Sannyasa Yoga
The Yoga of Renunciation

5:1: Arjuna said: O Krishna, you are praising sannyasa-yoga [the renunciation of all activities] as well as karma-yoga [performance of activities]. Please tell me decisively which of the two is better.

5:2: The Blessed One replied: Renunciation and the yoga of action [with devotion] both lead to the highest good, but of the two, karma-yoga and sannyasa-yoga, the yoga of action [with devotion] is superior.

5:3: O mighty armed one, it should be understood that the true renouncer neither hates nor desires and is free from duality. Such a person is free from bondage and is easily; liberated.

5:4: The ignorant say that knowledge [sankhya] and action [with devotion] are different. According to the learned, one who is established in one of these obtains the complete fruit of both.

5:5: By means of sankhya philosophy one achieves that place which karma-yoga [with devotion] also attains. Sankhya philosophy and karma-yoga [with devotion] are one. One who sees this sees things as they are.

5:6: By renunciation alone, O mighty armed one [Arjuna], one attains only suffering, but absorbed in yoga [with devotion] a sage soon realizes brahman.

5:7: One who is yoked by karma-yoga, who is purified, who is self-controlled, who has conquered the senses and who considers the welfare of all living entities, such a person is not tainted [by sinful reactions].

5:8, 9: Such a person who knows the truth and is so yoked [by karma-yoga], thus being convinced, considers him/herself to be doing nothing although seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing,
Talking, giving up, holding, opening or closing the eyes and applying the senses to the sense organs.

5:10: One who resigns all activities unto Brahman, abandoning all attachment, is not tainted by inauspiciousness as a lotus leaf is untouched by the water.

5:11: For the purification of the self yogis perform actions without attachment, utilizing the body, mind, intellect and senses.

5:12: One who is yoked [by karma-yoga] gives up the fruits of all activities and achieves a firm and lasting peace, whereas one who is not so yoked, who is motivated by the desire for the fruits of performed actions, is bound by those attachments.

5:13, 14: Having mentally renounced all activities, one who is self-controlled remains happily in the 'city of nine gates' [the material body], knowing that the embodied living entity neither acts nor causes others to act.
It is not the apparent doer who creates in this world, nor is it due to the connection of fruitive activities with one's own nature; the actual stimulus is the Master [of the 'city of nine gates,' i.e. God].

5:15: The omnipotent God does not take anyone's sin or merit. It is by ignorance that knowledge is covered and by this the living entities are deluded.

5:16: By knowledge, through which ignorance is destroyed, the highest knowledge is revealed to the living entity as the rising sun.

5:17: With the intellect absorbed in That [i.e. the highest], fully established in That, with That as the supreme goal, go forth, never returning, and by knowledge purify that which is soiled.

5:18: By their knowledge and humility the fully equipped sages see equally the brahmana, the cow, the elephant, the dog, and even the outcaste.

5:19: Here, in this life, those who abide in equanimity conquer the transitory nature of the world. The minds of those who constantly abide in Brahman are flawless like Brahman.

5:20: One who does not rejoice in obtaining the pleasant nor lament in obtaining the unpleasant, whose intelligence is steadfast, who is undeluded and who knows Brahman, truly abides in Brahman.

5:21: With the self yoked in meditation on Brahman, one who is unattached to external contacts enjoys unlimited happiness within.

5:22: Those external contacts and material enjoyments are factually wombs of sorrow. They have beginnings and endings, O son of Kunti, and one who is intelligent does not rejoice in them.

5:23: One who is able to resist the urges of desire and anger before leaving the body is yoked [in meditation on Brahman] and is a happy person even here in this world.

5:24: One whose happiness is within, whose pleasure is within, and whose illumination comes from within, that yogi is liberated in Brahman, linked to Brahman and attains the highest.

5: 25: The seers, those whose sins are nullified, whose dualities are shredded and who are devoted to the welfare of all living entities, obtain liberation in Brahman.

5: 26: Those who are free from desire and anger, who practice self-restraint and who control their thoughts, such people are quickly liberated in Brahman and attain self-realization.

5:27, 28: Blocking out external distractions, focusing the gaze between the eyebrows, and maintaining a steady rhythm of outgoing and incoming breaths within the nostrils,
With the senses, mind and intellect completely under control, the sage who is resolute on achieving liberation, who is free from desire, fear and anger, achieves eternal liberation.

5:29: Knowing Me (Shri Krishna) to be the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets [including the gods and goddesses who manage them], the benefactor of all living beings, you will attain [eternal] peace.

Here Ends Chapter Five

Go to: Chapter Six

Go to: Setting the Stage: My Introduction.

Go to: Notes and References.