Chapter5 Shloka6 - Shrimad Bhagvad Gita

Shrimad Bhagvad Gita

Chapter 5 : Karma Sanyas Yoga - The Yoga of renunciation

Ch 05 : Sh 06

सन्न्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः ।
योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥

Transliteration

saṃnyāsas-tu mahābāho duḥkham-āptum-ayogataḥ |
yoga-yukto munir -brahma na cireṇādhigacchati || 6 ||

Translation

But renunciation, O Mighty-Armed, is hard to achieve without [Karma] Yoga. The contemplating sage who follows [Karma] Yoga reaches Brahman (the Self or ātman) soon.

Purport

Explaining further why Karma Yoga is preferred over Sanyas, Bhagvan Shri Krishna explained, that Sanyas, when done without yoga, is difficult to achieve. With the help of [karma], Yoga one can attain the path of Sanyas easily.

One has to notice that this Shloka uses one new term, the Muni. Such a Sanyasi which follow Sanyas with Yoga is called as Muni. Another thing to note here that the word Yoga is used alone, without the word Karma. Yoga when used alone means to unite the soul with Supersoul. The word Yoga in itself involves all kinds of Yoga, but since here the context is the comparison of Karma Yoga with Sanayas and so Yoga takes the meaning of Karma Yoga. In contextual meaning, this further implies, actions which are performed by submitting it to Bhagvan Shri Krishna. (Ch3:Sh30).

The above shloka hence makes it clear that a person who performs his actions considering it the service to Bhagvan Shri Krishna and leaves all the desires of its fruits, achieve the state of Sanays easier. Also such yogi is the Muni, a greater yogi than Sanyasi.

This shloka is also the reasoning of the statement given in Sh#2 declaring that Karma yoga is superior to Sanyas.