, fulfill your responsibilities, yet be inwardly free. The "city" runs its functions while you, the resident, remain at peace.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

na kartṛitvaṁ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛijati prabhuḥ na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ svabhāvas tu pravartate

Translation:

The Lord does not create agency or actions for beings, nor the connection between action and fruit. But nature proceeds on its own.

Commentary:

God does not arbitrarily assign doership, actions, or their results to individuals. These arise from one's own nature (svabhava) and the natural functioning of prakriti (material nature). The divine does not interfere—nature operates according to its own laws.

Learning:

Don't blame God for your circumstances or actions. Your nature and the laws of cause and effect create your situation. Take responsibility for your choices while understanding you operate within natural law.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

nādatte kasyachit pāpaṁ na chaiva sukṛitaṁ vibhuḥ ajñānenāvṛitaṁ jñānaṁ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ

Translation:

The all-pervading Lord does not accept anyone's sin or merit. Knowledge is veiled by ignorance; by that, beings are deluded.

Commentary:

The divine does not personally accept or distribute individual karma. People are deluded because their innate knowledge is covered by ignorance (avidya). This ignorance, not divine judgment, is what keeps beings bound in illusion.

Learning:

God is not keeping score of your sins and merits. Your bondage comes from your own ignorance covering your true knowledge. The path to freedom is removing ignorance, not placating a judging deity.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

jñānena tu tad ajñānaṁ yeṣhāṁ nāśhitam ātmanaḥ teṣhām āditya-vaj jñānaṁ prakāśhayati tat param

Translation:

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

Commentary:

When self-knowledge dispels ignorance, it shines like the sun, revealing the Supreme Reality. Ignorance is like darkness; knowledge like light. When the sun rises, darkness has no power to remain—similarly, knowledge dissolves ignorance automatically.

Learning:

Knowledge doesn't fight ignorance; it simply shines, and ignorance disappears. You don't need to struggle against ignorance—just keep pursuing genuine understanding. When light comes, darkness goes.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

tad-buddhayas tad-ātmānas tan-niṣhṭhās tat-parāyaṇāḥ gachchhanty apunar-āvṛittiṁ jñāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣhāḥ

Translation:

Those whose intellect is fixed on That, whose self is That, who are established in That, whose supreme goal is That—their impurities washed away by knowledge, they go to the state of no return.

Commentary:

Complete absorption in the Supreme—in intellect, identity, dedication, and goal—combined with purification through knowledge leads to final liberation. There is no return to the cycle of rebirth for such beings. This is the culmination of spiritual practice.

Learning:

Total focus on the highest brings final freedom. When your intellect, identity, commitment, and aim are all aligned toward truth, liberation becomes certain. Unified direction of all your faculties toward the ultimate goal is powerful.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini śhuni chaiva śhva-pāke cha paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśhinaḥ

Translation:

The wise see with equal vision a learned and humble brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and an outcaste.

Commentary:

This famous verse illustrates the enlightened vision. The wise person sees the same divine essence in all beings—whether a scholarly brahmin, an animal, or a social outcast. External differences of form, species, or status do not affect this vision of equality.

Learning:

Practice seeing the same essence in all beings. Beyond differences of education, species, or social standing lies the same consciousness. This equal vision dissolves prejudice and expands your capacity for compassion.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

ihaiva tair jitaḥ sargo yeṣhāṁ sāmye sthitaṁ manaḥ nirdoṣhaṁ hi samaṁ brahma tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ

Translation:

Even here, in this life, rebirth is conquered by those whose mind is established in equality. Brahman is flawless and the same in all; therefore, they are established in Brahman.

Commentary:

Those who maintain mental equanimity have conquered the cycle of rebirth while still living. Because Brahman is uniform and flawless, appearing equally in all, those who see equally are actually established in Brahman. Their vision matches reality.

Learning:

Equality of vision is not just an ethical ideal but a spiritual attainment reflecting reality. When you see the same in all, you're perceiving how things actually are. This perception liberates you from the bondage of false distinctions.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

na prahṛiṣhyet priyaṁ prāpya nodvijet prāpya chāpriyam sthira-buddhir asammūḍho brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ

Translation:

One should not rejoice upon obtaining what is pleasant nor be disturbed upon obtaining what is unpleasant. With steady intellect, undeluded, the knower of Brahman is established in Brahman.

Commentary:

The enlightened person remains unmoved by pleasant or unpleasant events. Their intellect is stable, not swayed by circumstances. Undeluded by appearances, they rest in Brahman-consciousness regardless of what comes.

Learning:

Don't let external events determine your inner state. Pleasant things don't deserve excessive joy; unpleasant things don't deserve disturbance. Cultivate a stable center that remains calm through life's fluctuations.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

bāhya-sparśheṣhv asaktātmā vindaty ātmani yat sukham sa brahma-yoga-yuktātmā sukham akṣhayam aśhnute

Translation:

Unattached to external contacts, one finds happiness in the Self. With the self united in yoga with Brahman, one attains inexhaustible happiness.

Commentary:

Detachment from external sensations enables discovery of inner joy. When united with Brahman through yoga, this inner happiness becomes infinite and inexhaustible. Unlike sensory pleasures which deplete, this inner bliss only grows.

Learning:

External pleasures are finite and eventually exhaust themselves. Inner joy, discovered through detachment and union with your source, is unlimited. Invest in cultivating inner happiness rather than chasing outer stimulations.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

ye hi saṁsparśha-jā bhogā duḥkha-yonaya eva te ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣhu ramate budhaḥ

Translation:

Pleasures born of sense contact are indeed sources of suffering; they have a beginning and an end, O son of Kunti. The wise do not delight in them.

Commentary:

Sensory pleasures, arising from contact between senses and objects, inevitably lead to suffering. They are temporary—coming and going—and their departure causes pain. Understanding this, the wise don't seek lasting satisfaction from them.

Learning:

Recognize that sensory pleasures carry the seed of their own sorrow. They begin, they end, and their ending hurts. Enjoy them lightly when they come, but don't make them your source of happiness.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

śhaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ prāk śharīra-vimokṣhaṇāt kāma-krodhodbhavaṁ vegaṁ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ

Translation:

One who is able to withstand the impulse arising from desire and anger, here before leaving the body—such a person is a yogi, a happy person.

Commentary:

The true test is withstanding the surges of desire and anger before death. One who can manage these powerful forces while still embodied is truly a yogi and genuinely happy. This is practical achievement, not theoretical knowledge.

Learning:

Mastering desire and anger during this lifetime is the real work. Don't postpone inner discipline—do it now, while you have a body and face real challenges. The person who achieves this mastery is truly happy.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

yo 'ntaḥ-sukho 'ntar-ārāmas tathāntar-jyotir eva yaḥ sa yogī brahma-nirvāṇaṁ brahma-bhūto 'dhigachchhati

Translation:

One whose happiness is within, whose delight is within, whose light is within—that yogi, being Brahman, attains liberation in Brahman.

Commentary:

The yogi who has discovered inner happiness, inner joy, and inner illumination has become one with Brahman. Such a person attains brahma-nirvana—extinction in Brahman, complete liberation. Everything needed is found within.

Learning:

All that you seek is within. Happiness, joy, light—everything is available inside when you turn your attention inward. The external search can end when you discover the internal treasure.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

labhante brahma-nirvāṇam ṛiṣhayaḥ kṣhīṇa-kalmaṣhāḥ chhinna-dvaidhā yatātmānaḥ sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ

Translation:

The sages whose impurities are destroyed, whose doubts are cut, who are self-controlled, and who delight in the welfare of all beings—they attain liberation in Brahman.

Commentary:

This verse lists the qualities of those who attain final liberation: purity (no sins), clarity (no doubts), self-mastery, and universal benevolence. These are the marks of the sage ready for complete freedom.

Learning:

Spiritual progress includes both personal purification and concern for others' welfare. Inner work and outer service go together. The liberated person naturally wishes well for all beings—isolation is not the fruit of wisdom.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

kāma-krodha-vimuktānāṁ yatīnāṁ yata-chetasām abhito brahma-nirvāṇaṁ vartate viditātmanām

Translation:

For those ascetics who are freed from desire and anger, whose minds are controlled, who know the Self—liberation in Brahman exists all around them.

Commentary:

For the disciplined ascetic free from desire and anger, with controlled mind and Self-knowledge, brahma-nirvana is everywhere. Liberation is not some distant goal but an immediate reality surrounding them. They live in freedom.

Learning:

Liberation is not somewhere else or in some future time. For the prepared mind, it is immediately available. Free yourself from desire and anger, know yourself, and freedom is here and now.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

sparśhān kṛitvā bahir bāhyāṁś chakṣhuśh chaivāntare bhruvoḥ prāṇāpānau samau kṛitvā nāsābhyantara-chāriṇau yatendriya-mano-buddhir munir mokṣha-parāyaṇaḥ vigatechchhā-bhaya-krodho yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ

Translation:

Shutting out external contacts, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, equalizing the ingoing and outgoing breaths within the nostrils, the sage whose senses, mind, and intellect are controlled, who is devoted to liberation, who is free from desire, fear, and anger—such a one is always liberated.

Commentary:

These verses describe meditation technique: withdrawing from external stimuli, focusing gaze at the point between eyebrows, regulating breath, and controlling all faculties. Combined with freedom from desire, fear, and anger, and dedication to liberation, this leads to permanent freedom.

Learning:

Meditation practice involves concrete techniques: sense withdrawal, focused attention, breath regulation, and mental control. Combined with the right inner qualities—freedom from disturbing emotions and dedication to liberation—these practices lead to lasting freedom.

Sanskrit Transliteration:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśhvaram suhṛidaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śhāntim ṛichchhati

Translation:

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

Commentary:

Krishna reveals the complete picture: he is the ultimate recipient of all spiritual practice, the supreme ruler of all realms, and the true friend of every being. Knowing this brings peace—understanding that the universe is governed by a benevolent presence who is intimately connected with all.

Learning:

Ultimate peace comes from knowing that a friendly, supreme consciousness governs everything. Your sacrifices are received, your efforts noted, and you are never alone. This knowledge of divine friendship and sovereignty brings deep peace.