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Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 18.4
निश्चयं शृणु मे तत्र त्यागे भरतसत्तम ।
त्यागो हि पुरुषव्याघ्र त्रिविध: सम्प्रकीर्तित: ॥ ४ ॥
niścayaṁ śṛṇu me tatra
tyāge bharata-sattama
tyāgo hi puruṣa-vyāghra
tri-vidhaḥ samprakīrtitaḥ
O best of the Bhāratas, now hear My judgment about renunciation. O tiger among men, renunciation is declared in the scriptures to be of three kinds.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
Kṛṣṇa asks Arjuna to hear His judgment: scripture describes three kinds of renunciation.
Prabhupāda explains that renunciation is understood by the modes of material nature in which it is performed.
Accept Kṛṣṇa’s judgment as final, because He is the Supreme Lord who gives the Vedic laws.
But Krishna’s opinion is that there are three kinds of renunciation based on the three modes
Lord’s opinion stands above all Vedas. After all, the Vedas are different laws given by God (purport)
His words should be taken as final (purport)
A true sannyasi does not renounce his activities, but is detached from their fruits
Krishna concludes that renounced order of life (sannyasa) and renunciation of the fruits of action (tyaga) are the same.
Work performed in this way is renunciation in the mode of goodness
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Key ideas: karma, sva-dharma.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What does BG 18.4 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to duty & action?
Do one task today purely because it is right.
Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.