Bhagavad Gita 18.4
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 4 of 78
निश्चयं शृणु मे तत्र त्यागे भरतसत्तम । त्यागो हि पुरुषव्याघ्र त्रिविधः सम्प्रकीर्तितः ॥
niścayaṃ śṛṇu me tatra tyāge bharata-sattama | tyāgo hi puruṣa-vyāghra tri-vidhaḥ samprakīrtitaḥ ||
Hear My definitive word on tyāga, O best of Bharatas — tyāga has been declared three-fold, O tiger among men.
Word by word (3)
- niścayaṃ śṛṇu me tatra tyāge bharata-sattama
- — hear (śṛṇu) My (me) decision/definitive conclusion (niścayam = certainty, final word) about tyāga (tatra = in this matter), O best/most excellent of the Bharatas (bharata-sattama) — Krishna signals: this is the definitive answer
- tyāgo hi puruṣa-vyāghra tri-vidhaḥ samprakīrtitaḥ
- — for (hi) tyāga, O tiger among men (puruṣa-vyāghra = human-tiger), has been declared (samprakīrtitaḥ = well-proclaimed, fully declared) to be three-fold (tri-vidhaḥ) — the same three-fold guṇa structure applies to tyāga as to food/yajña/tapas/dāna in Ch.17
- samprakīrtitaḥ
- — well-proclaimed/fully declared (sam + pra + kīrtita = thoroughly announced); the compound intensifier (sam+pra) signals that this is not a new teaching but a thoroughly established classification — the three-fold tyāga is already canonical in the śāstric tradition
Hear My definitive judgment about tyāga, O best of the Bharatas. For tyāga, O tiger among men, has been declared to be three-fold.
A modern analogy
Krishna uses niścayam (my definitive word) to signal that He is now settling the debate just introduced — between those who would abandon all action as faulty and those who insist sacred practices must continue. This is the Gita's characteristic move: present multiple views, then cut through with the authoritative synthesis. This verse is the announcement; the verses that follow will be the content.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Learn from Me the truth about this abandonment, O best of the Bharatas; abandonment, verily, O best of men, has been declared to be of three kinds. [1]
Hear from Me the final truth about relinquishment, O best of the Bharatas. For relinquishment has been declared to be of three kinds, O tiger among men. [4]
Hear from me the decision about abandonment, O best of Bharatas. For abandonment, O best of men! has been declared to be three-fold. [9]
As to that abandonment, listen to my decision, O best of the sons of Bharata, for abandonment, O tiger among men, has been declared to be of three kinds. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sāttvic tyāga: niyata karma done ONLY because 'this must be done,' having abandoned attachment and fruit.
Sāttvic yajña: performed as ordained, without fruit-desire, with the conviction 'this must be done.'
Rājasic karma: done desiring pleasures or with ego-pride, involving great effort.
The unattached-minded, self-conquered, desire-free one attains supreme naiskarmya-siddhi through sannyāsa.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Who acts in duty without depending on fruit — that one is the true sannyāsī and yogī, not the fireless or the inactive.
Verse 4 of 78 · back to Chapter 18