Bhagavad Gita
Renunciation and Action
Karma Sannyāsa Yoga
Renunciation and disciplined action are compared, with inner non-attachment as their meeting point.
What this chapter does
Arjuna asks whether renouncing action or practising karma-yoga is better. Both lead toward liberation, but action offered without attachment is preferred as the more accessible preparation for knowledge, while the knower renounces all action in understanding the self as non-agent. Knowledge removes ignorance, reveals equal Brahman in all beings, and frees one from the pull of pleasure, pain, desire, and anger. The teaching turns to restrained meditation and ends with knowing Narayana as the recipient of sacrifice and austerity, lord of all worlds, and friend of all beings, whereby peace is attained.
- 01Arjuna asks about renunciation and yoga
- 02Action without attachment purifies the mind
- 03Knowledge reveals non-agency and equal Brahman
- 04Inner discipline overcomes desire and anger
- 05Meditation culminates in knowing Narayana
- Opens
- with Arjuna questioning renunciation and karma-yoga
- Closes
- with peace attained by knowing Narayana as all beings' friend
About this edition
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GRETIL Śaṅkara Bhāṣya source. Chapter 18 is absent. Verse 3.4 is present with a spaced source marker, and chapter 13 has a source-marker numbering anomaly.
atha pañcamo 'dhyāyaḥ (śaṅkara-bhāṣya)
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