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The Yoga of Liberation through Renunciation

(Chapter 18)

मोक्षसंन्यासयोगः

Chapter Quiz

Verse 18-1

arjuna uvāca . saṃnyāsasya mahābāho tattvamicchāmi veditum . tyāgasya ca hṛṣīkeśa pṛthakkeśiniṣūdana ..18-1..

AI Translation

Arjuna said: 1. I desire to know severally, O mighty-armed, the essence or truth of "Renunciation, " O Hrishikesa, as also of 'Abandonment, ' O slayer of Keshi (Krishna) .

Verse 18-2

śrībhagavānuvāca . kāmyānāṃ karmaṇāṃ nyāsaṃ saṃnyāsaṃ kavayo viduḥ . sarvakarmaphalatyāgaṃ prāhustyāgaṃ vicakṣaṇāḥ ..18-2..

AI Translation

The Blessed Lord said: 2. The Sages understand SAMNYASA to be "the renunciation of works with desire" ; the wise declare "the abandonment of the fruits of all actions" as TYAAGA.

Verse 18-3

tyājyaṃ doṣavadityeke karma prāhurmanīṣiṇaḥ . yajñadānatapaḥkarma na tyājyamiti cāpare ..18-3..

AI Translation

3. That all actions should be abandoned as evil, declare some philosophers; while others (declare) that acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be relinquished.

Verse 18-4

niścayaṃ śṛṇu me tatra tyāge bharatasattama . tyāgo hi puruṣavyāghra trividhaḥ samprakīrtitaḥ ..18-4..

AI Translation

4. Hear from Me the conclusion or the final truth, about this "abandonment, " O best of the Bharatas; "abandonment, " verily, O best of men, has been declared to be of three kinds.

Verse 18-5

yajñadānatapaḥkarma na tyājyaṃ kāryameva tat . yajño dānaṃ tapaścaiva pāvanāni manīṣiṇām ..18-5..

AI Translation

5. Acts of sacrifice, charity and austerity should not be abandoned, but should be performed; worship, charity, and also austerity, are the purifiers of even the 'wise. '

Verse 18-6

etānyapi tu karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalāni ca . kartavyānīti me pārtha niścitaṃ matamuttamam ..18-6..

AI Translation

6. But even these actions should be performed leaving aside attachment and the fruits, O Partha; this is my certain and best belief.

Verse 18-7

niyatasya tu saṃnyāsaḥ karmaṇo nopapadyate . mohāttasya parityāgastāmasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ ..18-7..

AI Translation

7. Verily, the renunciation of "obligatory actions" is not proper; the abandonment of the same from delusion is declared to be TAMASIC (dull) .

Verse 18-8

duḥkhamityeva yatkarma kāyakleśabhayāttyajet . sa kṛtvā rājasaṃ tyāgaṃ naiva tyāgaphalaṃ labhet ..18-8..

AI Translation

8. He who, from fear of bodily trouble, abandons action because it is painful, thus performing a RAJASIC (passionate) abandonment, obtains not the fruit of "abandonment. "

Verse 18-9

kāryamityeva yatkarma niyataṃ kriyate.arjuna . saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalaṃ caiva sa tyāgaḥ sāttviko mataḥ ..18-9..

AI Translation

9. Whatever "obligatory action" is done, O Arjuna, merely because it ought to be done, abandoning "attachment and also fruit, " that abandonment is regarded as SATTWIC (pure) .

Verse 18-10

na dveṣṭyakuśalaṃ karma kuśale nānuṣajjate . tyāgī sattvasamāviṣṭo medhāvī chinnasaṃśayaḥ ..18-10..

AI Translation

10. The abandoner, soaked in purity, being intelligent, with all his doubts cut asunder, hates not disagreeable action, nor is he attached to an agreeable action.

Verse 18-11

na hi dehabhṛtā śakyaṃ tyaktuṃ karmāṇyaśeṣataḥ . yastu karmaphalatyāgī sa tyāgītyabhidhīyate ..18-11..

AI Translation

11. Verily, it is not possible for an embodied being to abandon actions entirely, but he who relinquishes "the fruits of actions" is verily called a 'relinquisher' (TYAAGI) .

Verse 18-12

aniṣṭamiṣṭaṃ miśraṃ ca trividhaṃ karmaṇaḥ phalam . bhavatyatyāgināṃ pretya na tu saṃnyāsināṃ kvacit ..18-12..

AI Translation

12. The threefold fruit of action, evil, good and mixed-accrues, after death, only to those who have no spirit of 'abandonment' ; never to total relinquishers.

Verse 18-13

pañcaitāni mahābāho kāraṇāni nibodha me . sāṅkhye kṛtānte proktāni siddhaye sarvakarmaṇām ..18-13..

AI Translation

13. Learn from Me, O mighty-armed, these five causes for the accomplishment of all actions, as declared in the SANKHYA (UPANISHAD) system, which is the end of all actions.

Verse 18-14

adhiṣṭhānaṃ tathā kartā karaṇaṃ ca pṛthagvidham . vividhāśca pṛthakceṣṭā daivaṃ caivātra pañcamam ..18-14..

AI Translation

14. The "seat" (body) , the doer (ego) , the various organs-of-perception, the different functions of various organs-of-action, and also the presiding deity, the fifth.

Verse 18-15

śarīravāṅmanobhiryatkarma prārabhate naraḥ . nyāyyaṃ vā viparītaṃ vā pañcaite tasya hetavaḥ ..18-15..

AI Translation

15. Whatever action a man performs by his body, speech and mind --- whether right, or the reverse --- these five are its causes.

Verse 18-16

tatraivaṃ sati kartāramātmānaṃ kevalaṃ tu yaḥ . paśyatyakṛtabuddhitvānna sa paśyati durmatiḥ ..18-16..

AI Translation

16. Now, such being the case, verily he who --- owing to his untrained understanding --- looks upon his Self, which is "alone" (never conditioned by the "engine" ) , as the doer, he, of perverted intelligence, sees not.

Verse 18-17

yasya nāhaṃkṛto bhāvo buddhiryasya na lipyate . hatvā.api sa imā.Nllokānna hanti na nibadhyate ..18-17..

AI Translation

17. He who is free from the egoistic notion, whose intelligence is not tainted (by good or evil) , though he slays these people, he slays not, nor is he bound (by the action) .

Verse 18-18

jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ parijñātā trividhā karmacodanā . karaṇaṃ karma karteti trividhaḥ karmasaṃgrahaḥ ..18-18..

AI Translation

18. Knowledge, the known and knower form the three-fold "impulse to action" ; the organs, the action, the agent, form the three-fold "basis of action. "

Verse 18-19

jñānaṃ karma ca kartāca tridhaiva guṇabhedataḥ . procyate guṇasaṅkhyāne yathāvacchṛṇu tānyapi ..18-19..

AI Translation

19. 'Knowledge, ' 'action, ' and 'actor' are declared in the Science of Temperaments (gunas) to be of three kinds only, according to the distinctions of temperaments; hear them also duly.

Verse 18-20

sarvabhūteṣu yenaikaṃ bhāvamavyayamīkṣate . avibhaktaṃ vibhakteṣu tajjñānaṃ viddhi sāttvikam ..18-20..

AI Translation

20. That by which one sees the one indestructible reality in all beings, undivided in the divided, know that "knowledge" as SATTWIC (Pure) .