Shrimad Bhagavad Gita · 29 verses
Chapter 5: The Yoga of Renunciation
Renouncing action and acting are both paths, but acting without attachment is better. The wise see all beings with an equal eye.
All verses, with meaning
5.1Renunciation or action?Arjuna says: Krishna, you praise giving up action (sannyas) and then you praise the path o…5.2Karma yoga is betterKrishna says: Both renunciation of action and the yoga of action lead to the highest good.…5.3The true renunciateOne who neither hates nor craves should be known as a true renunciate at all times. Free f…5.4Knowledge and action are oneOnly the immature say that the path of knowledge (Sankhya) and the path of action (yoga) a…5.5One goal, two pathsThe goal reached by followers of knowledge is reached by followers of action too. One who …5.6Action leads to renunciationWithout karma yoga, true renunciation is hard to achieve and brings pain. But the sage dev…5.7Untouched while actingOne who is steady in yoga, pure in mind, master of self and senses, and who sees his own S…5.8"I am not the doer"The yogi who knows the truth thinks, "I do nothing at all" — even while seeing, hearing, t…5.9Senses act, not the SelfEven while speaking, letting go, grasping, opening and closing the eyes, he holds that it …5.10Like a lotus leafOne who offers all actions to God and acts without attachment is not touched by sin, just …5.11Action for inner purityYogis act with body, mind, intellect and even the senses alone, giving up attachment, only…5.12Peace by letting go of resultsThe one steady in yoga, who gives up the fruit of action, gains lasting peace. The one dri…5.13The city of nine gatesThe self-controlled person, mentally giving up all actions, lives happily in the city of n…5.14Nature drives actionThe Lord does not create doership, nor actions, nor the link between action and its fruit …5.15Ignorance causes delusionThe all-pervading Lord takes on no one's sin or good deed. Knowledge is covered by ignoran…5.16Knowledge like the sunBut for those whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of the Self, that knowledge shines…5.17Fixed in the SupremeThose whose intellect, heart, faith and goal rest in the Supreme have their sins washed aw…5.18Equal vision of the wiseThe wise look with an equal eye on a learned and humble brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog…5.19Equality is BrahmanThose whose minds rest in equality have conquered the world in this very life. Brahman is …5.20Steady in joy and sorrowOne who does not rejoice too much on getting what is pleasant nor get upset by the unpleas…5.21Joy withinOne unattached to outer sense contacts finds joy within the Self. United with Brahman thro…5.22Fleeting pleasuresPleasures born of sense contact are sources of sorrow, for they have a beginning and an en…5.23Mastering desire and angerOne who can withstand the surge of desire and anger here, before leaving the body, is a yo…5.24The light withinOne whose happiness, delight and light are all within — that yogi becomes one with Brahman…5.25Devoted to all beings' goodSages whose sins are gone, whose doubts are cut, who are self-controlled and devoted to th…5.26Freedom is nearFor those free from desire and anger, with a controlled mind and knowledge of the Self, th…5.27The method of meditationShutting out outer objects, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, and making the in-breath…5.28The ever-free sage— the sage who has mastered senses, mind and intellect, whose goal is liberation, and who …5.29God, friend of allKnowing me as the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all worlds …