Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 5

Path of Renunciation

1. 5.1Arjuna is confused. Krishna has praised giving up action, and he has also praised yoga done through action. Arjuna asks him to say clearly which one is better.Arjuna
2. 5.2Krishna answers that both giving up action and doing action as yoga lead to the highest joy. But doing your work in the spirit of yoga is better than giving up work.Krishna
3. 5.3Krishna says that a person who neither hates nor craves things is a true renouncer, even while living an active life. Such a person is not pushed around by opposites like pleasure and pain, so they are easily set free.Krishna
4. 5.4Krishna says only beginners think Sankhya (the path of knowledge and giving up action) and Yoga (the path of selfless action) are different. Someone who truly follows either one gets the results of both.Krishna
5. 5.5Krishna says the followers of knowledge and the followers of selfless action reach the same goal. A person who sees that the two paths are really one sees the truth.Krishna
6. 5.6Krishna says that truly giving up action is hard without the practice of yoga. A sage (muni, a quiet thinker) who is steady in yoga quickly reaches the Eternal.Krishna
7. 5.7Krishna says that a person who is steady in yoga, pure, self-controlled, and master of their senses, and who sees their own self in every living being, is not harmed or tied down by their actions, even while acting.Krishna
8. 5.8Krishna says that a wise and steady person thinks, "I am not really the one doing anything." They think this even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping and breathing.Krishna
9. 5.9Krishna continues that while speaking, giving, taking, or even blinking, the wise person understands that it is only the senses dealing with the things they sense, not their true self.Krishna
10. 5.10Krishna says that a person who does their actions as an offering to the Eternal, without clinging to them, is not stained by wrongdoing. They are like a lotus leaf, which stays dry even in the water.Krishna
11. 5.11Krishna says that yogis give up attachment. They act with their body, mind, thinking and senses only to make themselves purer inside.Krishna
12. 5.12Krishna says that a steady person who lets go of wanting the results of their actions finds lasting peace. A person driven by desire and hooked on results stays trapped.Krishna
13. 5.13Krishna says that the person living in the body lets go of all actions in their mind and rests calmly. The body is like a city with nine gates, meaning its openings like the eyes, ears and mouth. The true self in it neither acts nor makes anything act.Krishna
14. 5.14Krishna says that the Lord of the world does not create people's sense of "I am doing this", or their actions, or the link between actions and their results. All this comes from nature.Krishna
15. 5.15Krishna says that the Lord does not take on anyone's bad deeds or good deeds. People get confused because ignorance covers up their true knowledge.Krishna
16. 5.16Krishna says that when ignorance is destroyed by knowing the true self, wisdom shines like the sun and shows the Supreme.Krishna
17. 5.17Krishna says that people who keep their minds on God, give themselves fully to God and rest in God reach a state they never fall back from. Their wisdom has washed away their wrongs.Krishna
18. 5.18Krishna says that wise people see the same worth in everyone and everything. A learned and humble priest (Brahmana), a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a person society rejects as an outcaste all look equal to them.Krishna
19. 5.19Krishna says that people whose minds stay calm and fair toward all have already won over life, even while living on earth. God, the Eternal, is pure and the same toward everyone, so people who are balanced like that live in God.Krishna
20. 5.20Krishna says that a person who truly knows God has a steady mind and is not confused. They do not get overexcited when good things happen or crushed when bad things happen.Krishna
21. 5.21Krishna says that a person who does not cling to outside pleasures finds joy inside, in their true self. Through yoga, meaning practice that joins the mind to God, they feel a happiness that never ends.Krishna
22. 5.22Krishna tells Arjuna (called Kaunteya, son of Kunti) that pleasures from the senses lead to pain. They start and they end, so a wise person does not build happiness on them.Krishna
23. 5.23Krishna says that a person who can hold back the strong push of desire and anger, while still alive in this body, is balanced and truly happy.Krishna
24. 5.24Krishna says that the yogi, a person who practices joining with God, whose happiness, joy and light come from within, becomes one with God and reaches God's peace.Krishna
25. 5.25Krishna says that sages (rishis) reach God's peace when their wrongs are gone, they no longer see the world split into opposites, they control themselves, and they work for the good of all living beings.Krishna
26. 5.26Krishna says that God's peace is close to people who know their true selves, who are free from desire and anger, and who keep their nature and thoughts under control.Krishna
27. 5.27Krishna begins describing meditation. Shut out the outside world, rest your gaze between the eyebrows, and make your breathing in and out through the nose even and calm.Krishna
28. 5.28Krishna continues: the sage who keeps their senses, mind and understanding under control, who wants only freedom, and who has dropped desire, fear and anger for good, is truly free.Krishna
29. 5.29Krishna says that a person who knows him finds peace. They know him as the one who receives every offering and every hard spiritual practice, the great ruler of all the worlds, and the loving friend of every being.Krishna