Bhagavad Gita -Srila Prabhupada 236

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita As It Is -Shri Shrimad A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Karma-yoga—Action in krsna Consciousness Chapter 5: Verse-6 sannyäsas tu mahä-bäho duhkham äptum ayogatah yoga-yukto munir brahma na cirenädhigacchati TRANSLATION Merely renouncing all activities yet not engaging in the devotional service of the Lord cannot make one happy. But a thoughtful person engaged in devotional service can achieve the Supreme without delay. PURPORT There are two classes of sannyäsis, or persons in the renounced order of life. The Mäyävädi sannyäsis are engaged in the study of Sankhya philosophy, whereas the Vaisnava sannyäsis are engaged in the study of Bhägavatam philosophy, which affords the proper commentary on the Vedänta-sütras. The Mäyävädi sannyäsis also study the Vedänta-sütras, but use their own commentary, called Säriraka-bhäsya, written by Sankaräcärya. The students of the Bhägavata school are engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, according to päncarätriki regulations, and therefore the Vaisnava sannyäsis have multiple engagements in the transcendental service of the Lord. The Vaisnava sannyäsis have nothing to do with material activities, and yet they perform various activities in their devotional service to the Lord. But the Mäyävädi sannyäsis, engaged in the studies of Sankhya and Vedänta and speculation, cannot relish the transcendental service of the Lord. Because their studies become very tedious, they sometimes become tired of Brahman speculation, and thus they take shelter of the Bhägavatam without proper understanding. Consequently their study of the Srimad-Bhägavatam becomes troublesome. Dry speculations and impersonal interpretations by artificial means are all useless for the Mäyävädi sannyäsis. The Vaisnava sannyäsis, who are engaged in devotional service, are happy in the discharge of their transcendental duties, and they ave the guarantee of ultimate entrance into the kingdom of God. The Mäyävädi sannyäsis sometimes fall down from the path of self-realization and again enter into material activities of a philanthropic and altruistic nature, which are nothing but material engagements. Therefore, the conclusion is that those who are engaged in Krsna conscious activities are better situated than the sannyäsis engaged in simple speculation about what is Brahman and what is not Brahman, although they too come to krsna consciousness, after many births.