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The Yoga of Renunciation
कर्मसंन्यासयोगः · Karma-saṃnyāsa-yoga · 29 verses
Arjuna is puzzled: Krishna has praised both renouncing action and acting with devotion, so which is better? Krishna's answer is that real renunciation is inner, a letting go of craving and hatred, and that it can be lived in the middle of ordinary work. The chapter describes a person who acts without being stained, like a lotus leaf in water, and finds calm that no outer event can take away.
Traditionally linked with the Moon and Saturn, and with the 4th house of the heart and mental peace. It is read during Moon periods, or when a hard transit presses on the 4th house, to calm an anxious or overactive mind. The idea is that peace comes from changing how you hold your work and your results, not from escaping them. It is a reflective practice, not a prediction.
अर्जुन उवाच
संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि ।
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम् ॥
arjuna uvāca
saṃnyāsaṃ karmaṇāṃ kṛṣṇa punaryogaṃ ca śaṃsasi |
yacchreya etayorekaṃ tanme brūhi suniścitam ||
Arjuna asks: you praise the renunciation of actions, and then you praise the yoga of action. Tell me clearly which one of the two is better.
श्रीभगवानुवाच
संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ ।
तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ॥
śrībhagavānuvāca
saṃnyāsaḥ karmayogaśca niḥśreyasakarāvubhau |
tayostu karmasaṃnyāsātkarmayogo viśiṣyate ||
ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति ।
निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥
jñeyaḥ sa nityasaṃnyāsī yo na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati |
nirdvandvo hi mahābāho sukhaṃ bandhātpramucyate ||
साङ्ख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः ।
एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ॥
sāṅkhyayogau pṛthagbālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ |
ekamapyāsthitaḥ samyagubhayorvindate phalam ||
Krishna answers: both renunciation and the yoga of action lead to the highest good, but of the two, the yoga of action is better than renunciation. The real renouncer is one who neither hates nor craves; free of opposites, they are easily freed from bondage. Only children, not the wise, say that knowledge and action are separate; one who is truly established in either gains the fruit of both.
यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते ।
एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥
yatsāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṃ tadyogairapi gamyate |
ekaṃ sāṅkhyaṃ ca yogaṃ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati ||
संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः ।
योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥
saṃnyāsastu mahābāho duḥkhamāptumayogataḥ |
yogayukto munirbrahma nacireṇādhigacchati ||
The place reached by those who follow knowledge is reached by those who follow action too; one who sees knowledge and action as one sees truly. Renunciation is hard to reach without yoga, while the thoughtful person disciplined in yoga quickly reaches Brahman.
योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः ।
सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥
yogayukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ |
sarvabhūtātmabhūtātmā kurvannapi na lipyate ||
नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् ।
पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ॥
naiva kiñcitkaromīti yukto manyeta tattvavit |
paśyañśṛṇvanspṛśañjighrannaśnangacchansvapañśvasan ||
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि ।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥
pralapanvisṛjangṛhṇannunmiṣannimiṣannapi |
indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan ||
One who is steady in yoga, pure of heart, self-controlled, whose self has become one with the self of all beings, is not stained even while acting. Knowing the truth, such a person thinks, "I do nothing at all", even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go, grasping and opening or closing the eyes, understanding that only the senses are moving among their objects.
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः ।
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥
brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ |
lipyate na sa pāpena padmapatramivāmbhasā ||
कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि ।
योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये ॥
kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalairindriyairapi |
yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṃ tyaktvātmaśuddhaye ||
युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् ।
अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते ॥
yuktaḥ karmaphalaṃ tyaktvā śāntimāpnoti naiṣṭhikīm |
ayuktaḥ kāmakāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate ||
One who acts by offering actions to the Supreme and letting go of attachment is not touched by wrong, like a lotus leaf by water. Yogis act with body, mind, intellect and even the senses only for purification, giving up attachment. The steady person who gives up the fruit of action reaches lasting peace; the unsteady one, tied to the fruit by desire, is bound.
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी ।
नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥
sarvakarmāṇi manasā saṃnyasyāste sukhaṃ vaśī |
navadvāre pure dehī naiva kurvanna kārayan ||
न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः ।
न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥
na kartṛtvaṃ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ |
na karmaphalasaṃyogaṃ svabhāvastu pravartate ||
नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः ।
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः ॥
nādatte kasyacitpāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ |
ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ ||
Giving up all actions in the mind, the embodied self rests happily in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor making others act. The Lord does not create the sense of being the doer, nor actions, nor the link with their results; nature does that. The Divine takes on no one's wrong or merit; knowledge is covered by ignorance, and that is how beings become confused.
ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः ।
तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम् ॥
jñānena tu tadajñānaṃ yeṣāṃ nāśitamātmanaḥ |
teṣāmādityavajjñānaṃ prakāśayati tatparam ||
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः ।
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ॥
tadbuddhayastadātmānastanniṣṭhāstatparāyaṇāḥ |
gacchantyapunarāvṛttiṃ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ ||
But for those whose ignorance has been destroyed by knowledge of the self, that knowledge lights up the Supreme like the sun. With their minds and selves fixed on That, established in It and devoted to It, they go to the state from which there is no return, their wrongs washed away by knowledge.
विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥
vidyāvinayasampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini |
śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ ||
इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः ।
निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद् ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः ॥
ihaiva tairjitaḥ sargo yeṣāṃ sāmye sthitaṃ manaḥ |
nirdoṣaṃ hi samaṃ brahma tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ ||
न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् ।
स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद् ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ॥
na prahṛṣyetpriyaṃ prāpya nodvijetprāpya cāpriyam |
sthirabuddhirasammūḍho brahmavid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ ||
The wise see the same Reality in a learned and humble person, in a cow, an elephant, a dog and someone cast out by society. Even here the world is conquered by those whose minds rest in equality; Reality is flawless and the same in all, so they rest in it. One should not rejoice at getting the pleasant nor grieve at getting the unpleasant; steady, undeluded and knowing Brahman, such a person rests in Brahman.
बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् ।
स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥
bāhyasparśeṣvasaktātmā vindatyātmani yatsukham |
sa brahmayogayuktātmā sukhamakṣayamaśnute ||
ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते ।
आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥
ye hi saṃsparśajā bhogā duḥkhayonaya eva te |
ādyantavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ ||
शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् ।
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ॥
śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṃ prākśarīravimokṣaṇāt |
kāmakrodhodbhavaṃ vegaṃ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ ||
One who is not attached to outer contacts finds happiness in the self, and being joined to the Supreme by yoga, enjoys imperishable joy. Pleasures born of contact are sources of pain: they begin and they end, and the wise do not delight in them. One who can bear, here and now, before the body falls, the surge of desire and anger is a yogi and a happy person.
योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः ।
स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥
yo’ntaḥsukho’ntarārāmastathāntarjyotireva yaḥ |
sa yogī brahmanirvāṇaṃ brahmabhūto’dhigacchati ||
लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः ।
छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥
labhante brahmanirvāṇamṛṣayaḥ kṣīṇakalmaṣāḥ |
chinnadvaidhā yatātmānaḥ sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ ||
कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् ।
अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम् ॥
kāmakrodhaviyuktānāṃ yatīnāṃ yatacetasām |
abhito brahmanirvāṇaṃ vartate viditātmanām ||
One whose happiness, delight and light are all within reaches the peace of Brahman, having become Brahman. Sages whose wrongs are gone, whose doubts are cut and who are self-controlled and glad in the good of all beings reach that peace. For ascetics free of desire and anger, with controlled minds who know the self, that peace is close on every side.
स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः ।
प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ ॥
sparśānkṛtvā bahirbāhyāṃścakṣuścaivāntare bhruvoḥ |
prāṇāpānau samau kṛtvā nāsābhyantaracāriṇau ||
यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः ।
विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः ॥
yatendriyamanobuddhirmunirmokṣaparāyaṇaḥ |
vigatecchābhayakrodho yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ ||
भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।
सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥
bhoktāraṃ yajñatapasāṃ sarvalokamaheśvaram |
suhṛdaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ jñātvā māṃ śāntimṛcchati ||
Shutting out outer contacts, resting the gaze between the eyebrows, evening out the breath moving in and out, and holding senses, mind and intellect in check, the sage who aims at freedom and has left desire, fear and anger behind is always free. One who knows Me as the enjoyer of every offering and austerity, the great Lord of all the worlds and the friend of all beings, finds peace.
The verses are the traditional Sanskrit text. The explanations are original summaries, not a particular translator's words. The astrology guide is a devotional, reflective practice, not a prediction and not a substitute for professional advice.