Contents
Shri Sankara's Gita Bhashya
(Sri Sankaracharya's Commentary on the Gita)
CHAPTER -5
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Objection - How? Reply - The (Lord's) reply is: "Both renunciation and per formance of action lead to freedom; of these, performance of action is superior"[1]. The point for investigation here is:- Is it with reference to the renunciation and the performance of action, engaged in by one who has known the Self, that they are both stated as the means to freedom, but that on account of some special peculiarity, the performance of action is said to be superior to renunciation of action? Or, is it with reference to the renuncia tion and the performance of action, engaged in by one who has not known the Self, that the two statements arc made? Objection - What then[2]? - Whether it is with reference to the renunciation and the performance of action, engaged in by the knower of the Self, that they are said to lead to freedom, but that, of the two, performance of action is superior to renunciation of action; or whether it is with reference to the renunciation and performance of action, engaged in by one who has not known the Self, that the two statements are made? Reply - As to this, we state: Since it is impossible that renuncia tion and performance of action will be engaged in by a person who has known the Self, it is illogical alike to speak of their lead ing to freedom, or to speak of his karma-yoga as being superior to his renunciation of action. If (on the other hand) renunciation of action and its opposite-karma-yoga, performance of action,- be possible for the man who has not known the Self, then it would be proper alike to speak of them as leading to freedom and to speak of karma-yoga as superior to renunciation of action. But. in the case of the person who has known the Self, inasmuch as renunciation and karma-yoga are incompatible, to say that they both lead to freedom and that karma-yoga is superior to renunciation is not proper. |
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