Chapter 5. "Sannyasa-Yoga, or The Path of Renunciation".
Arjuna said:
1. O Krishna, renunciation of action thou praisest and then again Yoga (performance of action); tell me with certainty which of the two is better?
The Blessed Lord said:
2. Renunciation (of action) and performance of action both lead to liberation. But of the two, performance of action is superior to renunciation of action.
3. Know him to be a perpetual renouncer (Sannyasi) who has neither longing nor aversion, O mighty-armed; being free from all the pairs of opposites (cold and heat, pleasure and pain, etc.), he is easily liberated from all bondage.
4. Children (the ignorant) alone say, not wise men, that wisdom and Yoga are different. He who is truly established in one obtains the fruits of both.
5. That place which is attained by the Jnanis (wise men), is also reached by the Karma Yogins (men of action). He who looks upon wisdom and the performance of action as one, is a true Seer.
6. O mighty-armed, renunciation of action is difficult to attain without performance of action. The wise man, being devoted to Yoga (action), ere long attains to Brahman (absolute Truth).
7. One who is devoted to Yoga, of purified mind, self-subjugated and a master of the senses, realizes his Self as the Self of all beings; though acting he is not tainted.
8-9. The self-possessed knower of Truth should think: "I do nothing at all," though seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go and holding, opening and closing the eyes, firmly convinced that senses alone move among sense-objects.
10. He who peforms actions, surrendering them to Brahman and abandoning all attachment, is not polluted by sin, as a lotus-leaf by water.
11. Karma Yogins, for self-purification alone, perform actions with body, with mind, with intellect, even with the senses, abandoning all attachment.
12. The steady-minded, by giving up all (attachment for) the fruits of action, obtains peace, born of steadfastness. The unsteady (fickle), being attached to fruits through desire, is ever bound (by action).
13. The self-subjugated embodied one, by renouncing all actions through mental discrimination, rests happily in the city of nine gates (body), neither acting (himself) nor causing (others) to act.
14. The Lord creates neither the agency (sense of "I"), nor actions for the world, nor union with the fruit of action. It is nature that leads to action.
15. The omnipresent Lord partakes neither of the good nor of the evil deed of any. Wisdom is covered by ignorance, thus mortals are deluded.
16. But those, whose ignorance is destroyed by Self-knowledge, their knowledge of the Self, like the sun, illumines the Supreme.
17. Those whose heart and soul are absorbed in That (Supreme), who are steadily deovted to That and regard That as their highest goal, they go never to return, their sins (impurities) being washed off by wisdom.
18. The wise look upon a Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a Pariah (dog-eater) with equal regard.
19. Even here (in this world), existence (earthly life) is conquered by them whose mind rests in equality, for Brahman is without imperfection and equal. Therefore they abide in Brahman.
20. The steady-minded, undeluded knower of Brahman, being well-established in Brahman, neither rejoices on receiving the pleasant nor grieves on receiving the unpleasant.
21. He, whose heart is unattached to external contacts (of the senses), realizes the happiness that is in the Self; being united with Brahman by meditation, he attains to eternal bliss.
22. The enjoyments which are born through contact (with sense-objects) are ever generators of misery; (they are) with beginning and end. O son of Kunti, the wise do not seek pleasure i them.
23. He who can withstand the impulse of lust and anger even here (in this life), before he is separated from the body, is steadfast and truly a happy man.
24. He whose joyis within, whose pleasure is within, and whose light is within, that Yogi, being well-established in Brahman, attains to absolute freedom.
25. The self-subjugated Rishis (Truth-Seers), whose impurities are washed off, whose doubts are destroyed, and who are engaged in doing good to all beings, attain supreme liberation.
26. The Sannyasins, who are freed from lust and anger, with hearts well-subdued and Self realized, for them absolute freedom exists here and hereafter.
27-28. Shutting out the external contact with sense-objects, the eyes fixed between the eyebrows, and equalizing the currents of Prana (incoming breath) and Apana (the outgoing breath) inside the nostriles, the meditative man, having mastered the senses, mind and intellect, being freed form desires, fear and anger, and regarding freedom as his supreme goal, is liberated forever.
29. Knowing Me to be the receiver and dispenser of Yajna (sacrifice) and austerity, the Supreme Lord of the Universe and the Friend of all beings, he attains to peace.
Here ends the Fifth Chapter called "Sannyasa-Yoga, or The Path of Renunciation"
Arjuna said:
1. O Krishna, renunciation of action thou praisest and then again Yoga (performance of action); tell me with certainty which of the two is better?
The Blessed Lord said:
2. Renunciation (of action) and performance of action both lead to liberation. But of the two, performance of action is superior to renunciation of action.
3. Know him to be a perpetual renouncer (Sannyasi) who has neither longing nor aversion, O mighty-armed; being free from all the pairs of opposites (cold and heat, pleasure and pain, etc.), he is easily liberated from all bondage.
4. Children (the ignorant) alone say, not wise men, that wisdom and Yoga are different. He who is truly established in one obtains the fruits of both.
5. That place which is attained by the Jnanis (wise men), is also reached by the Karma Yogins (men of action). He who looks upon wisdom and the performance of action as one, is a true Seer.
6. O mighty-armed, renunciation of action is difficult to attain without performance of action. The wise man, being devoted to Yoga (action), ere long attains to Brahman (absolute Truth).
7. One who is devoted to Yoga, of purified mind, self-subjugated and a master of the senses, realizes his Self as the Self of all beings; though acting he is not tainted.
8-9. The self-possessed knower of Truth should think: "I do nothing at all," though seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go and holding, opening and closing the eyes, firmly convinced that senses alone move among sense-objects.
10. He who peforms actions, surrendering them to Brahman and abandoning all attachment, is not polluted by sin, as a lotus-leaf by water.
11. Karma Yogins, for self-purification alone, perform actions with body, with mind, with intellect, even with the senses, abandoning all attachment.
12. The steady-minded, by giving up all (attachment for) the fruits of action, obtains peace, born of steadfastness. The unsteady (fickle), being attached to fruits through desire, is ever bound (by action).
13. The self-subjugated embodied one, by renouncing all actions through mental discrimination, rests happily in the city of nine gates (body), neither acting (himself) nor causing (others) to act.
14. The Lord creates neither the agency (sense of "I"), nor actions for the world, nor union with the fruit of action. It is nature that leads to action.
15. The omnipresent Lord partakes neither of the good nor of the evil deed of any. Wisdom is covered by ignorance, thus mortals are deluded.
16. But those, whose ignorance is destroyed by Self-knowledge, their knowledge of the Self, like the sun, illumines the Supreme.
17. Those whose heart and soul are absorbed in That (Supreme), who are steadily deovted to That and regard That as their highest goal, they go never to return, their sins (impurities) being washed off by wisdom.
18. The wise look upon a Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a Pariah (dog-eater) with equal regard.
19. Even here (in this world), existence (earthly life) is conquered by them whose mind rests in equality, for Brahman is without imperfection and equal. Therefore they abide in Brahman.
20. The steady-minded, undeluded knower of Brahman, being well-established in Brahman, neither rejoices on receiving the pleasant nor grieves on receiving the unpleasant.
21. He, whose heart is unattached to external contacts (of the senses), realizes the happiness that is in the Self; being united with Brahman by meditation, he attains to eternal bliss.
22. The enjoyments which are born through contact (with sense-objects) are ever generators of misery; (they are) with beginning and end. O son of Kunti, the wise do not seek pleasure i them.
23. He who can withstand the impulse of lust and anger even here (in this life), before he is separated from the body, is steadfast and truly a happy man.
24. He whose joyis within, whose pleasure is within, and whose light is within, that Yogi, being well-established in Brahman, attains to absolute freedom.
25. The self-subjugated Rishis (Truth-Seers), whose impurities are washed off, whose doubts are destroyed, and who are engaged in doing good to all beings, attain supreme liberation.
26. The Sannyasins, who are freed from lust and anger, with hearts well-subdued and Self realized, for them absolute freedom exists here and hereafter.
27-28. Shutting out the external contact with sense-objects, the eyes fixed between the eyebrows, and equalizing the currents of Prana (incoming breath) and Apana (the outgoing breath) inside the nostriles, the meditative man, having mastered the senses, mind and intellect, being freed form desires, fear and anger, and regarding freedom as his supreme goal, is liberated forever.
29. Knowing Me to be the receiver and dispenser of Yajna (sacrifice) and austerity, the Supreme Lord of the Universe and the Friend of all beings, he attains to peace.
Here ends the Fifth Chapter called "Sannyasa-Yoga, or The Path of Renunciation"
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Text source: Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita. Translated by Swami Paramananda.
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