Chapter 5 is called Karma Sannyasa Yoga, the yoga of renouncing action. It is a short chapter of 29 verses and it opens with a question that follows directly from chapters 3 and 4. Krishna has told Arjuna to act, and he has also praised knowledge and renunciation. Arjuna asks him to say plainly which of the two is better.
How the chapter moves
- Verse 1: Arjuna asks the question in one verse. You praise giving up action, Krishna, and you praise yoga. Tell me which is better.
- Verses 2 to 6: Krishna says both lead to the highest good, but that the yoga of action is better than giving up action (5.2). A true renouncer is someone who neither hates nor craves (5.3). Only children, he says, speak of the path of knowledge and the path of action as separate, and a person who truly follows even one gains the fruit of both (5.4 and 5.5). Giving up action is hard to reach without yoga (5.6).
- Verses 7 to 12: The person who is joined to yoga is not stained by action. Such a person thinks, I do nothing, even while seeing, hearing, eating and breathing (5.8 and 5.9). Acting with attachment let go is like a lotus leaf that water does not wet (5.10). Yogis act with body, mind, intellect and senses for the sake of purifying the self (5.11), and reach lasting peace by giving up the fruit (5.12).
- Verses 13 to 17: The embodied self sits in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor making others act (5.13). The sense of being the doer comes from nature (5.14). Knowledge is covered by ignorance, and when ignorance is destroyed knowledge shines like the sun (5.15 and 5.16).
- Verses 18 to 26: Seeing the same in all. The wise look on a learned brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcaste with equal eyes (5.18). The person who is steady does not rejoice at the pleasant or grieve at the unpleasant (5.20). Pleasures born of contact begin and end, and a wise person does not rest in them (5.22). The one who can bear the rush of desire and anger is a yogi (5.23). The seekers of the peace of Brahman are described in verses 24 to 26.
- Verses 27 to 29: A short sketch of meditation, with gaze between the eyebrows and an even breath, and a closing verse: knowing the Lord as the friend of all beings, a person reaches peace.
Three ideas to hold on to
Renunciation is an inner act. The chapter does not ask for the giving up of work. It asks for the giving up of attachment to its fruit. Verse 3 says the real renouncer is the one who neither hates nor craves, whatever work he or she is doing.
Two paths, one place. Verses 4 and 5 insist that knowledge and action, called Sankhya and Yoga here, reach the same goal. Anyone who sets the two against each other has understood neither. Later chapters keep returning to this point.
Equal vision. Verse 18 is one of the plainest statements of equality in the Gita. The wise see the same self in the learned, in the outcaste and in animals. Verse 25 adds that such seekers delight in the good of all beings.
A note on the word Sankhya
Here Sankhya means the path of knowledge and renunciation. It should not be confused with the later classical school of Sankhya philosophy. The Gita uses the word in its own sense, and commentators discuss at length how far the two meanings overlap.
The text, transliteration and meaning
All 29 verses follow. The speaker is shown on each card, and a verse list above the text lets you jump to any verse.
संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम् ॥ ५.१ ॥
Sannyasam karmanam krishna punar yogam cha shamsasi
Yach chhreya etayor ekam tan me bruhi sunishchitam
MeaningArjuna says: Krishna, you praise the giving up of actions, and then you praise yoga as well. Tell me for certain which one of these two is the better.
NoteArjuna has heard two things from Krishna in chapters 3 and 4: that action is to be done, and that knowledge frees. He asks for one clear answer. The word used for giving up, sannyasa, is the key word of the chapter.
संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ
तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ॥ ५.२ ॥
Sannyasah karmayogash cha nihshreyasakarav ubhau
Tayos tu karmasannyasat karmayogo vishishyate
MeaningThe Blessed Lord says: Giving up action and the yoga of action both lead to the highest good. But of the two, the yoga of action is better than giving up action.
NoteKrishna's answer is direct. Both paths lead to the highest good, but he says the yoga of action is better. The reason, given in verse 6, is that giving up action is hard to carry out without it.
ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति
निर्द्वंद्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥ ५.३ ॥
Jneyah sa nityasannyasi yo na dveshti na kankshati
Nirdvandvo hi mahabaho sukham bandhat pramuchyate
MeaningKnow that person to be a lasting renouncer who neither hates nor craves. Free from the pairs of opposites, mighty-armed, such a person is easily released from bondage.
सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः
एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ॥ ५.४ ॥
Sankhyayogau prithag balah pravadanti na panditah
Ekam apy asthitah samyag ubhayor vindate phalam
MeaningChildren speak of Sankhya and Yoga as separate, not the wise. A person who is truly established in even one of them gains the fruit of both.
NoteSankhya here means the path of knowledge and renunciation, not the later classical school of that name. Krishna says that those who treat knowledge and action as two unrelated paths have not understood either.
यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते
एकं सांख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥ ५.५ ॥
Yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate
Ekam sankhyam cha yogam cha yah pashyati sa pashyati
MeaningThe place that is reached by the followers of Sankhya is reached by the followers of yoga as well. The one who sees Sankhya and yoga as one sees truly.
NoteA short, firm verse. It says that the goal reached by the path of knowledge is the same goal that is reached by the path of action done as yoga.
संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः
योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥ ५.६ ॥
Sannyasas tu mahabaho duhkham aptum ayogatah
Yogayukto munir brahma nachirenadhigachchhati
MeaningBut giving up action, mighty-armed, is hard to achieve without yoga. The sage who is joined to yoga reaches Brahman before long.
योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः
सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥ ५.७ ॥
Yogayukto vishuddhatma vijitatma jitendriyah
Sarvabhutatmabhutatma kurvann api na lipyate
MeaningOne who is joined to yoga, whose self is pure, who has mastered the self and the senses, and whose own self has become the self of all beings, is not stained even when acting.
NoteThe phrase about the self of all beings is the first hint of a theme that grows in later chapters: seeing oneself in all beings, as in 6.29.
नैव किं चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित्
पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ॥ ५.८ ॥
Naiva kim chit karomiti yukto manyeta tattvavit
Pashyan shrinvan sprishan jighrann ashnan gachchhan svapan shvasan
MeaningThe one who knows the truth and is steady in yoga thinks, I do nothing at all, even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping and breathing,
NoteVerses 8 and 9 list ordinary bodily acts, from seeing and hearing to breathing and blinking. The point is that the knower sees these as the senses working among their objects, and does not take them to be the true self.
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥ ५.९ ॥
Pralapan visrijan grihnann unmishan nimishann api
Indriyanindriyartheshu vartanta iti dharayan
Meaningspeaking, letting go, taking hold, opening and closing the eyes. Such a person holds firmly that only the senses are moving among the objects of the senses.
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥ ५.१० ॥
Brahmany adhaya karmani sangam tyaktva karoti yah
Lipyate na sa papena padmapatram ivambhasa
MeaningThe one who does actions by placing them in Brahman and letting go of attachment is not touched by wrong, just as a lotus leaf is not touched by water.
NoteThe lotus leaf rests on water and does not get wet. The picture is of a person who is in the world and not stained by it.
कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि
योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये ॥ ५.११ ॥
Kayena manasa buddhya kevalair indriyair api
Yoginah karma kurvanti sangam tyaktvatmashuddhaye
MeaningWith the body, with the mind, with the intellect, and even with the senses alone, yogis do their work, having left attachment aside, for the sake of making the self pure.
युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्
अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते ॥ ५.१२ ॥
Yuktah karmaphalam tyaktva shantim apnoti naishthikim
Ayuktah kamakarena phale sakto nibadhyate
MeaningOne who is steady and gives up the fruit of action reaches lasting peace. One who is not steady, acting from desire and attached to the fruit, is bound.
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी
नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥ ५.१३ ॥
Sarvakarmani manasa sannyasyaste sukham vashi
Navadvare pure dehi naiva kurvan na karayan
MeaningGiving up all actions in the mind, the self-controlled embodied person sits at ease in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor making anyone act.
NoteThe city of nine gates is the body: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, and the two lower openings. The person who lives in it is the embodied self, which does not itself act.
न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः
न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥ ५.१४ ॥
Na kartritvam na karmani lokasya srijati prabhuh
Na karmaphalasamyogam svabhavas tu pravartate
MeaningThe Lord does not create the sense of being the doer for the world, nor its actions, nor the link between action and its result. It is nature that works.
NoteCommentators differ on who the prabhu (lord) is here. Some read it as the Lord of the world, others as the self that rules the body. Either way, the verse says that the sense of being the doer comes from nature and not from the self.
नादत्ते कस्य चित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः ॥ ५.१५ ॥
Nadatte kasya chit papam na chaiva sukritam vibhuh
Ajnanenavritam jnanam tena muhyanti jantavah
MeaningThe all-pervading one takes on no one's wrong and no one's good deed. Knowledge is covered over by ignorance, and that is why living beings are confused.
ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः
तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम् ॥ ५.१६ ॥
Jnanena tu tad ajnanam yesham nashitam atmanah
Tesham adityavaj jnanam prakashayati tatparam
MeaningBut for those whose ignorance of the self has been destroyed by knowledge, that knowledge lights up the Supreme like the sun.
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ॥ ५.१७ ॥
Tadbuddhayas tadatmanas tannishthas tatparayanah
Gachchhanty apunaravrittim jnananirdhutakalmashah
MeaningThose whose understanding is fixed on that, whose self is that, who stand in that and hold it as their highest aim, go to a state from which there is no return, their faults washed away by knowledge.
विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥ ५.१८ ॥
Vidyavinayasampanne brahmane gavi hastini
Shuni chaiva shvapake cha panditah samadarshinah
MeaningThe wise look with the same eye on a learned and humble brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a person who eats dogs.
NoteThe verse names people at opposite ends of the social scale of its day, together with animals. It says the wise see the same self in all of them. It is one of the clearest statements of equal vision in the Gita.
इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः
निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः ॥ ५.१९ ॥
Ihaiva tair jitah sargo yesham samye sthitam manah
Nirdosham hi samam brahma tasmad brahmani te sthitah
MeaningEven here, in this life, the round of birth and creation is conquered by those whose minds are settled in sameness. Brahman is flawless and the same in all, and therefore they are established in Brahman.
न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम्
स्थिरबुद्धिरसंमूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ॥ ५.२० ॥
Na prahrishyet priyam prapya nodvijet prapya chapriyam
Sthirabuddhir asammudho brahmavid brahmani sthitah
MeaningOne should not rejoice on getting what is pleasant nor be upset on getting what is unpleasant. With a steady mind, free from confusion, the knower of Brahman stands in Brahman.
बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम्
स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥ ५.२१ ॥
Bahyasparsheshv asaktatma vindaty atmani yat sukham
Sa brahmayogayuktatma sukham akshayam ashnute
MeaningUnattached to outer contacts, the person finds the happiness that is within the self. Joined by yoga with Brahman, such a person enjoys happiness that does not run out.
ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते
आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥ ५.२२ ॥
Ye hi samsparshaja bhoga duhkhayonaya eva te
Adyantavantah kaunteya na teshu ramate budhah
MeaningThe pleasures that are born from contact are the wombs of suffering. They have a beginning and an end, son of Kunti, and a wise person does not take delight in them.
NotePleasures that come from contact with the senses are said to have a beginning and an end. The verse does not condemn pleasure. It says a wise person does not rest the mind in what does not last.
शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात्
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ॥ ५.२३ ॥
Shaknotihaiva yah sodhum prak shariravimokshanat
Kamakrodhodbhavam vegam sa yuktah sa sukhi narah
MeaningThe one who is able, here and now, before the body is released, to bear the surge that rises from desire and anger is a yogi and a happy person.
NoteThe verse gives a practical test: can a person bear the rise of desire and anger and let it pass? The test is placed in this life and not left for after death.
योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः
स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥ ५.२४ ॥
Yo 'ntahsukho 'ntararamas tathantarjyotir eva yah
Sa yogi brahmanirvanam brahmabhuto 'dhigachchhati
MeaningThe yogi whose happiness is within, whose rest is within, and whose light is within, becomes Brahman and attains the peace of Brahman.
NoteThe word brahmanirvana, which appeared at the end of chapter 2, now returns. It joins calm and freedom: it is the cooling of desire, which is also liberation.
लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः
छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥ ५.२५ ॥
Labhante brahmanirvanam rishayah kshinakalmashah
Chhinnadvaidha yatatmanah sarvabhutahite ratah
MeaningThe seers whose faults have worn away, whose doubts are cut, who are self-controlled and who delight in the good of all beings, attain the peace of Brahman.
कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम्
अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम् ॥ ५.२६ ॥
Kamakrodhaviyuktanam yatinam yatachetasam
Abhito brahmanirvanam vartate viditatmanam
MeaningFor ascetics who are free of desire and anger, whose minds are controlled and who know the self, the peace of Brahman is near on every side.
स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः
प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ ॥ ५.२७ ॥
Sparshan kritva bahir bahyamsh chakshush chaivantare bhruvoh
Pranapanau samau kritva nasabhyantaracharinau
MeaningShutting out the outer contacts, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, making the in-breath and out-breath even as they move within the nostrils,
NoteVerses 27 and 28 are a short preview of meditation. The posture and the breath will be taken up in full in chapter 6.
यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः
विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः ॥ ५.२८ ॥
Yatendriyamanobuddhir munir mokshaparayanah
Vigatechchhabhayakrodho yah sada mukta eva sah
Meaningthe sage who has mastered the senses, mind and intellect, whose aim is freedom, and who is rid of wishes, fear and anger, is always free indeed.
भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम्
सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥ ५.२९ ॥
Bhoktaram yajnatapasam sarvalokamaheshvaram
Suhridam sarvabhutanam jnatva mam shantim richchhati
MeaningKnowing me as the one who enjoys sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all the worlds and the friend of all beings, a person reaches peace.
NoteThe chapter ends by turning from method to the Lord as the friend of all beings. Chapter 6 will take up the practice of meditation and chapter 7 will go further into the Lord himself.
Chapter summary
Chapter 5 settles a question that had been left open since chapter 3: whether to give up action or to act. Krishna’s answer is that the two are not rivals. Both reach the same place, and the person who sees this sees truly. Where he does give a preference, it is for the yoga of action, because renunciation without yoga is hard to carry out.
The chapter changes what renunciation means. It is not leaving work. It is leaving attachment to work, and the sense of being its only maker. The person described in verses 8 to 13 goes on seeing, speaking, eating and breathing like anyone else, but holds that it is the senses that move among their objects. This is the inner version of the offering in 4.24, and it fits with the lotus leaf in 5.10.
The second half moves from the idea to the person who has lived it. That person sees all beings alike, is not carried away by pleasure or pain, bears desire and anger without being carried off by them, and finds happiness within. The closing verses sketch meditation and end with the Lord as friend of all beings. This prepares for chapter 6, which takes up meditation in full.
Where the two source texts differ
We compared the critical edition text held at GRETIL with the Sanskrit Wikisource text, verse by verse. All 29 verses are present in both. Differences only in spacing, in the way a nasal sound is written and in how words are joined are not listed. The two texts agree word for word in every verse, except for two misprints on the Wikisource side, where the critical edition has the correct form:
- Verse 5: Wikisource prints a colon after the word sa in the last line (sa: pashyati), which is a typing slip. The critical edition has sa paśyati.
- Verse 8: Wikisource prints shrṛṇvan with a stray extra letter. The critical edition has the correct śṛṇvan, “hearing”.
So no verse of chapter 5 differs in its words between the two texts.
Source of the text on this page. The Sanskrit is the critical edition text of the Bhagavad Gita held at GRETIL, based on the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute edition of the Mahabharata, where this chapter is chapter 27 of the Bhishma Parva. It is in Roman script, and we converted it to Devanagari ourselves. We checked every verse against Sanskrit Wikisource. The transliteration is a simple guide to sound and the meanings are our own wording. See the Bhagavad Gita hub for the full note on sources.