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Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-yoga · 47 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Duty & actionChapter 6 · Dhyāna-yoga

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 6.2

Renunciation in the midst of action

Karma · Action

यं सन्न्यासमिति प्राहुर्योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव ।

न ह्यसन्न्यस्तसङ्कल्पो योगी भवति कश्चन ॥ २ ॥

yaṁ sannyāsam iti prāhur

yogaṁ taṁ viddhi pāṇḍava

na hy asannyasta-saṅkalpo

yogī bhavati kaścana

Translation

What is called renunciation you should know to be the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme, O son of Pāṇḍu, for one can never become a yogī unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Renunciation and Yoga

  1. 1

    Renunciation is yoga, or linking with the Supreme. To become a yogī, one must give up the desire for sense gratification.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is both a renunciant and a yogī, using the senses only to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.

  3. 3

    Practice using your senses to satisfy Kṛṣṇa rather than seeking selfish enjoyment.

Key points from the purport

Detached action is same as renunciation because both require freedom from desire of sense gratification.

a

Real sannyasa-yoga or bhakti implies knowledge of one’s constitutional position as living entity and acting accordingly:

Constitution of living entity:

No separate independent identity, but part and parcel of the Supreme

Marginal energy of Supreme

Conditioned state – When the living entity is entrapped by material energy, it is called conditioned state

Real natural state of Life – When the living entity is Krishna conscious or aware of spiritual energy

Stage of complete knowledge – When living entity ceases all sense-gratifactory activities and acts according to spiritual constitution

How Yogis achieve this stage – Yogis practice this stage by restraining senses from material attachment

How devotees achieve this stage – He has no opportunity to engage senses in anything other than Krishna; which implies, he is in a stage of complete knowledge

Therefore Krishna conscious person is a perfect sannyasi and yogi

Therefore bhakti includes the purpose of jnana (knowledge) and yoga (controlling senses)

b

Failure of “jnana” and “yoga”, if we do not give up activities of selfish nature:

Real aim of life is to give up all selfish satisfaction and be prepared to satisfy the Supreme

Who fails in this aim – One with no information of the Supreme must engage in selfish activities

Who fulfils this criteria fully – Only a Krishna conscious persons who has no desire for sense enjoyment and always engaged for the enjoyment of the Supreme

Connected verses · 2

Texts 6.1 & 6.2

Krishna will now explain the relationship between sannyasa and yoga

Texts 6.2 & 6.3

Krishna now explains that the yoga process is divided into two levels.

Further reading

Advancing In Yoga Through Detached Work

Astanga yogis, like niskama-karma-yogis, engage in detached work to advance.

Chapter 6, section I: Advancing In Yoga Through Detached Work
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yamwhat
  2. sannyāsamrenunciation
  3. itithus
  4. prāhuḥthey say
  5. yogamlinking with the Supreme
  6. tamthat
  7. viddhiyou must know
  8. pāṇḍavaO son of Pāṇḍu
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: karma, sva-dharma.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 6.2 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to duty & action?

Practice

Do one task today purely because it is right.

5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

Live this todayTrain the Mind in Kṛṣṇa ConsciousnessA practice from BG 6.5, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.