Chapter 18 · resolution: the summary and the choice

The Yoga of Liberation through Renunciation

Mokṣa Sannyāsa Yoga

  1. 18.1 Arjuna asks: what is sannyāsa vs. tyāga? Tell me distinctly, O Mighty-armed, Hṛṣīkeśa, Keśi-slayer.
  2. 18.2 ☆ Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
  3. 18.3 Some say all karma is faulty and should be abandoned; others say yajña-dāna-tapas must not be abandoned.
  4. 18.4 Hear My definitive word on tyāga, O best of Bharatas — tyāga has been declared three-fold, O tiger among men.
  5. 18.5 Yajña, dāna, and tapas must NOT be abandoned — they must be performed; they are purifiers of the wise.
  6. 18.6 Even yajña-dāna-tapas must be performed having abandoned attachment and fruits — my settled, highest opinion.
  7. 18.7 Renouncing ordained/niyata karma is not appropriate; its abandonment through delusion is declared tāmasic.
  8. 18.8 Rājasic tyāga: abandoning action as painful/from fear of body-trouble — obtains no fruit of tyāga.
  9. 18.9 ☆ Sāttvic tyāga: niyata karma done ONLY because 'this must be done,' having abandoned attachment and fruit.
  10. 18.10 The sāttvic tyāgī: neither hates difficult action nor clings to pleasant — sattva-pervaded, wise, doubts severed.
  11. 18.11 No embodied being can abandon ALL action; the true tyāgī is the karma-phala-tyāgī — the fruit-abandoner.
  12. 18.12 Three-fold karma-fruit (evil/good/mixed) accrues after death to non-tyāgīs — never at all to genuine renouncers.
  13. 18.13 Learn these five causes of all action from Me, O Mighty-armed — as declared in the Sāṃkhya final teaching.
  14. 18.14 Five causes of action: body-locus, agent, various instruments, diverse efforts, and — fifth — the Divine/Fate.
  15. 18.15 Whatever action a person initiates with body, speech, and mind — right or the reverse — these five are its causes.
  16. 18.16 One who — given the five causes — sees the self alone as doer due to unrefined intellect sees not; that is durmati.
  17. 18.17 ☆ One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.
  18. 18.18 Three-fold impulse to action: knowledge, knowable, knower. Three-fold action-structure: organ, act, agent.
  19. 18.19 Knowledge, action, and agent are each three-fold by guṇa-distinction — as declared in the guṇa-science. Hear them.
  20. 18.20 ☆ Sāttvic jñāna: seeing ONE imperishable being in ALL — undivided among the divided.
  21. 18.21 Rājasic jñāna: knowing all beings as various separate entities of distinct kinds — by the lens of separateness.
  22. 18.22 Tāmasic jñāna: irrationally attached to one thing as if it were all — without truth-object, trivial, declared tāmasic.
  23. 18.23 Sāttvic karma: prescribed, attachment-free, without rāga-dveṣa, by one not seeking fruit.
  24. 18.24 Rājasic karma: done desiring pleasures or with ego-pride, involving great effort.
  25. 18.25 Tāmasic karma: begun from delusion, ignoring consequences, waste, injury to beings, and one's own capacity.
  26. 18.26 Sāttvic kartā: attachment-free, non-egotistic, firm, enthusiastic, unmoved by success or failure.
  27. 18.27 Rājasic kartā: passionate, fruit-desiring, greedy, cruel-natured, impure, subject to elation and sorrow.
  28. 18.28 Tāmasic kartā: undisciplined, vulgar, obstinate, deceitful, malicious, lazy, desponding, procrastinating.
  29. 18.29 Hear the three-fold division of buddhi and dhṛti by guṇas, declared exhaustively and distinctly, O Dhananjaya.
  30. 18.30 Sāttvic buddhi: correctly knows pravṛtti-nivṛtti, kārya-akārya, fear-fearlessness, bondage-liberation.
  31. 18.31 Rājasic buddhi: imperfectly/wrongly discerns dharma-adharma and kārya-akārya — not as they really are.
  32. 18.32 Tāmasic buddhi: enveloped in darkness, sees adharma as dharma, all things inverted and perverted.
  33. 18.33 Sāttvic dhṛti: unswerving through yoga, holds fast the activities of mind, prāṇa, and senses.
  34. 18.34 Rājasic dhṛti: holds fast to dharma, kāma, and artha with attachment, desiring the fruit of each.
  35. 18.35 Tāmasic dhṛti: the dull-witted one does not give up sleep, fear, grief, despondency, and pride.
  36. 18.36 Hear the three-fold happiness from Me, O Bharata-bull — learned through practice, leading to the end of pain.
  37. 18.37 Sāttvic sukha: poison-like at first, nectar-like at the end — born of the clarity of Self-knowing intellect.
  38. 18.38 Rājasic sukha: arises from sense-object contact — nectar-like at first, poison-like at the end.
  39. 18.39 Tāmasic sukha: deluding of the self both at start and in consequence — arises from sleep, laziness, and carelessness.
  40. 18.40 No being — neither on earth nor among the devas in heaven — is free from these three guṇas born of Prakṛti.
  41. 18.41 The duties of Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras are distributed by the guṇas born of their own nature.
  42. 18.42 Brāhmaṇa dharma: śama, dama, tapas, purity, forbearance, uprightness, knowledge, wisdom, faith — born of svabhāva.
  43. 18.43 Kṣatriya dharma: bravery, vigor, fortitude, skill, not-fleeing-battle, generosity, lordly bearing — born of svabhāva.
  44. 18.44 Vaiśya dharma: agriculture, cattle-care, trade — born of svabhāva. Śūdra dharma: service — born of svabhāva.
  45. 18.45 Devoted each to his own duty, a person attains complete perfection — hear how one so devoted finds siddhi.
  46. 18.46 From whom all beings arise, by whom all is pervaded — worshiping THAT through one's own duty, one attains perfection.
  47. 18.47 One's own dharma even imperfectly done is better than another's well done; svabhāva-ordained karma incurs no sin.
  48. 18.48 Do not abandon one's innate duty even if imperfect — all undertakings are enveloped by fault as fire by smoke.
  49. 18.49 The unattached-minded, self-conquered, desire-free one attains supreme naiskarmya-siddhi through sannyāsa.
  50. 18.50 Learn briefly from Me how one who has attained siddhi attains Brahman — the supreme culmination of knowledge.
  51. 18.51 Endued with pure buddhi, regulating self with dhṛti, renouncing sense-objects, setting aside rāga-dveṣa —
  52. 18.52 Frequenting solitude, eating lightly, restraining speech-body-mind, always in dhyāna-yoga, fully in vairāgya —
  53. 18.53 Releasing ego, power, arrogance, kāma, krodha, possessions — free from mine-ness, tranquil — fit for becoming Brahman.
  54. 18.54 ★ Brahman-become, serene, neither grieving nor desiring, equal to all beings — he attains supreme bhakti to Me.
  55. 18.55 ☆ By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
  56. 18.56 Even doing all actions always, with refuge in Me — by My grace one attains the eternal imperishable abode.
  57. 18.57 Mentally offering all actions to Me, with Me as highest — resorting to buddhi-yoga, always be mind-in-Me.
  58. 18.58 With mind in Me, by My grace you will cross all obstacles; but from egotism if you will not hear, you will perish.
  59. 18.59 If from egotism you think 'I will not fight' — vain is this resolve; Prakṛti will compel you.
  60. 18.60 Bound by your svabhāva-born karma, what from delusion you don't wish to do — you will do even helplessly.
  61. 18.61 ★ The Lord dwells in the heart of all beings — whirling all, as if mounted on a machine, by His māyā.
  62. 18.62 Take refuge in THAT with all your being, O Bharata — by His grace: supreme peace and the eternal abode.
  63. 18.63 ★ This knowledge, more secret than all secrets, has been declared to you — reflect on it fully and act as you wish.
  64. 18.64 Hear again My supreme word, most secret of all — because you are deeply beloved to Me, I will speak your benefit.
  65. 18.65 ★ Mind-in-Me, devotee, worshiper, bow to Me — you will come to Me; truly I promise, you are dear to Me.
  66. 18.66 ★ Abandon all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone — I will liberate you from all sins; do not grieve.
  67. 18.67 This teaching is never to be given to the non-ascetic, non-devotee, non-service-minded, or one who criticizes Me.
  68. 18.68 Whoever teaches this supreme secret among My devotees, with supreme bhakti — comes to Me without doubt.
  69. 18.69 No one among humans does dearer service to Me, nor is there another dearer to Me on earth, than the Gita-teacher.
  70. 18.70 Whoever studies this sacred dialogue — by him I shall have been worshipped by jñāna-yajña; such is My conviction.
  71. 18.71 Even one who only hears this with śraddhā and without malice is liberated and reaches the pure worlds of the righteous.
  72. 18.72 O Pārtha, was this heard with one-pointed mind? O Dhanañjaya, has the delusion of ignorance been completely destroyed?
  73. 18.73 ☆ Destroyed is my delusion, memory restored by Your grace — I stand firm, free of doubt, and will do Your word.
  74. 18.74 Thus have I heard this wondrous hair-raising dialogue between Vāsudeva and the great-souled Pārtha — Sañjaya's witness.
  75. 18.75 Through Vyāsa's grace, I heard this supreme secret Yoga directly from Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, speaking Himself.
  76. 18.76 O King, as I recall this wondrous holy dialogue between Keśava and Arjuna again and again, I rejoice again and again.
  77. 18.77 Remembering that most wondrous Form of Hari again and again — great wonder fills me, O King; I rejoice again and again.
  78. 18.78 ★ Where yogeśvara Kṛṣṇa is, where archer Pārtha stands — there abide fortune, victory, flourishing, and steadfast dharma.