Bhagavad Gita

भगवद् गीता

Text & Audio

with paraphrase

Chapter 5

1. Audio

By Swami Brahmananda
Duet
By Jagannath Vedalankar

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 said: Thou declarest to me the renunciation of works, O Krishna, and again thou declarest to me Yoga; which one of these is the better way, that tell me with a clear decisiveness.

श्रीभगवानुवाच:

संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ ।

तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ॥

śrībhagavānuvāca:

saṃnyāsaḥ karmayogaśca niḥśreyasakarāvubhau,

tayostu karmasaṃnyāsātkarmayogo viśiṣyate.

The Blessed Lord said: Renunciation and Yoga of works both bring about the soul’s salvation, but of the two the Yoga of works is distinguished above the renunciation of works.

ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति ।

निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥

jñeyaḥ sa nityasaṃnyāsī yo na dveṣṭi na kāňkṣati,

nirdvandvo hi mahābāho sukhaṃ bandhātpramucyate.

He should be known as always a Sannyasin (even when he is doing action) who neither dislikes nor desires; for free from the dualities he is released easily and happily from the bondage.

सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः ।

एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ॥

sāṅkhyayogau pṛthagbālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ,

ekamapyāsthitaḥ samyagubhayorvindate phalam.

Children speak of Sankhya and Yoga apart from each other, not the wise; if a man applies himself integrally to one, he gets the fruit of both.

यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते ।

एकं सांख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥

yatsāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṃ tadyogairapi gamyate,

ekaṃ sāṅkhyaṃ ca yogaṃ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati.

The status which is attained by the Sankhya, to that the men of the Yoga also arrive; who sees Sankhya and Yoga as one, he sees.

संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः ।

योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥

saṃnyāsastu mahābāho duḥkhamāptumayogataḥ,

yogayukto munirbrahma nacireṇādhigacchati.

But renunciation, O mighty-armed, is difficult to attain without Yoga; the sage who has Yoga attains soon to the Brahman.

योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः ।

सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥

yogayukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ,

sarvabhūtātmabhūtātmā kurvannapi na lipyate.

He who is in Yoga, the pure soul, master of his self, who has conquered the senses, whose self becomes the self of all existences (of all things that have become), even though he does works, he is not involved in them.

नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् ।

पश्यञ्श्रुण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नंगच्छन्स्वपन्श्वसन् ॥

naiva kiṃcitkaromīti yukto manyeta tattvavit,

paśyañśruṇvanspṛśañjighrannaśnaṃgacchansvapanśvasan.

प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि ।

इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥

pralapanvisṛjangṛhṇannunmiṣannimiṣannapi,

indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan.

The man who knows the principles of things thinks, his mind in Yoga (with the inactive Impersonal), “I am doing nothing”; when he sees, hears, tastes, smells, eats, moves, sleeps, breathes, speaks, takes, ejects, opens his eyes or closes them, he holds that it is only the senses acting upon the objects of the senses.

ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि संगं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः ।

लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥

brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ,

lipyate na sa pāpena padmapatramivāmbhasā.

He who, having abandoned attachment, acts reposing (or founding) his works on the Brahman, is not stained by sin even as water clings not to the lotus-leaf.

कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि ।

योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति संगं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये ॥

kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalairindriyairapi,

yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṃ tyaktvātmaśuddhaye.

Therefore the Yogins do works with the body, mind, understanding, or even merely with the organs of action, abandoning attachment, for self-purification.

युक्तःकर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् ।

अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते ॥

yuktaḥkarmaphalaṃ tyaktvā śāntimāpnoti naiṣṭhikīm,

ayuktaḥ kāmakāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate.

By abandoning attachment to the fruits of works, the soul in union with Brahman attains to peace of rapt foundation in Brahman, but the soul not in union is attached to the fruit and bound by the action of desire.

सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी ।

नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥

sarvakarmāṇi manasā saṃnyasyāste sukhaṃ vaśī,

navadvāre pure dehī naiva kurvanna kārayan.

The embodied soul perfectly controlling its nature, having renounced all its actions by the mind (inwardly, not outwardly), sits serenely in its nine-gated city neither doing nor causing to be done.

न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः ।

न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥

na kartṛtvaṃ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ,

na karmaphalasaṃyogaṃ svabhāvastu pravartate.

The Lord neither creates the works of the world nor the state of the doer nor the joining of the works to the fruit; nature works out these things.

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 Impersonal accepts neither the sin nor the virtue of any, knowledge is enveloped by ignorance; thereby creatures are bewildered.

ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः ।

तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम् ॥

jñānena tu tadajñānaṃ yeṣāṃ nāśitamātmanaḥ,

teṣāmādityavajjñānaṃ prakāśayati tatparam.

Verily, in whom ignorance is destroyed by self-knowledge, in them knowledge lights up like a sun the supreme Self (within them).

तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः ।

गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ॥

tadbuddhayastadātmānastanniṣṭhāstatparāyaṇāḥ,

gacchantyapunarāvṛttiṃ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ.

Turning their discerning mind to That, directing their whole conscious being to That, making That their whole aim and the sole object of their devotion, they go whence there is no return, their sins washed by the waters of knowledge.

विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।

शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥

vidyāvinayasaṃpanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini,

śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ.

Sages see with an equal eye the learned and cultured Brahmin, the cow, the elephant, the dog, the outcaste.

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.

Even here on earth they have conquered the creation whose mind is established in equality; the equal Brahman is faultless, therefore they live in the Brahman.

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् ।

स्थिरबुद्धिरसंमूढो ब्रह्मविद् ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ॥

na prahṛṣyetpriyaṃ prāpya nodvijetprāpya cāpriyam,

sthirabuddhirasaṃmūḍho brahmavid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ.

With intelligence stable, unbewildered, the knower of Brahman, living in the Brahman, neither rejoices on obtaining what is pleasant, nor sorrows on obtaining what is unpleasant.

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् ।

स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥

bāhyasparśeṣvasaktātmā vindatyātmani yatsukham,

sa brahmayogayuktātmā sukhamakṣayamaśnute.

When the soul is no longer attached to the touches of outward things, then one finds the happiness that exists in the Self; such a one enjoys an imperishable happiness, because his self is in Yoga, yukta, by Yoga with the Brahman.

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.

The enjoyments born of the touches of things are causes of sorrow, they have a beginning and an end; therefore the sage, the man of awakened understanding, budhah, does not place his delight in these.

शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्षरीरविमोक्षणात् ।

कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ॥

śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṃ prākṣarīravimokṣaṇāt,

kāmakrodhodbhavaṃ vegaṃ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ.

He who can bear here in the body the velocity of wrath and desire, is the Yogin, the happy man.

योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः ।

स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥

yo’ntaḥsukho’ntarārāmastathāntarjyotireva yaḥ,

sa yogī brahmanirvāṇaṃ brahmabhūto’dhigacchati.

He who has the inner happiness and the inner ease and repose and the inner light, that Yogin becomes the Brahman and reaches self-extinction in the Brahman, brahmanirvanam.

लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः ।

छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥

labhante brahmanirvāṇamṛṣayaḥ kṣīṇakalmaṣāḥ,

chinnadvaidhā yatātmānaḥ sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ.

Sages win Nirvana in the Brahman, they in whom the stains of sin are effaced and the knot of doubt is cut asunder, masters of their selves, who are occupied in doing good to all creatures.

कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् ।

अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम् ॥

kāmakrodhaviyuktānāṃ yatīnāṃ yatacetasām,

abhito brahmanirvāṇaṃ vartate viditātmanām.

Yatis (those who practise self-mastery by Yoga and austerity) who are delivered from desire and wrath and have gained self-mastery, for them Nirvana in the Brahman exists all about them, encompasses them, they already live in it because they have knowledge of the Self.

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.

Having put outside of himself all outward touches and concentrated the vision between the eyebrows and made equal the prana and the apana moving within the nostrils, having controlled the senses, the mind and the understanding, the sage devoted to liberation, from whom desire and wrath and fear have passed away, is ever free.

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।

सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥

bhoktāraṃ yajñatapasāṃ sarvalokamaheśvaram,

suhṛdaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ jñātvā māṃ śāntimṛcchati.

When a man has known Me as the Enjoyer of sacrifice of all the worlds, the friend of all creatures, he comes by the peace.