Sacred Scripture / Chapter 5
29 published verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita (कर्मसंन्यासयोगः). The Yoga of Action Renunciation and True Detachment. Chapter 5 resolves the paradox of action versus renunciation. Krishna reveals that true renunciation is not physical inaction, but mental freedom from attraction and aversion. Action dedicated to Brahman leaves a soul untouched by sin, like water on a lotus leaf. With equal vision toward all beings and mastery over desire and anger, one realizes Krishna as the universal benefactor and attains abiding peace.
Explore original Sanskrit, word-by-word padartha, trilingual translations, commentary, reflections, and modern life applications.
29 verses
Verse 5.1
saṃnyāsaṃ karmaṇāṃ kṛṣṇa punaryogaṃ ca śaṃsasi | yacchreya etayorekaṃ tanme brūhi suniścitam ||1||
Arjuna said: Krishna, you praise renunciation of actions and also yoga. Tell me decisively which of these two is better.
Verse 5.2
saṃnyāsaḥ karmayogaśca niḥśreyasakarāvubhau | tayostu karmasaṃnyāsātkarmayogo viśiṣyate ||2||
Renunciation and karma yoga both lead to the highest good. Of the two, however, karma yoga is superior to renunciation of action.
Verse 5.3
jñeyaḥ sa nityasaṃnyāsī yo na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati | nirdvandvo hi mahābāho sukhaṃ bandhātpramucyate ||3||
Know as a constant renunciant one who neither hates nor craves. Free from dualities, such a person is easily released from bondage, mighty-armed one.
Verse 5.4
sāṃkhyayogau pṛthagbālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ | ekamapyāsthitaḥ samyagubhayorvindate phalam ||4||
The immature, not the learned, speak of Sankhya and yoga as separate. Established rightly in even one, a person gains the fruit of both.
Verse 5.5
yatsāṃkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṃ tadyogairapi gamyate | ekaṃ sāṃkhyaṃ ca yogaṃ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati ||5||
The state attained by followers of Sankhya is also reached by followers of yoga. One who sees Sankhya and yoga as one truly sees.
Verse 5.6
saṃnyāsastu mahābāho duḥkhamāptumayogataḥ | yogayukto munirbrahma nacireṇādhigacchati ||6||
Renunciation is difficult to attain without yoga, mighty-armed one. A sage established in yoga reaches Brahman before long.
Verse 5.7
yogayukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ | sarvabhūtātmabhūtātmā kurvannapi na lipyate ||7||
Established in yoga, inwardly purified, self-controlled and master of the senses, one whose self has become the self of all beings remains unstained even while acting.
Verse 5.8
naiva kiñcitkaromīti yukto manyeta tattvavit | paśyañśṛṇvanspṛśañjighrannaśnangacchansvapanśvasan ||8||
The truth-knowing person established in yoga should understand, “I do nothing at all,” even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, and breathing.
Verse 5.9
pralapanvisṛjangṛhṇannunmiṣannimiṣannapi | indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan ||9||
Even while speaking, releasing, grasping, opening and closing the eyes, one holds the understanding that the senses move among their objects.
Verse 5.10
brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ | lipyate na sa pāpena padmapatramivāmbhasā ||10||
One who places actions in Brahman and acts after abandoning attachment is not stained by sin, as a lotus leaf is not wetted by water.
Verse 5.11
kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalairindriyairapi | yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṃ tyaktvātmaśuddhaye ||11||
Yogis act with the body, mind, intellect, and even the senses alone, abandoning attachment for the purification of the inner self.
Verse 5.12
yuktaḥ karmaphalaṃ tyaktvā śāntimāpnoti naiṣṭhikīm | ayuktaḥ kāmakāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate ||12||
The person established in yoga relinquishes the fruit of action and gains abiding peace. The unsteady person, driven by desire and attached to the fruit, is bound.
Verse 5.13
sarvakarmāṇi manasā saṃnyasyāste sukhaṃ vaśī | navadvāre pure dehī naiva kurvanna kārayan ||13||
Mentally renouncing all actions, the self-controlled embodied one lives happily in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor causing action.
Verse 5.14
na kartṛtvaṃ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ | na karmaphalasaṃyogaṃ svabhāvastu pravartate ||14||
The master does not create agency, actions, or the association of action with its fruits for the world. Rather, nature operates.
Verse 5.15
nādatte kasyacitpāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ | ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ ||15||
The all-pervading one takes on neither anyone's sin nor merit. Knowledge is covered by ignorance, and because of this beings are deluded.
Verse 5.16
jñānena tu tadajñānaṃ yeṣāṃ nāśitamātmanaḥ | teṣāmādityavajjñānaṃ prakāśayati tatparam ||16||
For those whose ignorance of the self has been destroyed by knowledge, that knowledge illuminates the Supreme like the sun.
Verse 5.17
tadbuddhayastadātmānastanniṣṭhāstatparāyaṇāḥ | gacchantyapunarāvṛttiṃ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ ||17||
With intellect directed to That, self absorbed in That, established in That and devoted to That, those whose impurities knowledge has removed reach the state of no return.
Verse 5.18
vidyāvinayasampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini | śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ ||18||
The wise see equally a brahmana endowed with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a person who cooks dog meat.
Verse 5.19
ihaiva tairjitaḥ sargo yeṣāṃ sāmye sthitaṃ manaḥ | nirdoṣaṃ hi samaṃ brahma tasmādbrahmaṇi te sthitāḥ ||19||
Even here, creation has been overcome by those whose minds rest in equality. Brahman is indeed faultless and equal; therefore they are established in Brahman.
Verse 5.20
na prahṛṣyetpriyaṃ prāpya nodvijetprāpya cāpriyam | sthirabuddhirasammūḍho brahmavidbrahmaṇi sthitaḥ ||20||
One who knows Brahman and is established in Brahman, with steady intellect and free from confusion, should neither exult at the pleasant nor become distressed at the unpleasant.
Verse 5.21
bāhyasparśeṣvasaktātmā vindatyātmani yatsukham | sa brahmayogayuktātmā sukhamakṣayamaśnute ||21||
Unattached to external contacts, one finds happiness in the self. United with Brahman through yoga, one enjoys happiness that does not diminish.
Verse 5.22
ye hi saṃsparśajā bhogā duḥkhayonaya eva te | ādyantavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ ||22||
Pleasures born of contact are sources of suffering: they have a beginning and an end, son of Kunti. The wise do not delight in them.
Verse 5.23
śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṃ prākśarīravimokṣaṇāt | kāmakrodhodbhavaṃ vegaṃ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ ||23||
One who can withstand the surge born of desire and anger here, before release from the body, is established in yoga and is a happy person.
Verse 5.24
yo'ntaḥsukho'ntarārāmastathāntarjyotireva yaḥ | sa yogī brahmanirvāṇaṃ brahmabhūto'dhigacchati ||24||
The yogi whose happiness, delight, and light are within attains liberation in Brahman, having become Brahman.
Verse 5.25
labhante brahmanirvāṇamṛṣayaḥ kṣīṇakalmaṣāḥ | chinnadvaidhā yatātmānaḥ sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ ||25||
Sages whose impurities are exhausted, whose doubts are cut, who are self-controlled and devoted to the welfare of all beings attain liberation in Brahman.
Verse 5.26
kāmakrodhaviyuktānāṃ yatīnāṃ yatacetasām | abhito brahmanirvāṇaṃ vartate viditātmanām ||26||
For disciplined seekers free from desire and anger, with minds restrained and the self known, liberation in Brahman is present on every side.
Verse 5.27
sparśānkṛtvā bahirbāhyāṃścakṣuścaivāntare bhruvoḥ | prāṇāpānau samau kṛtvā nāsābhyantaracāriṇau ||27||
Keeping external contacts outside, directing the gaze between the eyebrows, and making prana and apana moving within the nostrils equal—
Verse 5.28
yatendriyamanobuddhirmunirmokṣaparāyaṇaḥ | vigatecchābhayakrodho yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ ||28||
The sage with senses, mind, and intellect restrained, intent on liberation and free from desire, fear, and anger, is indeed always liberated.
Verse 5.29
bhoktāraṃ yajñatapasāṃ sarvalokamaheśvaram | suhṛdaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ jñātvā māṃ śāntimṛcchati ||29||
Knowing me as the enjoyer of sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all worlds, and the friend of all beings, one attains peace.
