कर्मसंन्यासयोगः

संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि ।
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम्

saṃnyāsaṃ karmaṇāṃ kṛṣṇa punaryogaṃ ca śaṃsasi |
yacchreya etayorekaṃ tanme brūhi suniścitam

Krishna, You praise the renouncing of actions, and then again You praise yoga. Of these two, tell me for certain which one is better.

संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ ।
तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते

saṃnyāsaḥ karmayogaśca niḥśreyasakarāvubhau |
tayostu karmasaṃnyāsātkarmayogo viśiṣyate

Renouncing action and the yoga of action both lead to the highest good. But of the two, the yoga of action is better than the renouncing of action.

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

Know him as one who has always renounced, who neither hates nor craves. Free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed, he is easily released from bondage.

सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः ।
एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम्

sāṃkhyayogau pṛthagbālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ |
ekamapyāsthitaḥ samyagubhayorvindate phalam

Children speak of Sankhya and Yoga as separate, not the learned. One who stands firmly in even one of them gains the fruit of both.

यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते ।
एकं सांख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति सः पश्यति

yatsāṃkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṃ tadyogairapi gamyate |
ekaṃ sāṃkhyaṃ ca yogaṃ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati

The place reached by the followers of Sankhya is reached by the yogis as well. He who sees Sankhya and Yoga as one, sees as things are.

संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः ।
योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति

saṃnyāsastu mahābāho duḥkhamāptumayogataḥ |
yogayukto munirbrahma nacireṇādhigacchati

But renunciation is hard to reach without yoga, O mighty-armed. The sage who is steady in yoga reaches Brahman before long.

योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः ।
सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते

yogayukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ |
sarvabhūtātmabhūtātmā kurvannapi na lipyate

Joined in yoga, pure within, master of his body and senses, his self become the self of all beings, he is not stained even while he acts.

नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् ।
पश्यञ्श्रृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्‌गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन्

naiva kiṃcitkaromīti yukto manyeta tattvavit |
paśyañśrṛṇvanspṛśañjighrannaśnan‌gacchansvapañśvasan

The yogi who knows the truth thinks, 'I do nothing at all,' while he sees, hears, touches, smells, eats, walks, sleeps and breathes,

प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि ।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन्

pralapanvisṛjangṛhṇannunmiṣannimiṣannapi |
indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan

While he speaks, lets go, takes hold, and opens and closes his eyes. He holds that it is only the senses moving among their objects.

कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि ।
योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये

kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalairindriyairapi |
yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṃ tyaktvātmaśuddhaye

Setting attachment aside, yogis act with the body, the mind, the intellect, even with the senses alone, for the cleansing of the self.

युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् ।
अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते

yuktaḥ karmaphalaṃ tyaktvā śāntimāpnoti naiṣṭhikīm |
ayuktaḥ kāmakāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate

The one joined in yoga, giving up the fruit of action, reaches a peace that lasts. The one not joined, clinging to the fruit, driven 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

Giving up all actions in the mind, the embodied one who is master of himself dwells at ease in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor making anything act.

न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः ।
न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते

na kartṛtvaṃ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ |
na karmaphalasaṃyogaṃ svabhāvastu pravartate

The Lord does not create doership for the world, nor its actions, nor the bond between action and its fruit. It is nature that moves.

नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः ।
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः

nādatte kasyacitpāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ |
ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ

The all-pervading Lord takes on no one's sin and no one's merit. Knowledge is veiled by ignorance, and so beings are deluded.

ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः ।
तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम्

jñānena tu tadajñānaṃ yeṣāṃ nāśitamātmanaḥ |
teṣāmādityavajjñānaṃ prakāśayati tatparam

But in those whose ignorance has been destroyed by knowledge of the Self, that knowledge shines like the sun and reveals the Supreme.

तद्‌बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः ।
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः

tad‌buddhayastadātmānastanniṣṭhāstatparāyaṇāḥ |
gacchantyapunarāvṛttiṃ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ

With their intellect in That, their self in That, resting in That and holding That as their final goal, their sins washed away by knowledge, they go where there is no return.

इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः ।
निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः

ihaiva tairjitaḥ sargo yeṣāṃ sāmye sthitaṃ manaḥ |
nirdoṣaṃ hi samaṃ brahma tasmādbrahmaṇi te sthitāḥ

Even here, in this life, birth and death are overcome by those whose minds rest in sameness. Brahman is without flaw and the same in all, and so they abide in Brahman.

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् ।
स्थिरबुद्धिरसंमूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः

na prahṛṣyetpriyaṃ prāpya nodvijetprāpya cāpriyam |
sthirabuddhirasaṃmūḍho brahmavidbrahmaṇi sthitaḥ

He does not rejoice on getting what is pleasant, nor grieve on meeting what is unpleasant. Steady in mind, free of delusion, the knower of Brahman abides in Brahman.

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत् सुखम् ।
स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते

bāhyasparśeṣvasaktātmā vindatyātmani yat sukham |
sa brahmayogayuktātmā sukhamakṣayamaśnute

One whose self is not attached to outer contacts finds the joy that is in the Self. Joined to Brahman by yoga, he enjoys a happiness that never fades.

शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् ।
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः

śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṃ prākśarīravimokṣaṇāt |
kāmakrodhodbhavaṃ vegaṃ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ

One who, here in this world before he leaves the body, can withstand the force that rises from desire and anger is a yogi. He is a happy man.

योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः ।
स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति

yo'ntaḥsukho'ntarārāmastathāntarjyotireva yaḥ |
sa yogī brahmanirvāṇaṃ brahmabhūto'dhigacchati

One whose happiness is within, whose delight is within, whose light is within, that yogi becomes Brahman and reaches the nirvana of Brahman.

लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः ।
छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः

labhante brahmanirvāṇamṛṣayaḥ kṣīṇakalmaṣāḥ |
chinnadvaidhā yatātmānaḥ sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ

Rishis whose sins are worn away, whose doubts are cut, who have mastered themselves and delight in the good of all beings, reach the nirvana of Brahman.

कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् ।
अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम्

kāmakrodhaviyuktānāṃ yatīnāṃ yatacetasām |
abhito brahmanirvāṇaṃ vartate viditātmanām

For ascetics free from desire and anger, who have stilled the mind and know the Self, the nirvana of Brahman lies close on every side.

स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः ।
प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ

sparśānkṛtvā bahirbāhyāṃścakṣuścaivāntare bhruvoḥ |
prāṇāpānau samau kṛtvā nāsābhyantaracāriṇau

Shutting out the outer contacts, fixing the gaze between the brows, making even the prana and apana that move through the nostrils,

यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः ।
विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः

yatendriyamanobuddhirmunirmokṣaparāyaṇaḥ |
vigatecchābhayakrodho yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ

The sage who has mastered senses, mind and intellect, whose one aim is liberation, from whom desire, fear and anger have gone, is free for ever.