🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 5.4

Chapter 5 · कर्मसंन्यासयोग · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · "The Yoga of Action-Renunciation" · Verse 4 of 29

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🪷 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

5.4 Only the unenlightened speak of wisdom and right action as separate, not the wise. If any man knows one, he enjoys the fruit of both.

Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society

5.4 Children, not the wise, speak of knowledge and the Yoga of action or the performance of action as though they are distinct and different; he who is truly established in one obtains the fruits of both.

Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school

5.4 Balah, the fools; na panditah, not the learned ones; pravadanti, speak of; sankhya-yogau, Sankhya [Sankhya, i.e. monasticism, is that which is suited for sankhya, Self-iniry.] (the Path of Knowledge) and (Karma-)yoga; as prthak, different, having opposite and different results. The learned ones, the wise, however, admit one, unconflicting result. How? Any one who samyak, properly; asthitah, resorts to, i.e. follows; ekam api, even one, between the Path of Knowledge and (Karma-) yoga; vindate, gets; phalam, the result; ubhayoh, of both. For, the result of both is that Liberation itself. Therefore there is no conflict with regard to the result. Objection: After beginning the topic with the words, 'renunciation' and '(Karma-) yoga', how is it that the Lord speaks of the identity of the results of the path of Knowledge and (Karma-) yoga, which is beside the point? Reply: This defect does not arise. Although the estion was put by Arjuna merely with regard to renunciation and Karma-yoga, yet the Lord, without actually avoiding them, and by adding something special which was intended by Him, gave the answer by expressing them through other words, 'Sankhya' and '(Karma-) yoga'. Those very 'renunciation and 'Karma-yoga', when they are (respectively) associated with Knowledge and such of Its means as eanimity etc., are meant by the words 'Sankhya' and 'yoga'. This is the Lord's veiw. Therefore there is no discussion out of the context. How can the result of both be attained by the proper performance of only one? The answer is:

Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school

5.4 Those who say that Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga are distinct because of the difference in results, are children, i.e., are persons with incomplete knowledge; they do not know the entire truth. The meaning is that they do not possess true knowledge, who say that Karma Yoga results in Jnana Yoga only and that Jnana Yoga alone results in the vision of the self and that the two are thus distinct because of the difference in their fruits. But on the contrary as both have only the vision of the self as the fruit, a person who is firmly set in one of them, wins that one fruit common to both. Sri Krsna further expounds the same:

Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly

5.4. The childish, and not the wise, proclaim the paths of knowledge and the Yoga as different. He, who has properly resorted to even one [of these two], gets the fruit of both.

🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद

For the Hindi-aware seer · Pūjya Swami Rāmsukhdās ji's translation · a high-readability modern Hindi rendering · Gītā-Press Gorakhpur tradition. (→ Full Mahāpurusha-detail page for the 102-year-living Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī Mahātmā.)

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī tradition · Gītā-Press Gorakhpur · highest modern Hindi reading

।।5.4।। बेसमझ लोग सांख्ययोग और कर्मयोगको अलग-अलग फलवाले कहते हैं, न कि पण्डितजन; क्योंकि इन दोनोंमेंसे एक साधनमें भी अच्छी तरहसे स्थित मनुष्य दोनोंके फलरूप परमात्माको प्राप्त कर लेता है।

🪷 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

5.4 सांख्ययोगौ Sankhya (knowledge) and Yoga (Yoga of action or performance of action)? पृथक् distinct? बालाः children? प्रवदन्ति speak? न not? पण्डिताः the wise? एकम् one? अपि even? आस्थितः established in? सम्यक् truly? उभयोः of both? विन्दते obtains? फलम् fruit.Commentary Children the ignorant people who have no knowledge of the Self? and who have only a theoretical knowledge of the scriptures.Children or ignorant people only say that knowledge and the performance of action are different and produce distinct and opposite results. But the wise who have the knowledge of the Self say that they produce the same result only? viz.? Moksha or liberation. He who is duly established in,one? he who truly lives in one? Sankhya or Yoga? obtains the fruits of both. Therefore there is no diversity in the result or the fruit. This is the gist of this verse. (Cf.VI.2)

Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)

Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary

Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship

5.4 See Comment under 5.5

Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching

।।5.4।। किसी भी सामान्य कर्म को ईश्वर का पूजा में परिवर्तित करने के दो उपाय हैं। एक है सभी कर्मों में कर्तृत्व के अभिमान का त्याग और दूसरा है फलासक्ति के कारण उत्पन्न होने वाली चिंताओं का त्याग जिसे दूसरे शब्दों में कहेंगे भोक्तृत्व के अभिमान का त्याग। प्रथम उपाय को कहते हैं सांख्य तथा दूसरे को योग।सांख्य मार्ग का अनुसरण सबके लिए संभव नहीं होता है। अत्यन्त मेधावी पुरुष ही संपूर्ण विश्व में हो रहे कर्मों का अवलोकन कर इस कर्तृत्त्व के अभिमान को त्याग सकता है। जीवन में प्राप्त उपलब्धियों के लिए जगत् में कितने ही व्यक्तियों एवं नियमों की अपेक्षा होती है। इसे समझ कर ही हम अपने व्यक्तिगत योगदान की क्षुद्रता समझ सकते हैं और तभी हम अपने मिथ्या कर्तृत्त्व की धारणा को भी त्याग सकते हैं।केवल बालक अर्थात् अपरिपक्व विचार के लोग ही सांख्य और योग में विरोध देखते हैं जबकि बुद्धिमान पुरुष जो किसी एक मार्ग का अवलंबन दृढ़ता से करते हैं दोनों मार्गों के समान प्रभाव को जानते हैं। यदि साधक के रूप में हम कर्तृत्व अभिमान अथवा फलासक्ति को त्यागते हैं तो हमें एक ही लक्ष्य प्राप्त होता है।एक के ही सम्यक ् अनुष्ठान से दोनों के फल की प्राप्ति कैसे होगी उत्तर में कहते हैं

🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या

Pūjya Swami Rāmsukhdās ji's Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī · one of the great modern Hindi vyākhyās of the Gītā · direct, pure, deeply Vedāntic · the modern Sanātana-jāgaraṇa. (→ Full Mahāpurusha-detail page · 1904-2005 · Corner 1 Mādhurya operational anchor · whose 6-lakṣaṇa-śaraṇāgati IS Constitutional Principle 24.)

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī · Hindi vyākhyā · the modern bilingual anchor

।।5.4।। व्याख्या--'सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः'--इसी अध्यायके पहले श्लोकमें अर्जुनने कर्मोंका स्वरूपसे त्याग करके तत्त्वदर्शी महापुरुषके पास जाकर ज्ञान प्राप्त करनेके साधनको 'कर्मसंन्यास' नामसे कहा है। भगवान्ने भी दूसरे श्लोकमें अपने सिद्धान्तकी मुख्यता रखते हुए उसे 'संन्यास' और 'कर्मसंन्यास' नामसे कहा है। अब उस साधनको भगवान् यहाँ 'सांख्य' नामसे कहते हैं। भगवान् शरीर-शरीरीके भेदविचार करके स्वरूपमें स्थित होनेको 'सांख्य' कहते हैं। भगवान्के मतमें 'संन्यास' और 'सांख्य' पर्यायवाची हैं, जिसमें कर्मोंका स्वरूपसे त्याग करनेकी आवश्यकता नहीं है।अर्जुन जिसे 'कर्मसंन्यास' नामसे कह रहे हैं, वह भी निःसन्देह भगवान्के द्वारा कहे 'सांख्य' का ही एक अवान्तर भेद है। कारण कि गुरुसे सुनकर भी साधक शरीर-शरीरीके भेदका ही विचार करता है।'बालाः' पदसे भगवान् यह कहते हैं कि आयु और बुद्धिमें बड़े होकर भी जो सांख्ययोग और कर्मयोगको अलग-अलग फलवाले मानते हैं, वे बालक अर्थात् बेसमझ ही हैं।जिन महापुरुषोंने सांख्ययोग और कर्मयोगके तत्त्वको ठीक-ठीक समझा है, वे ही पण्डित अर्थात् बुद्धिमान् हैं। वे लोग दोनोंको अलग-अलग फलवाले नहीं कहते; क्योंकि वे दोनों साधनोंकी प्रणालियोंको न देखकर उन दोनोंके वास्तविक परिणामको देखते हैं.साधन-प्रणालीको देखते हुए स्वयं भगवान्ने तीसरे अध्यायके तीसरे श्लोकमें सांख्ययोग और कर्मयोगको दो प्रकारका साधन स्वीकार किया है। दोनोंकी साधन-प्रणाली तो अलग-अलग है, पर साध्य अलग-अलग नहीं है।

🪷 Place in the Bhagavad-Gītā

This is verse 4 of 29 in Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga (The Yoga of Action-Renunciation)
Chapter theme: Sama-darśana · the body as nine-gated city · seer beyond doer
Ṣaṭka grouping: TVAM-Ṣaṭka (BG 1-6 · the jīva)
Chapter hub: /karma-sannyasa
⭐ Mahābhārata anchor: this verse is also MBh 6.27.4 (Bhīṣma-Parva · the BG in its full narrative home)

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📚 Cite this verse · Academic citation formats

APA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. (n.d.). Bhagavad-Gītā 5.4. Vidhyāmitra. Retrieved 2026-07-27, from https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/5/4

Chicago: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 5.4." Vidhyāmitra. Accessed 2026-07-27. https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/5/4.

MLA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 5.4." Vidhyāmitra, 2026, https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/5/4.

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