🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 5.3

Chapter 5 · कर्मसंन्यासयोग · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · "The Yoga of Action-Renunciation" · Verse 3 of 29

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ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति।

निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते।।5.3।।
Bhagavad-Gītā 5.3 · the yathārtha śloka (Devanāgarī Sanskrit · canonical)

🪷 English Translations

Five authentic English voices · each from a distinct sampradāya · together revealing the verse's full śabda-tattva.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 · public domain · Cosmo Press tradition
5.3 He is a true ascetic who never desires or dislikes, who is uninfluenced by the opposites and is easily freed from bondage.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
5.3 He should be known as a perpertual Sannyasi who neither hates nor desires; for, free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he is easily set free from bondage.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
5.3 For, O mighty-armed one, he who is free from duality becomes easily freed from bondage. That performer of Karma-yoga, yah, who; na dvesti, does not hate anything; and na kanksati, does not crave; jneyah, should be known; as nitya-sannyasi, a man of constant [A man of constant renunciation: He is a man of renunciation ever before the realization of the actionless Self.] renunciation. The meaning is that he who continues to be like this in the midst of sorrow, happiness and their sources should be known as a man of constant renunciation, even though engaged in actions. Hi, for; mahabaho, O mighty-armed one; nirdvandvah, one who is free from duality; pramucyate, becomes freed; sukham, easily, without trouble; bandhat, from bondage. It is reasonable that in the case of renunciation and Karma-yoga, which are opposed to each other and can be undertaken by different persons, there should be opposition even between their results; but it canot be that both of them surely lead to Liberation. When such a estion arises, this is the answer stated:
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
5.3 That Karma Yogin, who, being satisfied with the experience of the self implied in Karma Yoga, does not desire anything different therefrom and conseently does not hate anything, and who, because of this, resignedly endures the pairs of opposites - he should be understood as ever given to renunciation, i.e., even devoted to Jnana Yoga. Such a one therefore is freed from bondage because of his being firmly devoted to Karma Yoga which is easy to practise. The independence of Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga from each other as means for attainment of the self is now declared.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
5.3. That person may be considered a man of permanent renunciation, who neither hates nor desires. For, O mighty-armed ! he who is free from the pairs [of opposites] is easily released from bondage [of action].

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

The classical commentary tradition rendered in English · each ācārya speaks from their own sampradāya · the seer chooses the depth of darśana.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
5.3 ज्ञेयः should be known? सः he? नित्यसंन्यासी perpetual ascetic? यः who? न not? द्वेष्टि hates? न not? काङ्क्षति desires? निर्द्वन्द्वः one free from the pairs of opposites? हि verily? महाबाहो O mightyarmed? सुखम् easily? बन्धात् from bondage? प्रमुच्यते is set free.Commentary A man does not become a Sannyasi by merely giving up actions because of laziness or ignorance or some family arrel or calamity or unemployment. A true Sannyasi is not a hypocritical coward.The Karma Yogi who neither hates pain and the objects which give him pain? nor desires pleasure and the objects that give him pleasure? who has neither attachment nor aversion to any senseobject and who has risen above the pairs of heat and cold? joy and sorrow? success and failure? victory and defeat? gain and loss? praise and censure? honour and dishonour? should be known as a perpetual Sannyasi though he is ever engaged in action.One need not have taken Sannyasa formally but if he has the above mental attitutde? he is a perpetual Sannyasi. Mere ochrecoloured robe cannot make one a Sannyasi. What is wanted is a pure heart with true renunciation of egoism and desires. Physical renunciation of objects is no renunciation at all. (Cf.VI.1)
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
5.3 For, O mighty-armed one, he who is free from duality becomes easily freed from bondage. That performer of Karma-yoga, yah, who; na dvesti, does not hate anything; and na kanksati, does not crave; jneyah, should be known; as nitya-sannyasi, a man of constant [A man of constant renunciation: He is a man of renunciation ever before the realization of the actionless Self.] renunciation. The meaning is that he who continues to be like this in the midst of sorrow, happiness and their sources should be known as a man of constant renunciation, even though engaged in actions. Hi, for; mahabaho, O mighty-armed one; nirdvandvah, one who is free from duality; pramucyate, becomes freed; sukham, easily, without trouble; bandhat, from bondage. It is reasonable that in the case of renunciation and Karma-yoga, which are opposed to each other and can be undertaken by different persons, there should be opposition even between their results; but it canot be that both of them surely lead to Liberation. When such a estion arises, this is the answer stated:
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
5.3 That Karma Yogin, who, being satisfied with the experience of the self implied in Karma Yoga, does not desire anything different therefrom and conseently does not hate anything, and who, because of this, resignedly endures the pairs of opposites - he should be understood as ever given to renunciation, i.e., even devoted to Jnana Yoga. Such a one therefore is freed from bondage because of his being firmly devoted to Karma Yoga which is easy to practise. The independence of Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga from each other as means for attainment of the self is now declared.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
5.3 Jneyah etc. Therefore he alone is all the time man-of-renunciation, by whom both desire and hatred have been renounced from his mind. Because his intellect has come out of the pairs of anger, delusion and others, he is released just easily.
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।5.3।। इस श्लोक में स्वयं भगवान् ही कर्मयोग के श्रेष्ठत्व का कारण बताते हैं। भगवान् द्वारा यहां दी हुई संन्यास की परिभाषा उसके विषय में प्रचलित निरर्थक धारणाओं को दूर कर देती है। वेषभूषा के बाह्य आडंबर की अपेक्षा आन्तरिक गुणों का अधिक महत्व है। श्रीकृष्ण के विचारानुसार राग और द्वेष से रहित पुरुष ही संन्यासी कहलाने योग्य है।रागद्वेष जयपराजय सुखदुख आदि इसी प्रकार के द्वन्द्वात्मक चक्र हैं जिन पर आरू ढ़ मन जीवन में अनेक प्रकार के अनुभव प्राप्त करता हुआ आगे बढ़ता है। हम तुलनात्मक अध्ययन के द्वारा ही जीवन में आनेवाली परिस्थितियों को समझ पाते हैं। अन्धकार के सन्दर्भ में ही प्रकाश का ज्ञान होता है। किसी वस्तु के विपरीत धर्मवाली वस्तु के न होने पर हम उस वस्तु को यथार्थ रूप मे नहीं समझ पाते।यदि वस्तुओं का ज्ञान प्राप्त करने के लिए बुद्धि के पास तुलनात्मक अध्ययन प्रणाली ही उपलब्ध हो तब उसका त्याग करने का अर्थ होगा विचार के साधन अन्तकरण का ही त्याग करना। एक वाहन द्वारा सड़क पर यात्रा करना संभव है परन्तु समुद्र यात्रा नहीं। उसके लिए उस वाहन का त्याग करके जलपोत की आवश्यकता होती है। असंख्य नामरूपों की सृष्टि में तो बुद्धि का उपयोग किया जा सकता है। यहाँ कहा गया है कि समस्त प्रकार के भेद दर्शनों से मुक्त हुआ अर्थात् मन और बुद्धि के अतीत हुआ पुरुष ही सच्चा संन्यासी है।यह कोई सहज कार्य नहीं है। द्वन्द्वों से रहित होने का अर्थ है र्मत्य जीव का सभी बन्धनों से मुक्त हो जाना। संन्यासी की इस परिभाषा से यह नहीं समझें कि साधकों के लिए दुखपूर्ण निराशा के जीवन को चित्रित करने का भगवान् का प्रयत्न है। अर्जुन के मन में दीर्घकाल से अर्जित वासनाओं का संचय था। अत उसके आत्मविकास को ध्यान मे रखकर भगवान् उसे संन्यास जीवन को स्वीकार करने की शीघ्रता से परावृत करना चाहते हैं।

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सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)