Gita for Youth - Yoga of Renunciation (Sannyas Yoga)

Chapter 5:The Yoga of Renunciation

Having heard the discourse so far, a confused Arjuna asked, “Krishna, you have eulogized both renunciation and action. But pray let me know that of these two which is better.”

Sri Krishna answered, “Know this for sure that both renunciation and Karmayoga are meritorious. However, of these two, Karmayoga is definitely better. Know him to an all renounced, who has neither repulsion nor attraction. Thus free from the shackles of dual impulses, he is liberated from the fetters (of the world). “

Here Sri Krishna is refering to renunciation before being established in knowledge, a state of inaction for an individual who still possesses impulses for action. For such a person, Karmayoga is better than complete renunciation of action. This statement is by no means glorifying Karmayoga over renunciation, as is evident from the next two slokas.

Sri Krishna further said in response to Arjuna that a wise truly knows that Sankhya and Yoga are not really different. A person, who is firmly established in one of these two, gets the results of both. Sankhya and Yoga are essentially same perceived by the seers, as one who treads one path, verily crosses the other. Sages established in one path attain the regions which are attended by those engaged in the other path.

Sankhya is the path of knowledge and contemplation while Yoga is the path of action. Sankhya philosophy was devised by the sage Kapila, but here Sankhya refers to the path of renunciation of action. Yoga sutras were first written by Patanjali, but here Yoga refers to Karma, Raja and Bhakti Yoga, any path involving action. However the essence of both is liberation from the worldly life through Realization of the One Supreme Being or the True Knowledge.

A life of renunciation without the discipline of Yoga is hard to obtain. A sage who has renounced the world and has also established himself in Yoga, i.e. a complete control over the passion and the sense objects and a mastery over the treacherous mind, pretty soon realizes the Supreme Being, Brahman.

Established in Yoga, and having purified the mind and intellect, one who has thus obtained mastery over the senses, and who is identified as being the soul in all beings, remains unscathed by action.

Action cannot bind one who knows that he is not acting. He has realized the fact that he is not the actual doer. Under the impulse of the external and internal nature certain actions like seeing, hearing touching , smelling, eating, going and coming (movements), sleeping and breathing, vital body functions like speaking, giving and receiving, opening and closing of eyelids (during meditation or sleep), which are performed by him, are known by him as responses of the senses to the stimuli called objects of senses. Therefore he is established in the belief that he is not the performer of even these necessary body functions. He does not identify himself with the body which is subjected to the nature and its modifications including the senses and sense objects.

Therefore he, who places all actions and fruits thereof at the eternal Brahman whose modifiable form is nature or Prakrti, remains unattached to all actions performed, just as a lotus leaf, though immersed in water, does not get soiled by it. Thereby that person remains immune to any sin as all actions result in some good and some bad results (virtues and vices). By separating himself from the action performed the person does not run the risk of suffering its consequences.