The Path of Renunciation of Action
There are twenty-nine verses in this chapter. The first verse is Arjuna’s question, and the rest are Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s reply. Having heard the glory of both jñāna-yoga and karma-yoga, as well as Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s recommendation to cultivate wisdom and perform his duty, Arjuna could not decide which of the two disciplines to follow.
In verse 40 of the previous chapter, Kṛṣṇa specifically described the miserable plight of a practitioner whose mind is filled with doubt. Thus, to eliminate his doubt, Arjuna asks Śrī Kṛṣṇa in this chapter, which of the two, the discipline of knowledge or the discipline of motiveless action, is better. Kṛṣṇa replies, “Both the renunciation of action and the yoga of selfless action lead to ultimate welfare, but of the two, the yoga of selfless action is superior” (2).
Śrī Kṛṣṇa elaborates on this topic (3–26) and then describes the discipline of meditation (27–28): “Shutting out all thoughts of external sense objects, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, regulating the outgoing and incoming breaths flowing within the nostrils, the sage who has restrained his senses, mind, and intellect, who is free from desire, fear, and anger, and who is dedicated to the attainment of liberation, is indeed ever liberated.” This discipline is helpful both on the path of knowledge as well as the path of action, and also leads to supreme bliss. Śrī Kṛṣṇa concludes the chapter by announcing, “Knowing Me as the recipient of all sacrifices ( yajña) and austerities, as the master of all worlds, and as the well-wisher of all living beings, a person attains peace” (29).
All Verses
- Verse 1Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, after instructing me in the renunciation of action, You are again recommending the yoga of selfless action (karma-yoga) as well. Please tell me decisively which one of these two is most beneficial.
- Verse 2Śrī Bhagavān said: Both the renunciation of action and the yoga of selfless action lead to ultimate welfare, but of the two, the yoga of selfless action is superior to the renunciation of action.
- Verse 3The karma-yogī who never hates nor desires anything should be understood as one established in renunciation at every moment [even in the midst of action], O mighty-armed, because the person who is free from duality is easily liberated from bondage.
- Verse 4The inexperienced claim that the path of renunciation of action (sāṅkhya-yoga) and the path of selfless action (karma-yoga) are independent paths. The wise, however, do not support this conclusion, because a person who is firmly established even in just one of the two attains the fruit of both.
- Verse 5The state which is achieved by means of renunciation (sāṅkhya-yoga) is attained by selfless action (karma-yoga) as well. One who perceives both the path of renunciation and that of selfless action as one and the same, sees things as they really are.
- Verse 6O mighty-armed, without selfless action (karma-yoga), the renunciation of action is difficult to attain. But the sage who adheres to selfless action attains Brahman without delay.
- Verse 7One who adheres to the path of selfless action (karma-yoga), who is pure in heart, who has conquered his mind and senses, and who is as dear as the self to all living beings is never tainted, even while engaged in action.
- Verse 8-9The person who is united through selfless action and who has directly realized the truth ascertains that even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, speaking, excreting, grasping, and opening and closing the eyelids, it is only the senses that are engaged with their respective sense objects. He therefore reflects, “I do nothing at all.”
- Verse 10One who participates in action, having dedicated his actions to God and having abandoned all attachment to action and its fruit, is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf remains unmoistened by water.
- Verse 11The karma-yogīs, giving up attachment, perform action through the body, the mind, the intellect, and even through the senses alone for self-purification.
- Verse 12Having abandoned the fruits of action, the person who is united through selfless action attains everlasting peace. But a selfish worker, being impelled by desire and thus attached to the fruits of action, remains bound.
- Verse 13Having mentally renounced all actions, the embodied self who has subdued the body and mind resides happily in the city of nine gates*, neither acting nor causing to act.
- Verse 14God does not generate the living being’s sense of agency, nor its actions, nor its concordance with the fruits of actions. Rather, it is the living being’s phenomenal nature that is effective in this regard*.
- Verse 15The omnipresent God does not become implicated in the sin or piety of anyone. The living beings, however, are deluded due to the fact that their discernment is covered by ignorance.
- Verse 16But those for whom such ignorance has been dispelled by immediate awareness of the self — their awareness reveals the Supreme Transcendent, just as the sun illuminates the world.
- Verse 17Those whose intelligence is firmly fixed on Him [God], whose minds are absorbed in meditation on Him, who have firm faith in Him, who are intently devoted to Him, and whose sins have been expunged by immediate awareness [of God], attain the state of no return.
- Verse 18Those established in true wisdom regard with equal vision a brāhmaṇa endowed with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater.
- Verse 19For those whose minds are established in equanimity, material bondage is overcome even while they are present in this world, because Brahman is flawless and is Itself the state of equanimity. For this reason, those endowed with equal vision are situated in Brahman [the nondual Absolute Reality].
- Verse 20The knower of the Absolute, who is established in Brahman, whose intelligence is stable and who is undeluded, is neither elated by obtaining what is pleasant nor perturbed by obtaining what is unpleasant.
- Verse 21One whose psyche is detached from the external sense objects attains that bliss which is intrinsic to the self. Such a person, whose self is united with God through devotional absorption, tastes imperishable bliss.
- Verse 22O son of Kuntī, all enjoyments born of sense contacts are only sources of misery, having a beginning and an end. Therefore, the wise do not indulge in them.
- Verse 23One who, in this very life before casting off the body, is able to tolerate the urges arising from desire and anger, is situated in equanimity of mind and is a happy person.
- Verse 24One whose happiness is within, whose enjoyment is within, and who is indeed illumined within — such a yogī who has realized Brahman attains liberation in the Absolute (brahma- nirvāṇa).
- Verse 25The sages, whose sins have waned, whose doubts have been dispelled, whose minds have been brought under control, and who are engaged in the welfare of all beings, attain liberation in the form of Brahman.
- Verse 26For those ascetics who are free from desire and anger, who have subdued their minds, and who have realized the self, liberation in Brahman (brahma-nirvāṇa) is present both while living and after death.
- Verse 27-28Shutting out all thoughts of external sense objects, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows*, and regulating the outgoing and incoming breaths flowing within the nostrils, the sage who has restrained his senses, mind, and intellect, who is dedicated to the attainment of liberation, and who is free from desire, fear, and anger, is indeed ever liberated.
- Verse 29Knowing Me as the beneficiary of all sacrifices ( yajña) and austerities, as the Supreme Master of all worlds*, and as the well-wisher of all living beings, a person attains peace.