Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 3 (BG 5.3)

જીવો ગીતા

Preparing your translation...

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते

You have the right to act...

Preparing your translation...

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते

You have the right to act...

મુખપૃષ્ઠ

મુખપૃષ્ઠ જ્ઞાન અભ્યાસક્રમ સમુદાય સાચવેલા ગોઠવણી

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 3 — Meaning & Commentary | Live Gita

← 5.2

BG 5.3 Sign in to save

5.4→

ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति |
निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ||५-३||

jñeyaḥ sa nityasaṃnyāsī yo na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati . nirdvandvo hi mahābāho sukhaṃ bandhātpramucyate ||5-3||

He should be known as a perpetual Sannyasi who neither hates nor desires; for, free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he is easily set free from bondage.

In simple words

Krishna redefines what true renunciation means: "The real renunciant is not the one who stops doing things. The real renunciant is the person who acts without hatred and without craving — free from the pull of opposites. That person is effortlessly free."

Word-by-word meanings

ज्ञेयःshould be knownसःheनित्यसंन्यासीperpetual asceticयःwhoनnotद्वेष्टिhatesनnotकाङ्क्षतिdesiresनिर्द्वन्द्वःone free from the pairs of oppositesहिverilyमहाबाहोO mightyarmedसुखम्easilyबन्धात्from bondageप्रमुच्यते

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

Swami Sivananda

5.3 ज्ञेयः should be known? सः he? नित्यसंन्यासी perpetual ascetic? यः who? न not? द्वेष्टि hates? न not? काङ्क्षति desires? निर्द्वन्द्वः one free from the pairs of opposites? हि verily? महाबाहो O mightyarmed? सुखम् easily? बन्धात् from bondage? प्रमुच्यते is set free.Commentary A man does not become a Sannyasi by merely giving up actions because of laziness or ignorance or some family arrel or calamity or unemployment. A true Sannyasi is not a hypocritical coward.The Karma Yogi who neither hates pain and the objects which give him pain? nor desires pleasure and the objects that give him pleasure? who has neither attachment nor aversion to any senseobject and who has risen above the pairs of heat and cold? joy and sorrow? success and failure? victory and defeat? gain and loss? praise and censure? honour and dishonour? should be known as a perpetual Sannyasi though he is ever engaged in action.One need not have taken Sannyasa formally but if he has the above mental attitutde? he is a perpetual Sannyasi. Mere ochrecoloured robe cannot make one a Sannyasi. What is wanted is a pure heart with true renunciation of egoism and desires. Physical renunciation of objects is no renunciation at all. (Cf.VI.1)

Swami Chinmayananda

This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

Your reflection

to save your reflections on each verse.

Want to explore this verse deeper?

← 5.2 5.4→

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

Swami Sivananda

Swami Chinmayananda

In this verse, the Lord Himself explains the excellence of karma yoga. The definition of renunciation given by the Lord here dispels the baseless notions prevalent about it. Internal qualities hold greater significance than external trappings and ostentation of dress. According to Sri Krishna, a person free from attachment and aversion alone is worthy of being called a renunciate. Attachment and aversion, victory and defeat, pleasure and pain—these are the dualities through which the mind, mounted upon them, advances through life, gathering manifold experiences. It is only through comparative study that we come to understand the circumstances that arise in life. Knowledge of light comes only in reference to darkness. Without the existence of something opposite in nature to an object, we cannot understand that object in its true form. If the intellect has only the method of comparative study available to it for acquiring knowledge of things, then to abandon it would mean abandoning the very instrument of thought and discrimination. It is possible to travel on a road by one vehicle, but not to cross the ocean. For that, one must abandon that vehicle and acquire a boat. In the creation of countless names and forms, the intellect may be employed. Here it is said that a person who has become free from all distinctions and divisions—that is, who has transcended mind and intellect—alone is a true renunciate. This is no easy task. To be free from dualities means that the mortal being becomes liberated from all bondage. From this definition of the renunciate, do not understand that the Lord is attempting to paint a life of sorrowful despair for seekers. Arjuna's mind carried within it a long-accumulated store of desires and tendencies. Therefore, keeping in view his spiritual development, the Lord wishes to gently dissuade him from hastily embracing a life of renunciation.

This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 3 (BG 5.3) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

Commentaries

Your reflection

Your reflection

Commentaries