Bhagavad Gita · 5.8 · Path of Renunciation·8 of 29
नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित्।पश्यन् श्रृणवन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपन् श्वसन् ॥
naiva kiñchit karomīti yukto manyeta tattva-vit paśhyañ śhṛiṇvan spṛiśhañjighrann aśhnangachchhan
svapañśhvasan pralapan visṛijan gṛihṇann unmiṣhan nimiṣhann api indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣhu vartanta iti dhārayan
Sanskrit recitation
Renounce the clinging, not the work · 5.1–5.12 · Teaching
Translation
I do nothing at all," thus would the harmonized knower of Truth think, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, and breathing.
Meaning
A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is pure in his existence, and consequently he has nothing to do with any work which depends upon five immediate and remote causes: the doer, the work, the situation, the endeavor and fortune. This is because he is engaged in the loving transcendental service of Kṛṣṇa. Although he appears to be acting with his body and senses, he is always conscious of his actual position, which is spiritual engagement. In material consciousness, the senses are engaged in sense gratification, but in Kṛṣṇa consciousness the senses are engaged in the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa’s senses. Therefore, the Kṛṣṇa conscious person is always free, even though he appears to be engaged in affairs of the senses. Activities such as seeing and hearing are actions of the senses meant for receiving knowledge, whereas moving, speaking, evacuating, etc., are actions of the senses meant for work. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is never affected by the actions of the senses. He cannot perform any act except in the service of the Lord because he knows that he is the eternal servitor of the Lord.
After Swami Sivananda
Renounce the clinging, not the work· 5.1–5.12→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 5.1Arjuna said, "O Krishna, you praise renunciation of actions and also yoga. Please tell me conclusively which is better of the two."
- 5.2The Blessed Lord said, "Renunciation and the Yoga of action both lead to the highest bliss; but of the two, the Yoga of action is superior to the renunciation of action."
- 5.3He should be known as a perpetual Sannyasi who neither hates nor desires; for, free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he is easily freed from bondage.
- 5.4Children, not the wise, speak of knowledge and the Yoga of action, or the performance of action, as though they are distinct and different; he who is truly established in one, obtains the fruits of both.
- 5.5That place which is reached by the Sankhyas or the Jnanis is also reached by the Yogis (Karma Yogis). He who sees knowledge and the performance of action (Karma Yoga) as one, sees truly.
- 5.6But, O mighty-armed Arjuna, renunciation is hard to attain without Yoga; the sage who is in harmony with Yoga quickly goes to Brahman.
- 5.7He who is devoted to the path of action, whose mind is pure, who has conquered the self, who has subdued his senses, and who realizes his Self as the Self in all beings, though acting, is not tainted.
5.8I do nothing at all," thus would the harmonized knower of Truth think, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, and breathing.
- 5.9Speaking, letting go, seizing, opening, and closing the eyes, one should be convinced that the senses move among the sense-objects.
- 5.10He who does actions, offering them to Brahman and abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not tainted by water.
- 5.11Yogis, having abandoned attachment, perform actions only through the body, mind, intellect, and even the senses, for the purification of the self.
- 5.12The one who is united (the well-poised or harmonized) having abandoned the fruit of action attains eternal peace; whereas the one who is not united (the unsteady or unbalanced), impelled by desire and attached to the fruit, is bound.
Word-by-word→
- na
- not
- api
- although
- eva
- certainly
- iti
- thus
- karomi
- I do
- svapan
- sleeping
- aśhnan
- eating
- jighran
- smelling
- manyeta
- thinks
- kiñchit
- anything
- paśhyan
- seeing
- pralapan
- talking
- vartante
- moving
- yuktaḥ
- steadfast in karm yog
- śhvasan
- breathing
- dhārayan
- convinced
- gachchhan
- moving
- nimiṣhan
- closing (the eyes)
- tattva-vit
- one who knows the truth
- unmiṣhan
- opening (the eyes)
- visṛijan
- giving up
- gṛihṇan
- accepting
- spṛiśhan
- touching
- indriyāṇi
- the senses
- śhṛiṇvan
- hearing
- indriya-artheṣhu
- in sense-objects
Themes
Related verses
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- 5.1Arjuna said, "O Krishna, you praise renunciation of actions and also yoga. Please tell me…
- 5.5That place which is reached by the Sankhyas or the Jnanis is also reached by the Yogis…