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Chapter 5
arjuna avaca
sannyasath karmanarn krsna punaryogam ca samsasi
yacchreya etayorekath tanme bruhi suniscitam
Arjuna said:
0 Krsna thou praisest, the renunciation of actions externally (Sankhyayoga) as well as their unselfish performance (Karmayoga), tell me, for certain, which one of the two is decidedly conducive to my good. 1
Comment :-
Sannyasam karmansm krsna:—Arjuna,, did not want to fight, because he did not want to kill his kinsmen. In order to support his stand, Arjuna put forward several arguments, as in the first chapter. He said, that fighting would incur sin (Gild 1/45). According to him, it was better to live in the world even by begging than to fight (2/5) and he bluntly said to Krsna, that he would not fight (2/9).
Generally, a listener interprets a preachees word, according to his own views. Having seen his kith and kin, Arjuna, out of delusion, thought it proper, to abandon his duty of fighting. So, he interpreted the Lord's word, according to his view, that He was praising the attainment of Self-realization, by renouncing actions.
Punaryogads ca samsasi:—The Lord, in the thirty-eighth verse of the fourth chapter, declared, "He who is perfected in Yoga, finds this knowledge (wisdom) of the Self, certainly without the aid of any other spiritual discipline." Keeping this fact in mind, Arjuna says to the Lord, that sometimes He praises the Discipline of Knowledge (4/33), while at other time He commands the Discipline of Action (4/41).
Yacehreya etayorekarh tanme bruhi suniscitam:—This question, was put by Arjuna, in the seventh verse of the second chapter also. In response, the Lord, having explained Karmayoga, ordered Arjuna to perform action, being established in Yoga, (even-mindedness), in the forty-seventh and forty-eighth verses of the second chapter. Again, in the second verse of the third chapter, Arjuna asked the Lord, "Tell me decisively, the one way by which I may attain to the highest good, (bliss or salvation)." In response, the Lord, in the thirtieth verse of the third chapter, ordered him to fight, being free from desire, feeling of mineness and mental woe (grief) while, in the thirty-fifth verse He declared, "Better is one's own duty, though devoid of merit than the duty of another well discharged." In this chapter also, the Lord clearly declares, "The unselfish performance of action, is better than the renunciation of action" (5/2); "a Karmayogi is easily set free, from bondage" (5/3); "renunciation is difficult to attain, without Yoga (Karmayoga) but a Karmayogi attains, quickly, the Absolute" (5/6). Thus, the Lord explains to Arjuna, that he should follow the Discipline of Action, by which he can attain to the Absolute, very quickly and easily.
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