Chapter 5

अर्जुन उवाच · arjuna uvāca

संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि।यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्िचतम्॥

saṃnyāsaṃ karmaṇāṃ kṛṣṇa punaryogaṃ ca śaṃsasi |yacchreya etayorekaṃ tanme brūhi suniśिcatam ||

Arjuna said, "O Krishna, you praise renunciation of actions and also yoga. Please tell me conclusively which is better of the two."

Arjuna said: My Lord! At one moment, You praise renunciation of action; at another, You praise right action. Tell me truly, I pray, which of these is more conducive to my highest welfare?

श्री भगवानुवाच · śrī bhagavānuvāca

संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ।तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते॥

saṃnyāsaḥ karmayogaśca niḥśreyasakarāvubhau |tayostu karmasaṃnyāsātkarmayogo viśiṣyate ||

The Blessed Lord said, "Renunciation and the Yoga of action both lead to the highest bliss; but of the two, the Yoga of action is superior to the renunciation of action."

Lord Shri Krishna replied: Both renunciation of action and the path of right action lead to the highest; however, right action is the better of the two.

ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति।निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते॥

jñeyaḥ sa nityasaṃnyāsī yo na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati |nirdvandvo hi mahābāho sukhaṃ bandhātpramucyate ||

He should be known as a perpetual Sannyasi who neither hates nor desires; for, free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he is easily freed from bondage.

He is a true ascetic who never desires nor dislikes, who is unaffected by the opposites and is easily freed from bondage.

सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः।एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम्॥

sāṃkhyayogau pṛthagbālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ |ekamapyāsthitaḥ samyagubhayorvindate phalam ||

Children, not the wise, speak of knowledge and the Yoga of action, or the performance of action, as though they are distinct and different; he who is truly established in one, obtains the fruits of both.

Only the unenlightened speak of wisdom and right action as separate; the wise do not. If anyone knows one, they enjoy the fruit of both.

यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते।एकं सांख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति॥

yatsāṃkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṃ tadyogairapi gamyate |ekaṃ sāṃkhyaṃ ca yogaṃ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati ||

That place which is reached by the Sankhyas or the Jnanis is also reached by the Yogis (Karma Yogis). He who sees knowledge and the performance of action (Karma Yoga) as one, sees truly.

The level which is attained through wisdom is also reached through right action. He who perceives that the two are one, knows the truth.

संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः।योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति॥

saṃnyāsastu mahābāho duḥkhamāptumayogataḥ |yogayukto munirbrahma nacireṇādhigacchati ||

But, O mighty-armed Arjuna, renunciation is hard to attain without Yoga; the sage who is in harmony with Yoga quickly goes to Brahman.

Without concentration, O Mighty One, renunciation is difficult. But the sage who is always meditating on the Divine, shall soon attain the Absolute.

योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः।सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते॥

yogayukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ |sarvabhūtātmabhūtātmā kurvannapi na lipyate ||

He who is devoted to the path of action, whose mind is pure, who has conquered the self, who has subdued his senses, and who realizes his Self as the Self in all beings, though acting, is not tainted.

He who is spiritual, pure, has overcome his senses and his personal self, and has realized his highest Self as the Self of all—even though he acts, he is not bound by his actions.

नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित्।पश्यन् श्रृणवन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपन् श्वसन्॥

naiva kiṃcitkaromīti yukto manyeta tattvavit |paśyan śrṛṇavanspṛśañjighrannaśnangacchansvapan śvasan ||

I do nothing at all," thus would the harmonized knower of Truth think, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, and breathing.

Though the saint sees, hears, touches, smells, eats, moves, sleeps, and breathes, yet he knows the truth and knows that it is not he who acts.

प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि।इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन्॥

pralapanvisṛjangṛhṇannunmiṣannimiṣannapi |indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan ||

Speaking, letting go, seizing, opening, and closing the eyes, one should be convinced that the senses move among the sense-objects.

Though he talks, gives, receives, opens his eyes, and shuts them, he still knows that his senses are merely disporting themselves among the objects of perception.

ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः।लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा॥

brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ |lipyate na sa pāpena padmapatramivāmbhasā ||

He who does actions, offering them to Brahman and abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not tainted by water.

He who dedicates his actions to the Spirit, without any personal attachment to them, is no more tainted by sin than the water lily is wetted by water.

कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि।योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मशुद्धये॥

kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalairindriyairapi |yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṃ tyaktvā''tmaśuddhaye ||

Yogis, having abandoned attachment, perform actions only through the body, mind, intellect, and even the senses, for the purification of the self.

The sage performs his action dispassionately, using his body, mind, intellect, and even his senses, always as a means for purification.

युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्।अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते॥

yuktaḥ karmaphalaṃ tyaktvā śāntimāpnoti naiṣṭhikīm |ayuktaḥ kāmakāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate ||

The one who is united (the well-poised or harmonized) having abandoned the fruit of action attains eternal peace; whereas the one who is not united (the unsteady or unbalanced), impelled by desire and attached to the fruit, is bound.

Having abandoned the fruit of action, he wins eternal peace. Others, unacquainted with spirituality, led by desire and clinging to the benefit they think will follow their actions, become entangled in them.

सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी।नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन्॥

sarvakarmāṇi manasā saṃnyasyāste sukhaṃ vaśī |navadvāre pure dehī naiva kurvanna kārayan ||

Mentally renouncing all actions and being self-controlled, the embodied one happily rests in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing others (body and senses) to act.

Mentally renouncing all actions, the self-controlled soul enjoys bliss in this body, the city of the nine gates, neither doing anything themselves nor causing anything to be done.

न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः।न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते॥

na kartṛtvaṃ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ |na karmaphalasaṃyogaṃ svabhāvastu pravartate ||

Neither does the Lord create agency nor actions for the world, nor union with the fruits of actions; rather, it is Nature that acts.

The Lord of this universe has not ordained activity, nor any incentive thereto, nor any relation between an act and its consequences; all this is the work of Nature.

नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः।अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः॥

nādatte kasyacitpāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ |ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ ||

The Lord takes neither the demerit nor the merit of any; knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, and beings are deluded.

The Lord does not accept responsibility for any person's sin or merit; they are deluded, for wisdom is submerged in ignorance within them.

ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः।तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम्॥

jñānena tu tadajñānaṃ yeṣāṃ nāśitamātmanaḥ |teṣāmādityavajjñānaṃ prakāśayati tatparam ||

But to those whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of the Self, like the sun, knowledge reveals the Supreme Brahman.

Surely, wisdom is like the sun, revealing the supreme truth to those whose ignorance has been dispelled by the wisdom of the Self.

तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः।गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः॥

tadbuddhayastadātmānastanniṣṭhāstatparāyaṇāḥ |gacchantyapunarāvṛttiṃ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ ||

Their intellect absorbed in That, their self being That, established in That, with That as their supreme goal, they go whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by knowledge.

Meditating on the divine, having faith in the divine, concentrating on the divine, and losing themselves in the divine, their sins dissolve in wisdom, and they go from whence there is no return.

विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः॥

vidyāvinayasaṃpanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini |śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ ||

Sages look with an equal eye on a Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, on a cow, an elephant, a dog, and even an outcaste.

Sages look upon all equally, whether they be a minister of learning and humility, an infidel, a cow, an elephant, or a dog.

इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः।निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः॥

ihaiva tairjitaḥ sargo yeṣāṃ sāmye sthitaṃ manaḥ |nirdoṣaṃ hi samaṃ brahma tasmādbrahmaṇi te sthitāḥ ||

Even here in this world, those whose minds rest in reality overcome birth; Brahman is indeed spotless and real; therefore they are established in Brahman.

Even in this world, those whose minds remain always balanced, fixed on the Supreme, conquer their earthly life; for the Supreme has neither blemish nor bias.

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम्।स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः॥

na prahṛṣyetpriyaṃ prāpya nodvijetprāpya cāpriyam |sthirabuddhirasammūḍho brahmavidbrahmaṇi sthitaḥ ||

Resting in Brahman, with a steady intellect and undeluded, the knower of Brahman neither rejoices upon obtaining what is pleasant nor grieves upon obtaining what is unpleasant.

He who knows and lives in the Absolute remains unmoved and unperturbed; he is not elated by pleasure nor depressed by pain.

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम्।स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते॥

bāhyasparśeṣvasaktātmā vindatyātmani yatsukham |sa brahmayogayuktātmā sukhamakṣayamaśnute ||

With the self unattached to external contacts, he finds happiness in the Self; with the self engaged in the meditation of Brahman, he attains endless happiness.

He finds happiness in his own Self and enjoys eternal bliss, whose heart does not yearn for the contacts of the earth and whose Self is one with the Everlasting.

ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते।आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः॥

ye hi saṃsparśajā bhogā duḥkhayonaya eva te |ādyantavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ ||

The enjoyments that arise from contact are only sources of pain, for they have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna; the wise do not rejoice in them.

The joys that spring from external associations bring pain; they have their beginnings and their endings. The wise person does not rejoice in them.

शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात्।कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः॥

śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṃ prākśarīravimokṣaṇāt |kāmakrodhodbhavaṃ vegaṃ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ ||

He who is able, while still here in this world, to withstand the impulse born out of desire and anger before the liberation from the body, he is a Yogi, and he is a happy man.

He who, before leaving his body, learns to overcome the promptings of desire and anger, is a saint and is happy.

योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः।स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति॥

yo'ntaḥsukho'ntarārāmastathāntarjyotireva yaḥ |sa yogī brahmanirvāṇaṃ brahmabhūto'dhigacchati ||

He who is happy within, who rejoices within, and who is illuminated within, that Yogi attains absolute freedom, or Moksha, becoming Brahman himself.

He who is happy within himself and has found its peace, and in whom the inner light shines, that sage attains eternal bliss and becomes one with the spirit.

लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः।छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः॥

labhante brahmanirvāṇamṛṣayaḥ kṣīṇakalmaṣāḥ |chinnadvaidhā yatātmānaḥ sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ ||

The sages obtain absolute freedom or Moksha when their sins have been destroyed, their dualities have been torn asunder, they are self-controlled, and they are intent on the welfare of all beings.

Sages whose sins have been washed away, whose sense of separateness has dissipated, who have subdued themselves, and seek only the welfare of all, come to the Eternal Spirit.

कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम्।अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम्॥

kāmakrodhaviyuktānāṃ yatīnāṃ yatacetasām |abhito brahmanirvāṇaṃ vartate viditātmanām ||

Absolute freedom exists on all sides for those self-controlled ascetics who are free from desire and anger, who have controlled their thoughts, and who have realized the Self.

Saints who know themselves, who control their minds, and feel neither desire nor anger, find eternal bliss everywhere.

स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः।प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ॥

sparśānkṛtvā bahirbāhyāṃścakṣuścaivāntare bhruvoḥ |prāṇāpānau samau kṛtvā nāsābhyantaracāriṇau ||

Shutting out all external contacts and fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, realizing the outgoing and incoming breaths moving within the nostrils.

Excluding external objects, with his gaze fixed between the eyebrows, and the inward and outward breathings passing equally through his nostrils;

यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः।विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः॥

yatendriyamanobuddhirmunirmokṣaparāyaṇaḥ |vigatecchābhayakrodho yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ ||

With the senses, mind, and intellect ever controlled, having liberation as their supreme goal, free from desire, fear, and anger, the sage is truly liberated forever.

Governing sense, mind, and intellect, intent on liberation, free from desire, fear, and anger, the sage is eternally free.

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम्।सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति॥

bhoktāraṃ yajñatapasāṃ sarvalokamaheśvaram |suhṛdaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ jñātvā māṃ śāntimṛcchati ||

He who knows Me as the enjoyer of sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all the worlds, and the friend of all beings, attains peace.

Knowing Me as the One who gladly receives all offerings of austerity and sacrifice, as the Mighty Ruler of all the Worlds and the Friend of all beings, he passes to Eternal Peace.