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Ch 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga
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Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 5, Verse 13: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 5.13Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी ।
नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन् न कारयन् ॥
sarva← sarva(138 verses)compound (compound member)all, entire-karmāṇi← karman(144 verses)accusative neuter plural nounaction, deed, the law of actionattested in commentariesadvaitaसर्वकर्माणि संन्यस्य परित्यज्य नित्यं नैमित्तिकं काम्यं प्रतिषिद्धंviśiṣṭādvaitaनवद्वारे पुरे सन्यस्य वशी देही स्वयं देहाधिष्ठानप्रयत्नम् अकुर्वन् देहेन नbhaktiविक्षेपकाणि मनसा विवेकयुक्तेन संन्यस्य सुखं यथा भवत्येवं ज्ञाननिष्ठः सन्नास्तेadvaita-bhaktiमनसाकर्मण्यकर्म manasā← manas(41 verses)instrumental neuter singular nounmind (lower mind), the inner organ of perceptionattested in commentariesadvaitaविवेकबुद्ध्या कर्मादौ अकर्मसंदर्शनेन संत्यज्येत्यर्थः आस्ते तिष्ठति सुखम्viśiṣṭādvaitaसर्वाणि कर्माणि नवद्वारे पुरे सन्यस्य वशी देही स्वयं देहाधिष्ठानप्रयत्नम् अकुर्वन् देहेन नśuddhādvaitaसन्न्यस्यास्ते सुखं यथा भवति तथा स्वयं नैव कुर्वन्मनसा त्यागात् इन्द्रियैरपि न कारयन्निति साङ्ख्याद्भेदोऽपि सूचितःbhaktiविवेकयुक्तेन संन्यस्य सुखं यथा भवत्येवं ज्ञाननिष्ठः सन्नास्ते saṃnyasy← saṃnyas(4 verses)convto renounce, cast down (sam- + ni- + √as 'throw')attested in commentariesadvaitaपरित्यज्य नित्यं नैमित्तिकं काम्यं प्रतिषिद्धंbhaktiसुखं यथा भवत्येवं ज्ञाननिष्ठः सन्नास्तेadvaita-bhaktiपरित्यज्य प्रारब्धकर्मवशादास्ते तिष्ठत्येवāste← √ās(6 verses)present indicative 3rd person singular verbto sit, remain (verbal root) sukhaṃ← sukham(2 verses)happiness, ease (adv./n. form) vaśī← vaśinnominative masculine singular nounself-controlled, master (vaśa + -in)
nava← navancompound (compound member)nine (numeral)-dvāre← dvāra(6 verses)locative neuter singular noundoor, gateway pure← puralocative neuter singular nouncity, fortressattested in commentariesadvaita। सप्त शीर्षण्यानि आत्मन उपलब्धिद्वाराणि अवाग् द्वे मूत्रपुरीषविसर्गार्थे तैः द्वारैः नवद्वारं पुरम् उच्यते शरीरम् पुरमिviśiṣṭādvaitaसन्यस्य वशी देही स्वयं देहाधिष्ठानप्रयत्नम् अकुर्वन् देहेन नadvaita-bhakti। द्वे श्रोत्रे द्वे चक्षुषी द्वे नासिके वागेकेति शिरसि सप्त द्वे पायूपस्थाख्ये अध इति नवद्वारविशिष्टे देहे। देही देहभिन dehī← dehin(10 verses)nominative masculine singular nounembodied being; the soul in a bodyattested in commentariesadvaitaसर्वं कर्म संन्यस्य आस्ते किं विशेषणेन सर्वो हि देही संन्यासी असंन्यासी वा देहेviśiṣṭādvaitaस्वयं देहाधिष्ठानप्रयत्नम् अकुर्वन् देहेन नbhaktiअवतिष्ठतेadvaita-bhaktiदेहभिन्नात्मदर्शी प्रवासीव परगेहेतत्पूजापरिभवादिभिरप्रहृष्यन्नविषीदन्नहंकारममकारशून्यस्तिष्ठति naiva kurvan← √kṛ(35 verses)nominative masculine singular present participle verbto do, make (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaस्वयम् नviśiṣṭādvaitaइत्याद्युक्तम् na← na(252 verses)not (negation particle) kārayan← √kāray(2 verses)nominative masculine singular present participle verbto cause to do (caus. of √kṛ)attested in commentariesadvaitaक्रियासु प्रवर्तयन्viśiṣṭādvaitaसुखम् आस्तेadvaita-bhaktiआस्त इति संबन्धः
spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip
meaning

Surrendering all actions to the mind, the self-controlled one lives at ease in the nine-gated city of the body, neither acting nor causing others to act.

Bhāṣyakāra purports

  • Śaṅkaraadvaita

    Śaṅkara reads this verse as the crowning statement of viveka-jñāna (discriminative knowledge): all actions — nitya (obligatory), naimittika (occasional), kāmya (desire-prompted), and pratiṣiddha (prohibited) — are renounced not by bodily withdrawal but by the manas (mind) recognizing them as superimpositions (adhyāropa) onto the action-less ātman. The dehī (ātman) does not truly reside in the city as a citizen does — the ajñānī (ignorant one) imagines it sits on the floor or in a chair, but the jñānī (knower) understands it inhabits the nine-gated body (nava-dvāre pure) as a sovereign guest, untouched: 'na karoti na lipyate' (Gītā 13.31). Agency (kartṛtva) and causation (kārayitṛtva) are themselves negated — the ātman neither acts nor causes action, just as the riverbank tree does not move when the boat moves.

  • Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

    Rāmānuja grounds the renunciation in ontological precision: the jīva's kartṛtva (agency) is not intrinsic to its svarūpa (essential nature) but is prācīna-karma-mūla (rooted in prior-karma-bound embodiment). The vaśī (self-controlled) dehī, grasping this through viveka-viṣayeṇa manasā (discriminating mind), mentally surrenders all action while living fully in the nine-gated body — 'svayam dehādhiṣṭhāna-prayatnam akurvan' (without making the effort of bodily ownership). Far from world-negation, this is the precondition for pure kainkarya (service to Bhagavān): once the jīva ceases claiming authorship, every act of the body-city flows as the Lord's action through His mode (viśeṣaṇa).

  • Madhvadvaita

    Madhva reads the critical word as manasā (by the mind) — 'manaseti viśeṣaṇād abhimāna-tyāgaḥ' (the modifier 'by the mind' means abandonment of abhimāna, the false sense of ownership). The eternal jīva, utterly distinct from Hari, is never the real agent; what is renounced here is the superimposed claim of independent authorship (svātantrya-abhimāna). Residing as vaśī (disciplined) in the nava-dvāra city, the jīva dwells in dependent-worship (paratantra-bhakti), its sukham (ease) consisting precisely in the relief of no longer usurping what belongs to Hari.

  • Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

    Vallabha insists on the internal-external distinction that separates yoga from sāṃkhya: 'manasaiva karma-tyāgaḥ bāhyataḥ karma karaṇaṃ cābhipretam' — mental surrender is the intent; outward action continues. The vaśī is one whose mind is equalized (sama-bhūtena manasā), so that external deeds are no longer tainted by ego-identification. In Puṣṭi-mārga this means all activity in the nine-gated city is Kṛṣṇa's līlā flowing through the devotee's limbs; the jīva's ease (sukham) is the rapture of being His instrument rather than a self-appointed doer.

  • Śrīdharabhakti

    Śrīdhara Svāmī distinguishes this verse from earlier teaching on the impure-minded: where the unrefined practitioner abandons action externally and yet returns to doing and causing (karaṇa/kāraṇa), the śuddha-citta (pure-minded) renounces through viveka-yukta manas (mind armed with discrimination). Such a one abides in the body as in a city empty of ahaṃ-bhāva (sense of 'I'): 'pura-vad ahaṃ-bhāva-śūnye dehe' — and precisely this absence of ahaṃkāra extinguishes kartṛtva, while the absence of mamakāra (mine-ness) extinguishes kārayitṛtva. Sukham arises not as pleasure but as the natural stillness of a citta no longer churned by doership.

  • Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

    Madhusūdana Sarasvatī bridges Advaita and bhakti by specifying that sarvakarmāṇi-saṃnyāsa is the bādhā (sublation) of superimposed agency: just as trees on the bank appear to move when viewed from a moving boat, so body-actions appear to belong to the changeless ātman — and jñāna removes that appearance. The dehī is a pravāsī (traveller in a foreign residence), neither elated nor downcast by the body-city's honors or insults: 'ahaṃkāra-mamakāra-śūnyas tiṣṭhati.' Critically, Madhusūdana preserves Kṛṣṇa's presence: the sukham of this verse is the ānanda-rasa (flavor of joy) available only to one who loves the Lord and has simultaneously seen through the false city-ownership — jñāna clears the ground, bhakti fills it.

Sūtrakṛt-Gītā · v1.0 · gita.ekrasworks.com