:: Chapter 5 ::  Karma-yoga--Action in Krsna Consciousness

Text 1

arjuna uvaca
sannyasam karmanam Krisna
punar yogam ca samsasi
yac chreya etayor ekam
tan me bruhi su-niscitam

Synonyms

arjunah uvaca--Arjuna said; sannyasam--renunciation; karmanam--of all activities; Krisna--O Krisna; punah--again; yogam--devotional service; ca--also; samsasi--You are praising; yat--which; sreyah--is more beneficial; etayoh--of these two; ekam--one; tat--that; me--unto me; bruhi--please tell; su-niscitam--definitely.

Translation

Arjuna said: O Krisna, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of the two is more beneficial?

Purport

In this Fifth Chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita, the Lord says that work in devotional service is better than dry mental speculation. Devotional service is easier than the latter because, being transcendental in nature, it frees one from reaction. In the Second Chapter, preliminary knowledge of the soul and its entanglement in the material body were explained. How to get out of this material encagement by buddhi-yoga, or devotional service, was also explained therein. In the Third Chapter, it was explained that a person who is situated on the platform of knowledge no longer has any duties to perform. And in the Fourth Chapter the Lord told Arjuna that all kinds of sacrificial work culminate in knowledge. However, at the end of the Fourth Chapter, the Lord advised Arjuna to wake up and fight, being situated in perfect knowledge. Therefore, by simultaneously stressing the importance of both work in devotion and inaction in knowledge, Krisna has perplexed Arjuna and confused his determination. Arjuna understands that renunciation in knowledge involves cessation of all kinds of work performed as sense activities. But if one performs work in devotional service, then how is work stopped? In other words, he thinks that sannyasa, or renunciation in knowledge, should be altogether free from all kinds of activity, because work and renunciation appear to him to be incompatible. He appears not to have understood that work in full knowledge is nonreactive and is therefore the same as inaction. He inquires, therefore, whether he should cease work altogether or work with full knowledge.

Text 2

sri-bhagavan uvaca
sannyasah karma-yogas ca
nihsreyasa-karav ubhau
tayos tu karma-sannyasat
karma-yogo visisyate

Synonyms

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Personality of Godhead said; sannyasah--renunciation of work; karma-yogah--work in devotion; ca--also; nihsreyasa-karau--leading to the path of liberation; ubhau--both; tayoh--of the two; tu--but; karma-sannyasat--in comparison to the renunciation of furtive work; karma-yogah--work in devotion; visisyate--is better.

Translation

The Personality of Godhead replied: The renunciation of work and work in devotion are both good for liberation. But, of the two, work in devotional service is better than renunciation of work.

Purport

Furtive activities (seeking sense gratification) are cause for material bondage. As long as one is engaged in activities aimed at improving the standard of bodily comfort, one is sure to transmigrate to different types of bodies, thereby continuing material bondage perpetually. Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.5.4-6) confirms this as follows:

nunam pramattah kurute vikarma
yad indriya-pritaya aprnoti
na sadhu manye yata atmano 'yam
asann api klesa-da asa dehah
parabhavas tavad abodha-jato
yavan najijnasata atma-tattvam
yavat kriyas tavad idam mano vai
karmatmakam yena sarira-bandhah
evam manah karma-vasam prayunkte
avidyayatmany upadhi yamane
pritir na yavan mayi vasudeve
na mucyate deha-yogena tavat

"People are mad after sense gratification, and they do not know that this present body, which is full of miseries, is a result of one's furtive activities in the past. Although this body is temporary, it is always giving one trouble in many ways. Therefore, to act for sense gratification is not good. One is considered to be a failure in life as long as he makes no inquiry about his real identity. As long as he does not know his real identity, he has to work for furtive results for sense gratification, and as long as one is engrossed in the consciousness of sense gratification one has to transmigrate from one body to another. Although the mind may be engrossed in furtive activities and influenced by ignorance, one must develop a love for devotional service to Vasudeva. Only then can one have the opportunity to get out of the bondage of material existence."

Therefore, jnana (or knowledge that one is not this material body but spirit soul) is not sufficient for liberation. One has to act in the status of spirit soul, otherwise there is no escape from material bondage. Action in Krisna consciousness is not, however, action on the furtive platform. Activities performed in full knowledge strengthen one's advancement in real knowledge. Without Krisna consciousness, mere renunciation of furtive activities does not actually purify the heart of a conditioned soul. As long as the heart is not purified, one has to work on the furtive platform. But action in Krisna consciousness automatically helps one escape the result of furtive action so that one need not descend to the material platform. Therefore action in Krisna consciousness is always superior to renunciation, which always entails a risk of falling. Renunciation without Krisna consciousness is incomplete, as is confirmed by Srila Rupa Gosvami in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.258):

prapancikataya buddhya
hari-sambandhi vastunah
mumuksubhih parityago
vairagyam phalgu kathyate

"When persons eager to achieve liberation renounce things related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thinking them to be material, their renunciation is called incomplete." Renunciation is complete when it is in the knowledge that everything in existence belongs to the Lord and that no one should claim proprietorship over anything. One should understand that, factually, nothing belongs to anyone. Then where is the question of renunciation? One who knows that everything is Krisna's property is always situated in renunciation. Since everything belongs to Krisna, everything should be employed in the service of Krisna. This perfect form of action in Krisna consciousness is far better than any amount of artificial renunciation by a sannyasi of the Mayavadi school.