Chapter 5 of 18
कर्मसंन्यासयोग Karma Sanyāsa Yoga The Unwetted Leaf
29 verses
What has to be renounced is attachment rather than activity — the leaf in water, unwetted.
Arjuna opens chapter 5 by asking for a straight answer. Chapter 3 praised action and chapter 4 praised renouncing it, and he wants to know which — told clearly.
He gets a straight answer and then watches the distinction dissolve. Both reach the same place; only children think they are two things; and one is preferred not because it is truer but because it is easier to walk. What has to be given up turns out never to have been the activity.
The image the chapter is named for arrives in the middle of it. A lotus leaf sits in the water, not above it and not shielded from it, and is not wetted. That is the alternative to the thing Arjuna keeps proposing, which is to get out of the water altogether.
संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्िचतम्
sannyāsaṁ karmaṇāṁ kṛiṣhṇa punar yogaṁ cha śhansasi
yach chhreya etayor ekaṁ tan me brūhi su-niśhchitam
You praise the renunciation of action, Krishna, and then you praise yoga. Which of the two is better? Tell me clearly.
Arjuna has had enough of being given both answers.
Chapter 3 praised action, chapter 4 praised the renunciation of it, and he asks — almost impatiently — which one, told clearly.
The impatience is worth registering. This is the fourth time he has asked a version of what should I actually do, and the book keeps answering at a level above the question.
Word by wordarjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said · sanyāsam — renunciation · karmaṇām — of actions · kṛiṣhṇa — Shree Krishna · punaḥ — again · yogam — about karm yog · cha — also · śhansasi — you praise · yat — which · śhreyaḥ — more beneficial · etayoḥ — of the two · ekam — one · tat — that · me — unto me · brūhi — please tell · su-niśhchitam — conclusively
Chapter 5 · The Unwetted Leaf · ← → to move, d for depth
All 29 verses
The Blessed One said
- 5.2 संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ Both, and one of them
- 5.3 ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति Who is really a renouncer
- 5.4 सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः Only children see two things
- 5.5 यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते The same place either way
- 5.6 संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः Renunciation needs the other one
- 5.7 योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः Acting without being stained
- 5.8 नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् I do nothing at all
- 5.9 प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि The list keeps going
- 5.10 ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः The unwetted leaf
- 5.11 कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि Even with the senses alone
- 5.12 युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् Peace, or being bound
- 5.13 सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी The city of nine gates
- 5.14 न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः It is your own nature acting
- 5.15 नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः Knowledge covered over
- 5.16 ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः Then it lights everything
- 5.17 तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः Turned entirely there
- 5.18 विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि Brahmin, cow, elephant, dog
- 5.19 इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः Conquered in this very life
- 5.20 न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् Neither exulting nor shrinking
- 5.21 बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् The happiness already inside
- 5.22 ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते Wombs of pain
- 5.23 शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् Withstanding the surge
- 5.24 योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः Lit from within
- 5.25 लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः Divisions cut through
- 5.26 कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् Peace near on every side
- 5.27 स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः The breath made even
- 5.28 यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः Always free
- 5.29 भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् The friend of all beings
Where this sits
Chapter 5 against the whole of it: who is speaking, verse by verse, and how much of the book this chapter is.
The argument so far
- Chapter 1 Arjuna's nerve fails on the field, and the question that opens the book is not a spiritual one but a practical one he cannot answer.
- Chapter 2 The first answer is that Arjuna is not the body he is afraid of losing, and that grief for what cannot die is grief misplaced.
- Chapter 3 Withdrawing from action is not available to anyone alive; what is available is acting without gripping the result.
- Chapter 4 Action, knowledge and Krishna himself all have a deeper structure than they appear to, and knowing it is what makes action free.