:: Chapter 18 :: Conclusion--The Perfection of Renunciation

Text 1

arjuna uvaca
sannyasasya maha-baho
tattvam icchami veditum
tyagasya ca hrsikesa
prthak kesi-nisudana

Synonyms

arjunah uvaca--Arjuna said; sannyasasya--of renunciation; maha-baho--O mighty-armed one; tattvam--the truth; icchami--I wish; veditum--to understand; tyagasya--of renunciation; ca--also; hrsikesa--O master of the senses; prthak--differently; kesi- nisudana--O killer of the Kesi demon.

Translation

Arjuna said: O mighty-armed one, I wish to understand the purpose of renunciation [tyaga] and of the renounced order of life [sannyasa], O killer of the Kesi demon, master of the senses.

Purport

Actually the Bhagavad-Gita is finished in seventeen chapters. The Eighteenth Chapter is a supplementary summarization of the topics discussed before. In every chapter of Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krisna stresses that devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life. This same point is summarized in the Eighteenth Chapter as the most confidential path of knowledge. In the first six chapters, stress was given to devotional service: yoginam api sarvesam... "Of all yogis or transcendentalists, one who always thinks of Me within himself is best." In the next six chapters, pure devotional service and its nature and activity were discussed. In the third six chapters, knowledge, renunciation, the activities of material nature and transcendental nature, and devotional service were described. It was concluded that all acts should be performed in conjunction with the Supreme Lord, represented by the words om tat sat, which indicate Vishnu, the Supreme Person. The third part of Bhagavad-Gita has shown that devotional service, and nothing else, is the ultimate purpose of life. This has been established by citing past acaryas and the Brahma-sutra, the Vedanta-sutra. Certain impersonalists consider themselves to have a monopoly on the knowledge of Vedanta-sutra, but actually the Vedanta-sutra is meant for understanding devotional service, for the Lord Himself is the composer of the Vedanta-sutra and He is its knower. That is described in the Fifteenth Chapter. In every scripture, every Veda, devotional service is the objective. That is explained in Bhagavad-Gita.

As in the Second Chapter a synopsis of the whole subject matter was described, in the Eighteenth Chapter also the summary of all instruction is given. The purpose of life is indicated to be renunciation and attainment of the transcendental position above the three material modes of nature. Arjuna wants to clarify the two distinct subject matters of Bhagavad-Gita, namely renunciation (tyaga) and the renounced order of life (sannyasa). Thus he is asking the meaning of these two words.

Two words used in this verse to address the Supreme Lord--Hrsikesa and Kesi-nisudana--are significant. Hrsikesa is Krisna, the master of all senses, who can always help us attain mental serenity. Arjuna requests Him to summarize everything in such a way that he can remain equipoised. Yet he has some doubts, and doubts are always compared to demons. He therefore addresses Krisna as Kesi-nisudana. Kesi was a most formidable demon who was killed by the Lord; now Arjuna is expecting Krisna to kill the demon of doubt.

Text 2

sri-bhagavan uvaca
kamyanam karmanam nyasam
sannyasam kavayo viduh
sarva-karma-phala-tyagam
prahus tyagam vicaksanah

Synonyms

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; kamyanam--with desire; karmanam--of activities; nyasam--renunciation; sannyasam--the renounced order of life; kavayah--the learned; viduh--know; sarva--of all; karma--activities; phala--of results; tyagam--renunciation; prahuh--call; tyagam--renunciation; vicaksanah--the experienced.

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The giving up of activities that are based on material desire is what great learned men call the renounced order of life [sannyasa]. And giving up the results of all activities is what the wise call renunciation [tyaga].

Purport

The performance of activities for results has to be given up. This is the instruction of Bhagavad-Gita. But activities leading to advanced spiritual knowledge are not to be given up. This will be made clear in the next verses. In the Vedic literature there are many prescriptions of methods for performing sacrifice for some particular purpose. There are certain sacrifices to perform to attain a good son or to attain elevation to the higher planets, but sacrifices prompted by desires should be stopped. However, sacrifice for the purification of one's heart or for advancement in the spiritual science should not be given up.