Bhagavad Gita 5.2
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 2 of 29
श्रीभगवानुवाच। संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ। तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात् कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते॥५-२॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca | sannyāsaḥ karma-yogaś ca niḥśreyasa-karāv ubhau | tayos tu karma-sannyāsāt karma-yogo viśiṣyate || 5.2 ||
Both sannyāsa and karma-yoga lead to liberation — karma-yoga surpasses mere renunciation.
Word by word (6)
- sannyāsaḥ
- — renunciation
- karma-yogaḥ
- — yoga of action / active path
- niḥśreyasa-karau
- — both leading to the highest good / liberation
- ubhau
- — both
- karma-sannyāsāt
- — than mere renunciation of actions
- viśiṣyate
- — excels / is superior
Krishna answers: Both paths — renunciation and active yoga — lead to the same highest good. But between the two, karma-yoga (acting without attachment) is better than mere external renunciation.
A modern analogy
Like choosing between quitting social media cold-turkey versus learning to use it without compulsion. Both can work, but the second builds internal freedom that extends to all of life — it is more robust.
What it does NOT mean
Krishna is not dismissing renunciation as useless. He is saying that karma-yoga — which includes inner renunciation while remaining active — is a more complete and reliable path than external withdrawal alone.
Take with you
- External renunciation (quitting the world) and inner renunciation-through-action both lead to liberation — they are not opposites.
- Karma-yoga is recommended as the superior path because it transforms action itself into spiritual practice rather than avoiding action.
- You don't have to leave your life to grow spiritually — you have to change how you engage with it.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
"Renunciation and Karma-yoga both lead to liberation; but of the two, Karma-yoga is superior to renunciation of action." [1]
"Renunciation and the Yoga of action both lead to the highest bliss; but of the two, the Yoga of action is superior to the renunciation of action." [4]
"Renunciation and the Yoga of action both lead to the highest bliss; but of the two, the Yoga of action is preferable to the renunciation of action." [5]
"The renunciation of works and the practice of works (as devotion) both lead to final beatitude; but of the two the practice of devotion is better than renunciation." [6]
"Both renunciation and the Yoga of right acts lead to bliss supreme; but of these twain the better way is working with due act, not abandonment." [7]
"Abandonment and devotion [to action] both lead to emancipation; but of these, devotion to action is distinguished above abandonment of action." [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Two paths: knowledge for the reflective, action for the active. Both lead to the same summit.
Action renounced through yoga, doubt cut by knowledge, self-possessed — actions cannot bind that person.
Who acts in duty without depending on fruit — that one is the true sannyāsī and yogī, not the fireless or the inactive.
No embodied being can abandon ALL action; the true tyāgī is the karma-phala-tyāgī — the fruit-abandoner.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Freedom from karma's bonds does not come from inaction. Perfection does not come from mere renunciation.
Verse 2 of 29 · back to Chapter 5