Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5

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

O Krishna, you praise renunciation of action and again you praise yoga (selfless action). Tell me decisively which one o…

संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ । तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात् कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ॥

Both renunciation and karma yoga lead to the highest good (liberation). But of the two, karma yoga is superior to renunc…

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

Know that one who neither hates nor desires is always a renunciant. Free from all dualities, O mighty-armed, such a pers…

सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः । एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यग् उभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ॥

Only the childish, not the wise, speak of Sankhya (knowledge/renunciation) and Yoga (action) as different. One who is pr…

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

The state (of liberation) reached by Sankhyas is also reached by the yogis. One who sees Sankhya and Yoga as one truly s…

संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः । योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥

But renunciation without yoga is difficult to attain, O mighty-armed. The sage who is united in yoga reaches Brahman swi…

योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः । सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥

One united in yoga, with purified self, with conquered self, with senses mastered, whose self has become the Self of all…

नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् । पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन् नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ॥

'I do not do anything at all' — thus the one united in yoga, the knower of truth, should think — while seeing, hearing, …

प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन् उन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि । इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥

...speaking, releasing, grasping, opening and closing the eyes — holding firm that the senses are moving in their object…

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

One who performs actions by resting them in Brahman, abandoning attachment — that one is not tainted by sin, as the lotu…

कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि । योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये ॥

Yogis perform actions with body, mind, intellect, and even just the senses — abandoning attachment — for the purificatio…

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

The one united (in yoga), giving up the fruit of actions, attains ultimate peace. The unsteady one, driven by desire, at…

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

Renouncing all actions mentally, the self-controlled embodied one dwells joyfully in the nine-gated city, neither acting…

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

The Lord does not create agency, nor actions, nor the union of action with fruit for anyone. Rather, it is one's own nat…

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

The all-pervading Lord takes on neither the sin of anyone, nor their merit. Knowledge is veiled by ignorance — by that, …

ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः । तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम् ॥

But for those in whom that ignorance of the Self has been destroyed by knowledge — for them, knowledge illumines the Sup…

तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस् तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः । गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ॥

Those whose intellect is absorbed in THAT, whose self is THAT, who are established in THAT, who have THAT as their supre…

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

The wise see the same in a learned and humble brahmin, in a cow, in an elephant, and also in a dog and a dog-eater.…

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

Right here (in this life) creation is conquered by those whose mind is established in equanimity. Brahman is flawless an…

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् । स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद् ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ॥

Neither exulting on receiving the pleasant, nor shuddering on receiving the unpleasant — with steady intellect, undelude…

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् । स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥

With the self unattached to external contacts, one finds the joy that is in the Self. With the self united in Brahman-yo…

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

The pleasures born of contact between senses and objects are indeed the wombs of suffering. They have a beginning and an…

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

One who is able to withstand right here (before death), the force born of desire and anger — that person is a yogi, that…

योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस् तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः । स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥

That yogi who has inner joy, inner delight, and inner light — having become Brahman, reaches brahma-nirvana (extinction …

लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणम् ऋषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः । छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥

Sages with impurities destroyed, doubts cut asunder, self-controlled, delighting in the welfare of all beings — they att…

कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् । अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम् ॥

Brahma-nirvana is available on all sides (abundantly present) for those ascetics who are free of desire and anger, whose…

स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश् चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः । प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ ॥

Keeping external sense-contacts outside, with the gaze directed to the space between the eyebrows, making the prana and …

यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिः मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः । विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः ॥

The sage with senses, mind, and intellect controlled, whose supreme goal is liberation, free from desire, fear, and ange…

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् । सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥

Knowing Me as the ultimate enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the great lord of all worlds, the friend of all be…