Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5: कर्मसंन्यासयोगः
Twenty-nine verses. Giving up action and acting without clinging to its fruit are compared here, together with the peace of one who sees all as equal.
Tap any verse card to open its page with the word-by-word meaning. Pages are ready for every verse of this chapter.
संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि।
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम् ॥ 1 ॥Meaning of verse 5.1 →2श्रीभगवानुवाच
संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ।
तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ॥ 2 ॥Meaning of verse 5.2 →3ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति।
निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥ 3 ॥Meaning of verse 5.3 →4साङ्ख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः।
एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ॥ 4 ॥Meaning of verse 5.4 →5यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते।
एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥ 5 ॥Meaning of verse 5.5 →6संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः।
योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥ 6 ॥Meaning of verse 5.6 →7योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः।
सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥ 7 ॥Meaning of verse 5.7 →8नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित्।
पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ॥ 8 ॥Meaning of verse 5.8 →9प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥ 9 ॥Meaning of verse 5.9 →10ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः।
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥ 10 ॥Meaning of verse 5.10 →11कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि।
योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये ॥ 11 ॥Meaning of verse 5.11 →12युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्।
अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते ॥ 12 ॥Meaning of verse 5.12 →13सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी।
नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥ 13 ॥Meaning of verse 5.13 →14न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः।
न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥ 14 ॥Meaning of verse 5.14 →15नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः।
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः ॥ 15 ॥Meaning of verse 5.15 →16ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः।
तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम् ॥ 16 ॥Meaning of verse 5.16 →17तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः।
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ॥ 17 ॥Meaning of verse 5.17 →18विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥ 18 ॥Meaning of verse 5.18 →19इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः।
निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः ॥ 19 ॥Meaning of verse 5.19 →20न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम्।
स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ॥ 20 ॥Meaning of verse 5.20 →21बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम्।
स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥ 21 ॥Meaning of verse 5.21 →22ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते।
आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥ 22 ॥Meaning of verse 5.22 →23शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात्।
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ॥ 23 ॥Meaning of verse 5.23 →24योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः।
स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥ 24 ॥Meaning of verse 5.24 →25लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः।
छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥ 25 ॥Meaning of verse 5.25 →26कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम्।
अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम् ॥ 26 ॥Meaning of verse 5.26 →27स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः।
प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ ॥ 27 ॥Meaning of verse 5.27 →28यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः।
विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः ॥ 28 ॥Meaning of verse 5.28 →29भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम्।
सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥ 29 ॥Meaning of verse 5.29 →
ॐ तत्सदिति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासूपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादे कर्मसंन्यासयोगो नाम पञ्चमोऽध्यायः ॥
About Karma Sannyasa Yoga
The fourth chapter said that action dissolves away through knowledge, and ended with ‘take to yoga, stand up’. To Arjuna these looked like opposed paths that one person could not follow at the same time. Give up action, or do it? The fifth chapter opens with this question.
Krishna’s answer comes in two steps: both paths lead to the highest good, but the yoga of action is better. The rest of the chapter shows how one can be free within while working without, through images such as the lotus leaf in water, the city of nine gates, and knowledge shining like the sun. Verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight are a prelude to the yoga of meditation in the sixth chapter.
How the chapter moves
- Verses 1 to 6: Arjuna’s question, the answer that both paths share one goal, why the yoga of action is still better, and seeing sankhya and yoga as one.
- Verses 7 to 12: The yogi who knows ‘I do nothing’ even while working, the lotus leaf untouched by water, and the peace of one who has let go of the fruit.
- Verses 13 to 17: The embodied one dwelling at ease in the city of nine gates, the Lord who does not create doership, knowledge covered by ignorance, and understanding that shines like the sun.
- Verses 18 to 23: The wise one who sees all as equal, the limits of pleasures born of contact, and the one who can withstand the force of desire and anger before leaving the body.
- Verses 24 to 29: Inner joy and light, brahma-nirvana, the first outlines of meditation, and the peace that comes from knowing the Lord as the friend of all beings.
Which ‘renunciation’ is meant
When the second verse calls the yoga of action better, the acharyas differ on what it is better than. For Shankara it is better than a mere giving up of action without knowledge; renunciation joined with knowledge has a different place. For Ramanuja the renunciation here is the yoga of knowledge, and even for one qualified for it the yoga of action is easier and better. For Madhva what is being compared is not the formal order of sannyasa but the inner giving up within action.
These pages do not decide between the readings. Wherever the acharyas part, each position is recorded in its own terms.
Equal vision
The eighteenth verse is among the most quoted in the Gita: in a learned and humble brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a shvapaka, the wise see the same. Its weight falls not on the old social ranking but on the equal vision that sees past it. There is a note on the word ‘shvapaka’ on that verse’s page.
Sources: several.
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