Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 13 (BG 5.13) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

5.13 सर्वकर्माणि all actions? मनसा by the mind? संन्यस्य having renounced? आस्ते rests? सुखम् happily? वशी the selfcontrolled? नवद्वारे in the ninegated? पुरे in the city? देही the embodied? न not? एव even? कुर्वन् acting? न not? कारयन् causing to act.Commentary All actions -- (1) Nitya Karmas These are obligatory duties. Their performance does not produce any merit but their nonperformance produces demerit. Sandhyavandana? etc.? belong to this category.(2) Naimittika Karmas These Karmas are performed on the occurrence of some special events such as the birth of a son? eclipse? etc.(3) Kamya Karmas These are optional. They are intended for the attainment of some special ends (for getting rain? son? etc.)(4) Nishiddha Karmas These are forbidden actions such as theft? drinking liour? etc.(5) Prayaschitta Karmas Actions performed to neutralise the effects of evil actions or sins.The man who has controlled the senses renounces all actions by discrimination? by seeing inaction in action and rests happily in this body of nine openings (the ninegated city)? because he is free from cares? worries? anxieties and fear and his mind is ite calm and he enjoys the supreme peace of the Eternal. In this ninegated city the Self is the king. The senses? the mind? the subconscious mind? and the intellect are the inhabitants or subjects.The ignorant wordly man says? I am resting in the easychair. The man of wisdom who has realised that the Self is distinct from the body which is a product of the five elements? says? I am resting in this body. (Cf.XVIII.17?50)

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

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.

Modern

**BG 5.13** Renunciation is not the abandonment of the world. True renunciation is the relinquishment of false beliefs and unwise attachments. That person whose senses and mind are entirely under his own mastery, and whose actions are free from ego and self-interest, attains inexplicable joy and supreme contentment. Thus he dwells peacefully in the city of nine gates, which is the body. The metaphor of the nine-gated city is celebrated in the Upanishads. The body is likened to an ancient fortified city enclosed within protective walls. The nine gates of this bodily city are: the two eyes, the two nostrils, the two ears, the mouth, the organ of generation, and the organ of elimination. For the proper functioning of life within this body, most or all of these gates must be present. Just as a king dwelling in a fortress governs through his ministers, and his officers, merely by his presence and authority, receive inspiration and permission to perform their duties—so too does the conscious atman, though remaining itself the non-doer, cause all the senses of knowledge and action to engage in their respective functions through its mere presence. Using this celebrated metaphor, Sri Krishna declares: The disciplined and truth-perceiving person dwells at ease within the body, witnessing the functions of the instruments of nature, yet neither acting himself nor causing the instruments to act.