Bhagwad Gita - Post 216

Chapter 18

THE YOGA OF LIBERATION BY RENUNCIATION

Verse 1

Arjuna said:

I desire to know severally, O mighty-armed, the essence or truth of renunciation, O Hrishikesa, as also of abandonment, O slayer of Kesi!

Verse 2

The Blessed Lord said:

The sages understand Sannyas to be the renunciation of action with desire; the wise declare the abandonment of the fruits of all actions as Tyaga.

Verse 3

Some philosophers declare that all actions should be abandoned as an evil, while others declare that acts of gift, sacrifice and austerity should not be relinquished.

Verse 4

Hear from Me the conclusion or the final truth about this abandonment, O best of the Bharatas; abandonment, verily, O best of men, has been declared to be of three kinds!

Verse 5

Acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be abandoned, but should be performed; Sacrifice, gift and also austerity are the purifiers of the wise.

Verse 6

But even these actions should be performed leaving aside attachment and the desire for rewards, O Arjuna! This is My certain and best conviction.

Verse 7

Verily, the renunciation of obligatory action is improper; the abandonment of the same from delusion is declared to be Tamasic.

Verse 8

He who abandons action on account of the fear of bodily trouble (because it is painful), he does not obtain the merit of renunciation by doing such Rajasic renunciation.

Verse 9

Whatever obligatory action is done, O Arjuna, merely because it ought to be done, abandoning attachment and also the desire for reward, that renunciation is regarded as Sattwic!

Verse 10

The man of renunciation, pervaded by purity, intelligent and with his doubts cut asunder, does not hate a disagreeable work nor is he attached to an agreeable one.

Verse 11

Verily, it is not possible for an embodied being to abandon actions entirely; but he who relinquishes the rewards of actions is verily called a man of renunciation.

Verse 12

The threefold fruit of action—evil, good and mixed—accrues after death to the non-abandoners, but never to the abandoners.

Verse 13

Learn from Me, O mighty-armed Arjuna, these five causes, as declared in the Sankhya system for the accomplishment of all actions!

Verse 14

The body, the doer, the various senses, the different functions of various sorts, and the presiding Deity, also, the fifth,

Verse 15

Whatever action a man performs by his body, speech and mind, whether right or the reverse, these five are its causes.

Verse 16

Now, such being the case, he who, owing to untrained understanding, looks upon his Self, which is isolated, as the agent, he of perverted intelligence, sees not.

Continued...

Love.