Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Arjuna said, "O Krsna, you praise the renunciation of actions, and then you also praise Karma Yoga. Please tell me with certainty which of these is the superior one, leading to the ultimate good.

The Lord said, "Renunciation of actions and Karma Yoga both lead to the highest excellence; however, of the two, Karma Yoga surpasses renunciation of actions."

He who neither hates nor desires, and is beyond the pairs of opposites, is to be understood as an ever-renouncer. Therefore, he is easily set free from bondage, O Arjuna.

Children, not the learned, speak of Sankhya and Yoga as distinct; however, he who is firmly set in one, attains the fruit of both.

That state which is reached by the Sankhyans, the same is also attained by the Yogins; that is, the same state is achieved by those who are Karma Yogins. He alone is wise who perceives that the Sankhya and the Yoga are one and the same, due to their having the same result.

But, O mighty-armed one, renunciation is hard to attain without practicing Yoga. The sage who contemplates and follows Yoga soon reaches the Brahman (the self or Atman).

He who follows the Yoga and is pure in mind, who has subdued his self and has conquered his senses, and whose self has become the self of all beings, even while he is acting, remains untainted.

The one who knows the truth and is devoted to yoga should think, "I am not doing anything," even though they are seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, and breathing.

Speaking, discharging, grasping, opening, and closing his eyes, etc., he should always bear in mind that the senses operate among sense-objects.

He who acts without attachment, reposing all actions on Brahman (Prakṛti), is untouched by evil, just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.

Yogins, renouncing attachment, do actions with merely the body, mind, intellect, and senses, for the purification of the self.

A yogi, renouncing the fruits of their actions, attains lasting peace. But the unsteady person who is attached to the fruits of their actions, being driven by desire, is bound.

The embodied self, mentally resigning all actions as belonging to the city of nine gates (i.e., the body) and becoming self-controlled, dwells happily, neither acting himself nor causing the body to act.

The Lord of the body (the Self, i.e., the Jiva) does not create agency, nor actions, nor union with the fruits of actions in relation to the world of selves; only the inherent tendencies function.

The all-pervasive One takes away neither the sin nor the merit of anyone. Knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, and creatures are thereby deluded.

But for those in whom this ignorance is destroyed by the knowledge of the Self, that knowledge, in their case, is supreme and shines brightly like the sun.

Those whose intellects pursue it, whose minds think about it, who undergo discipline for it, and who hold it as their highest object, have their impurities cleansed by knowledge and go from whence there is no return.

The sages look with an equal eye on one endowed with learning and humility, a Brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater.

Here itself, those whose minds rest in equanimity overcome samsara. For the Brahman (individual self), when uncontaminated by Prakriti, is the same everywhere; therefore, they abide in Brahman.

He who knows Brahman (individual self) and abides in Brahman, whose mind is steadfastly focused on the self and undeluded by body consciousness—he neither rejoices at gaining what is pleasant nor grieves on obtaining what is unpleasant.

He whose mind is detached from external contact and finds happiness in the Self—he has his mind engaged in the contemplation of Brahman and enjoys undecaying bliss.

For those pleasures that are born of contact are wombs of pain. They have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna; the wise do not rejoice in them.

He who is able, even here, before being released from the body, to bear the impulse generated by desire and anger, he is a Yogin (competent for self-realisation); he is the happy man.

He whose joy is within, whose pleasure is within, and whose light is within—he is a yogin, who, having become Brahman, attains the bliss of Brahman.

The sages, who are free from the pairs of opposites, whose minds are well subdued, and who are devoted to the welfare of all beings, become cleansed of all impurities and attain the bliss of Brahman.

To those who are free from desire and wrath, who are accustomed to exerting themselves, whose thoughts are controlled, and who have conquered it—the beatitude of Brahman is close at hand.

Fix: Shutting off outward contacts, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, realizing inward and outward breaths moving in the nostrils;

The sage who has controlled his senses, mind, and intellect, who is intent on release as his final goal, freed forever from desire, fear, and wrath, is indeed liberated forever.

Knowing Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, as the Supreme Lord of all worlds, as the Friend of every being, he attains peace.