18.1 How do the two differ? Arjuna speaks
संन्यासस्य महाबाहो तत्त्वमिच्छामि वेदितुम्
त्यागस्य च हृषीकेश पृथक्केशिनिषूदन
sannyāsasya mahā-bāho tattvam ichchhāmi veditum
tyāgasya cha hṛiṣhīkeśha pṛithak keśhi-niṣhūdana
I wish to understand the truth of renunciation, mighty-armed one, and of letting go — and how they differ.
Explanation
Arjuna's last question is about vocabulary.
sannyāsa and tyāga — renunciation and letting go. How do they differ?
Seventeen chapters in, and he is still asking what words mean. It is the same move as 8.1 and 13.1, and it is the reason this book has any precision at all.
Word by word
- arjunaḥ uvācha
- Arjun said
- sanyāsasya
- of renunciation of actions
- mahā-bāho
- mighty-armed one
- tattvam
- the truth
- ichchhāmi
- I wish
- veditum
- to understand
- tyāgasya
- of renunciation of desires for enjoying the fruits of actions
- cha
- and
- hṛiṣhīkeśha
- Krishna, the Lord of the senses
- pṛithak
- distinctively
- keśhī-niṣhūdana
- Krishna, the killer of the Keshi demon
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