Karma Sanyasa Yoga

अर्जुन उवाच |

Arjuna said: O Krishna, first You praise the renunciation of actions, and then again You recommend the path of selfless action. Tell me decisively which one of these two is indeed better.

श्रीभगवानुवाच |

The Supreme Lord said: Both the renunciation of action and the yoga of action lead to the supreme goal. But of the two, Karma Yoga is superior to the renunciation of action.

ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति |

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

साङ्ख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः |

Only the ignorant—not the wise—speak of analytical study (Sankhya) and selfless action (Yoga) as different. One who is firmly established in even one of them attains the fruits of both.

यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते |

The state that is attained by the analytical thinkers is also reached by the active yogis. He who sees Sankhya and Yoga as one, truly sees.

संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः |

But renunciation of action, O mighty-armed one, is difficult to attain without the practice of Karma Yoga. The sage integrated in Yoga attains Brahman without delay.

योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः |

One who is integrated in Yoga, who has a pure mind, who has controlled the body and conquered the senses, and who sees their own Self as the Self of all living beings, is never tainted even though acting.

नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् |

A knower of the truth, integrated in Yoga, realizes: 'I do nothing at all,' even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, and breathing,

प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि |

while speaking, releasing, grasping, opening and closing the eyes, realizing that it is only the senses interacting with the sense objects.

ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः |

He who offers all actions to Brahman, abandoning all attachment, is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.

कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि |

The yogis perform actions with body, mind, intellect, and even with the senses alone, abandoning attachment, solely for the purpose of self-purification.

युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् |

The integrated person, abandoning the fruits of action, attains everlasting peace; whereas the unintegrated person, driven by desire and attached to the fruits, becomes bound.

सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी |

Renouncing all actions mentally, the self-controlled soul dwells happily as the master in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor causing action.

न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः |

The Lord of the world does not create agency, nor actions for the people, nor the union with the fruits of action. It is nature alone that operates.

नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः |

The omnipresent Lord does not accept anyone's sin nor anyone's virtue. Knowledge is covered by ignorance; therefore, living beings are deluded.

ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः |

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

तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः |

Those whose intellect is absorbed in Him, whose Self is Him, who are established in Him, and who take refuge in Him alone, go to the state of no-return, their sins washed away by knowledge.

विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि |

The wise look with equal vision upon a learned and humble priest, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater (an outcast).

इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः |

Even in this life, rebirth is conquered by those whose minds are established in equality. Since Brahman is flawless and equal to all, they are established in Brahman.

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् |

One should neither rejoice upon obtaining what is pleasant, nor grieve upon obtaining what is unpleasant. With steady intellect and free from delusion, the knower of Brahman is established in Brahman.

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् |

One who is unattached to external sensory contacts finds happiness in the Self. Being united with Brahman through yoga, such a person enjoys endless happiness.

ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते |

The pleasures born of contact with the senses are indeed sources of misery. They have a beginning and an end, O son of Kunti; the wise do not rejoice in them.

शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् |

He who is able, here in this world, before liberating himself from the physical body, to tolerate the urges born of desire and anger, is a yogi and is a happy person.

योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः |

He who finds happiness within, who rejoices within, and who is illuminated within, is a yogi. Becoming one with Brahman, he attains supreme liberation.

लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः |

The sages whose sins have been destroyed, whose doubts have been resolved, who have controlled their minds, and who are dedicated to the welfare of all living beings, attain supreme liberation in Brahman.

कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् |

For those striving seekers who are free from desire and anger, whose minds are controlled, and who have realized the Self, supreme liberation in Brahman is present all around them.

स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः |

Excluding all external sense objects, focusing the eyes between the eyebrows, equalizing the inward and outward breaths moving within the nostrils,

यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः |

controlling the senses, mind, and intellect, the sage dedicated to liberation, free from desire, fear, and anger, is indeed eternally liberated.

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् |

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