संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि ।यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम् ॥
Sannyasam karmanam krishna punaryogam cha shansasiYachchhreya etayorekam tanme bruhi sunishchitam
Arjuna asks a question. In chapter 4 Krishna praised the renunciation of actions (karma-saṃnyāsa), and he also told Arjuna to act in yoga. Arjuna asks him to say clearly which one of the two is better. The commentators explain the two paths in different ways (see the views).
Explanation written for this site and checked against the cited edition. Free to quote with credit.
संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ ।तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ॥
Sannyasah karmayogashcha nihshreyasakaravubhauTayostu karmasannyasatkarmayogo vishishyate
Krishna answers. Both renunciation (saṃnyāsa) and the yoga of action (karma-yoga) lead to the highest good (niḥśreyasa). But of the two, he says, the yoga of action is better than giving up action. The schools differ on why (see the views).
ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति ।निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥
Jneyah sa nityasannyasi yo na dveshti na kankshatiNirdvandvo hi mahabaho sukham bandhatpramuchyate
Krishna says that a person who neither hates nor craves should be known as one who always renounces (nitya-saṃnyāsī), even while acting. Free from the pairs of opposites, such as pleasure and pain, he says, such a person is easily freed from bondage. He calls Arjuna Mahabaho, mighty-armed.
साङ्ख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः ।एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ॥
Sankhyayogau prithagbalah pravadanti na panditahEkamapyasthitah samyagubhayorvindate phalam
Krishna says that only the immature, not the wise, speak of Sāṅkhya (the path of knowledge) and Yoga (the path of action) as separate. A person who follows even one of them well gains the fruit of both.
यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते ।एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥
Yatsankhyaih prapyate sthanam tadyogairapi gamyateEkam sankhyam cha yogam cha yah pashyati sa pashyati
Krishna says that the state reached by the followers of Sāṅkhya is reached by the followers of Yoga too. The one who sees Sāṅkhya and Yoga as one, he says, truly sees.
संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः ।योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म न चिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥
Sannyasastu mahabaho duhkhamaptumayogatahYogayukto munirbrahma na chirenadhigachchhati
Krishna says that renunciation is hard to reach without yoga. The sage (muni) who is joined in yoga, he says, reaches Brahman before long. The schools read “Brahman” here differently (see the views).
योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः ।सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥
Yogayukto vishuddhatma vijitatma jitendriyahSarvabhutatmabhutatma kurvannapi na lipyate
Krishna describes the person joined in yoga: pure in mind, self-controlled, master of the senses, whose self has become the self of all beings. Such a person, he says, is not stained by action even while acting.
नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् ।पश्यन्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपन्श्वसन् ॥
Naiva kinchitkaromiti yukto manyeta tattvavitPashyanshrinvansprishanjighrannashnangachchhansvapanshvasan
Krishna says that the person joined in yoga, who knows the truth (tattva), should think “I do nothing at all”, even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping and breathing. The sentence continues in the next verse.
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि ।इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥
PralapanvisrijangrihnannunmishannimishannapiIndriyanindriyartheshu vartanta iti dharayan
The list goes on: speaking, letting go, grasping, opening and closing the eyes. In all of this, Krishna says, such a person holds that it is only the senses moving among their objects.
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः ।लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥
Brahmanyadhaya karmani sangam tyaktva karoti yahLipyate na sa papena padmapatramivambhasa
Krishna says that a person who acts while placing all actions in Brahman and giving up attachment is not touched by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not wetted by the water it rests on. The schools read “Brahman” here differently (see the views).
कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि ।योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मशुद्धये ॥
Kayena manasa buddhya kevalairindriyairapiYoginah karma kurvanti sangam tyaktvatmashuddhaye
Krishna says that yogis act with the body, the mind (manas), the understanding (buddhi), and even with the senses alone, giving up attachment, in order to purify themselves.
युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् ।अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते ॥
Yuktah karmaphalam tyaktva shantimapnoti naishthikimAyuktah kamakarena phale sakto nibadhyate
Krishna says that the person steady in yoga, who gives up the fruit of action, reaches a lasting peace. The one who is not steady, he says, driven by desire and attached to the fruit, is bound.
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी ।नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥
Sarvakarmani manasa sannyasyaste sukham vashiNavadvare pure dehi naiva kurvanna karayan
Krishna says that the embodied one who is self-controlled gives up all actions in the mind and dwells at ease in the city of nine gates, the body, neither acting nor causing anything to act.
न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः ।न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥
Na kartritvam na karmani lokasya srijati prabhuhNa karmaphalasanyogam svabhavastu pravartate
Krishna says that the lord (prabhu) does not create doership, or actions, for the world, nor the link between action and its fruit. It is one's own nature (svabhāva), he says, that works. Commentators differ on who “the lord” is: Shankara takes it as the Self, lord of the body; Ramanuja as the individual self (ātman).
नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः ।अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः ॥
Nadatte kasyachitpapam na chaiva sukritam vibhuhAjnanenavritam jnanam tena muhyanti jantavah
Krishna says that the all-pervading one (vibhu) takes on no one's sin and no one's good deed. Knowledge, he says, is covered by ignorance, and that is why beings are deluded.
ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः ।तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम् ॥
Jnanena tu tadajnanam yesham nashitamatmanahTeshamadityavajjnanam prakashayati tatparam
Krishna says that in those whose ignorance has been destroyed by knowledge of the self, that knowledge, like the sun, lights up the Supreme.
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः ।गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ॥
TadbuddhayastadatmanastannishthastatparayanahGachchhantyapunaravrittim jnananirdhutakalmashah
Krishna says that those whose understanding rests on That, whose self is That, who are devoted to That and hold That as their highest goal, go to the state from which there is no return, their faults washed away by knowledge.
विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥
Vidyavinayasampanne brahmane gavi hastiniShuni chaiva shvapake cha panditah samadarshinah
Krishna says that the wise see the same in a learned and humble brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a śvapāka, a man of the group that society in that age held lowest. The verse names the extremes of its own society to say that the wise make no such distinction in what they see. The schools differ on what “the same” is (see the views).
इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः ।निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः ॥
Ihaiva tairjitah sargo yesham samye sthitam manahNirdosham hi samam brahma tasmadbrahmani te sthitah
Krishna says that those whose mind rests in sameness (sāmya) have overcome the world of birth (sarga) even here, in this life. Brahman, he says, is free of flaw and the same in all, and so they are established in Brahman.
न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् ।स्थिरबुद्धिरसंमूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ॥
Na prahrishyetpriyam prapya nodvijetprapya chapriyamSthirabuddhirasammudho brahmavidbrahmani sthitah
Krishna says that one who knows Brahman and is established in Brahman, steady in understanding and free from delusion, does not rejoice on getting what is pleasant, nor feel shaken on getting what is unpleasant.
बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् ।स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥
Bahyasparsheshvasaktatma vindatyatmani yatsukhamSa brahmayogayuktatma sukhamakshayamashnute
Krishna says that one whose mind is not attached to outer contacts finds the happiness that is within the self. Joined to Brahman in yoga, he says, such a person enjoys a happiness that does not decay.
ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते ।आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥
Ye hi sansparshaja bhoga duhkhayonaya eva teAdyantavantah kaunteya na teshu ramate budhah
Krishna says that the pleasures born of contact between the senses and their objects are sources of sorrow, because they have a beginning and an end. The wise person, he says, does not delight in them. He calls Arjuna Kaunteya, son of Kunti.
शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक् शरीरविमोक्षणात् ।कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ॥
Shaknotihaiva yah sodhum prak shariravimokshanatKamakrodhodbhavam vegam sa yuktah sa sukhi narah
Krishna says that the person who, here in this life and before leaving the body, can withstand the force that rises from desire and anger is steady in yoga, and is a happy person.
योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः ।स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥
Yontahsukhontararamastathantarjyotireva yahSa yogi brahmanirvanam brahmabhutodhigachchhati
Krishna says that the yogi whose happiness is within, whose delight is within, and whose light is within, having become Brahman (brahma-bhūta), reaches the peace of Brahman (brahma-nirvāṇa).
लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः ।छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥
Labhante brahmanirvanamrishayah kshinakalmashahChhinnadvaidha yatatmanah sarvabhutahite ratah
Krishna says that the sages (ṛṣis) whose faults are worn away, whose doubts are cut, who are self-controlled and who delight in the good of all beings, reach the peace of Brahman.
कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् ।अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम् ॥
Kamakrodhaviyuktanam yatinam yatachetasamAbhito brahmanirvanam vartate viditatmanam
Krishna says that for the renunciates (yatis) who are free from desire and anger, who have mastered their minds and know the self, the peace of Brahman is close at hand. The old translations read abhitaḥ in two ways: “near” (Besant) and “on both sides of death” (Telang).
स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः ।प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ ॥
Sparshankritva bahirbahyanshchakshushchaivantare bhruvohPranapanau samau kritva nasabhyantaracharinau
Krishna begins to describe meditation, which chapter 6 teaches at length. The meditator keeps outside contacts outside, fixes the gaze between the eyebrows, and makes the in-breath and out-breath (prāṇa and apāna) even as they move through the nostrils. The sentence continues in the next verse.
यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः ।विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः ॥
YatendriyamanobuddhirmunirmokshaparayanahVigatechchhabhayakrodho yah sada mukta eva sah
Such a sage (muni) keeps senses, mind and understanding under control, holds liberation (mokṣa) as the highest goal, and has let go of desire, fear and anger. Krishna says that such a one is truly free, always.
भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥
Bhoktaram yajnatapasam sarvalokamaheshvaramSuhridam sarvabhutanam jnatva mam shantimrichchhati
Krishna closes the chapter. Knowing him as the one who receives all sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all the worlds, and the friend (suhṛd) of all beings, he says, a person reaches peace.