Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter5- yoga of renunciation

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Chapter 5-Yoga of renunciation

 

 

Arjuna uvaacha

 

Sannyaasam karmaNaam KrishNa

punaH yogam cha Samsasi

 

Yath SreyaH ethayoH

ekam thath me broohi suniSchayam

 

Arjuna said,

 

Krishna, you praised the acquirement of jnana which leads to renunciation of

action and also you praise karmayoga

subsequently. Tell me which of the two are conducive to my progress towards the

highest goal.

 

Krishna has detailed about karmayoga in the chapters 3 and 4 and hence Arjuna

has no confusion regarding what is karma yoga. So he is not repeating the

question he asked in the beginning of the third chapter. His doubt now is that

while Krishna elucidated on karmayoga he also spoke about acquiring

the jnana that, all is nothing but Brahman and advised Arjuna to approach a

guru to acquire jnana. This made Arjuna wonder whether jnana is better than

karma. Hence Krishna starts distinguishing between the two.

 

Sree bhagavaan uvacha

 

Sannyaasam karmayogaH

cha niSSreyasakarou ubhou

 

thayoH tu

karmasannyaasaath karmayogo viSishyathe

 

The Lord spoke,

 

Renunciation

and karmayoga are both the means to

achieve the goal of realization. But of the two, karmayoga is superior to

renunciation of action.

 

Arjuna now wants to know which of the two

disciplines, sannyasa , renunciation or karmayoga, performance of work without

attachment is more beneficial for him. Here Krishna, the supreme physician starts

prescribing the medicine suited to the patient and says that though both

sannyasa and karma yoga are equally effective, Karmayoga is to be preferred,

implying that in his case Arjuna needs only karmayoga.

The

word sannyaasa means giving up fully. San +nyaasa. So it could be used in

renouncing the action, or the fruit of action or the sense of agency of action.

In the Gita it is used in all these meanings and hence it should be understood

according to the context.

 

Here

the word sannyasa means saankhya yoga or jnanayoga, the word saankhya as used

in the second chapter. Though both the paths , jnana and karma leads to the

same goal the one to choose depends on the mental state of the seeker. Since Arjuna

is qualified to do only karma yoga as he had not acquired jnana till then, Krishna said that karmayoga is better than jnanayoga.

 

The

one who follows saankhyayoga is the one who has already acquired self control and

has given up agency of action and sees Brahman everywhere and hence the action

has no effect on him. Till then one has to do karmayoga only giving up the

desire for the fruit of action by

offering all his actions to the Lord. Gradually he gives up the sense of agency

when he acquires the jnana that all is Brahman.