BG 5.2 — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 5.2Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

संन्यासः कर्मयोगश् च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ ।

तयोस् तु कर्मसंन्यासात् कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ॥

saṃnyāsaḥ karma-yogaś ca niḥśreyasa-karāv ubhau

tayos tu karma-saṃnyāsāt karma-yogo viśiṣyate

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Both paths lead to the highest good, but karma-yoga surpasses mere renunciation of action for one not yet ready to relinquish it cleanly.

ekras · bhāṣya

Krishna gives the layered answer. "Both samnyasa and karma-yoga produce nihshreyasa. But of the two, karma-yoga is superior to karma-samnyasa." Two halves placed precisely. The first: both paths produce the highest good. Neither is wrong; neither is decorative. Both, when walked properly by the practitioner appropriate to them, deliver. The second: of the two, karma-yoga vishishyate — is distinguished, ranks higher.

Madhusudana names the precise reason: both are nihshreyasa-kara as instrumental causes of jnana-utpatti, the arising of liberative knowledge. Karma-yoga excels specifically over the samnyasa available to one not yet ripened — because the unripened renunciate without antahkarana-shuddhi carries the unrenounced mind into the renounced life and the samnyasa is merely formal.

Madhva makes the distinction sharper still: the samnyasa Krishna is speaking about here is not turiya-samnyasa, the formal monastic order; it is dvandva-tyaga, the renunciation of the pairs of opposites. The contrast is therefore not between the householder and the formal renunciate, but between two inner stances available to anyone.

Vallabha frames Krishna's answer as directed specifically at Arjuna's pushti-nishtha doubt — the ubhaya-koti-samshaya, the two-edged confusion. Both poles of the doubt are valid; one is more usable for him. The verse holds the doctrinal both-and that 5.1 demanded a single answer for, and answers with a precise both-and that ranks one half higher for the situated practitioner.

Context

where

Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 5.1

You praise renunciation of action and then action itself, Arjuna tells Krishna. Which of the two leads more surely to the good? Tell me that one, with no ambiguity left.

What's going on

Both paths lead to the highest good, but karma-yoga surpasses mere renunciation of action for one not yet ready to relinquish it cleanly.

Sūtras through this verse (63)

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here5.2───→5.13Lay down all acts in mind; sit at ease, body free.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.───→here5.2───→7.1First hexad ends, middle hexad opens.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

4.23Clinging to anything is what binds you.───→here5.2───→5.12Drop the wish for fruit, not the fruit itself.

show all 63

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youstation

───→here5.2───→

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here5.2───→5.13Nine-gated city, all karma laid down

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

3.3Two populations, two distinct paths.───→here5.2───→5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemybetween

4.18See not-doing in doing, doing in not-doing.───→here5.2───→5.13Body-self confusion is the only error.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldbetween

4.18The post-knowledge actor does no action at all.───→here5.2───→5.8I do nothing at all, says the knower.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedbetween

2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..───→here5.2───→5.13Nine-gated city: body remains, doership does not.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here5.2───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here5.2───→7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

4.14Acts without clinging───→here5.2───→5.14Two tiers of rulership

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

4.24Every word for ritual points back to Viṣṇu.───→here5.2───→5.7'Self of all beings' just means the Lord.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.───→here5.2───→5.14The soul rules the inert; the Lord rules the soul.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

4.14He acts but does not cling to the act.───→here5.2───→5.14The Lord rules the modes; the soul rules the body.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

5.1Renouncing isn't quitting the householder's life.───→here5.2───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are one person, two names.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

2.59The taste fades only when the source is seen.───→here5.2───→5.16Mediated knowing is just the first step.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

4.25'Divine' just means the Lord, named indirectly.───→here5.2───→5.7'Self of all' resolves to the Lord himself.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

4.18Action in inaction───→here5.2───→5.6Renunciation needs the path

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

2.58Tortoise withdrawing───→here5.2───→5.27Senses excluded

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

3.27Modes act, ego claims───→here5.2───→5.13Nine-gated city

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

3.37Kāma is the enemy───→here5.2───→5.23Endure the urge

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here5.2───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.───→here5.2───→7.1Lord answers a question Arjuna did not ask.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

5.1Body-residue karma vs. fruit-bearing karma.───→here5.2───→18.1Tyāga and saṃnyāsa named distinct.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.───→here5.2───→5.13All actions renounced by mind alone.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningbetween

5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.───→here5.2───→7.1First six unfold 'you,' middle six unfold 'that.'

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.───→here5.2───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are one under two views.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

5.1Action for the ignorant: purification's only door.───→here5.2───→6.1Renouncing too lives by purity of mind.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

5.1Neither combined, nor optionally substituted.───→here5.2───→5.13The knower's body acts; the knower does not.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

3.43Use intellect to slay the enemy within.───→here5.2───→5.12Renounce the wish for fruit, not the fruit.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here5.2───→5.18See a sage, a cow, a dog as one.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

4.36Knowledge ferries you across the ocean.───→here5.2───→5.4Insight and practice are not two paths.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.───→here5.2───→5.8The knower thinks, 'I do nothing at all.'

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here5.2───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourapproach · v2

───→here5.2───→6.10Solitary seat

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here5.2───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here5.2───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here5.2───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here5.2───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here5.2───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartapproach

───→here5.2───→6.30See Me everywhere, I am never lost.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.───→here5.2───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

2.12From here to 18.66: one Krishna-utterance.───→here5.2───→5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

4.33Knowledge-rite outranks mere material rites.───→here5.2───→5.4Whoever sees them as one, sees rightly.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

2.11First grief — chapter-1 cowardice — closed.───→here5.2───→5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

5.1Arjuna asks the wrong question. first.───→here5.2───→6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

5.1Single-verse prelude sets sannyāsa-yoga eka.───→here5.2───→6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.───→here5.2───→5.4Only the foolish call the two paths different.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here5.2───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here5.2───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here5.2───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here5.2───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsapproach

───→here5.2───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here5.2───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here5.2───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here5.2───→6.47Six chapters of aphorism close at this verse.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

4.39Faith earns knowing; work readies that faith.───→here5.2───→5.5See sāṅkhya and yoga as one — see truly.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?───→here5.2───→6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here5.2───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here5.2───→7.14Undivided love crosses the great mist.

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

3.27Palm, kartala. Akartritva, non-doership. 'Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani s───→here5.2───→5.18Ring finger. Samadrishti. 'Vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini, shuni ch

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm───→here5.2───→5.4'Sankhya-yogau prithag balah pravadanti na panditah.' Only the immature say sank

Śabda · lemmas (10 unique · 14 occurrences)

विशिष्यते vi-√śiṣ — to distinguish, mark out (vi- + √śiṣ) · present indicative pass 3rd person singular verb
संन्यासः·संन्यासात् saṃnyāsa ×2 — renunciation, casting off (sam- + ni- + √as 'throw down') · nominative masculine singular noun / ablative masculine singular noun · also at 18.7

show all 10

कर्म karman ×3 — action, deed, the law of action · compound
योगः yoga ×2 — yoga; union, discipline, application · nominative masculine singular noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
निःश्रेयस niḥśreyasa — the highest good, liberation (nis- + śreyas) · compound
करौ kara — hand; ray; doer (from √kṛ) · nominative masculine dual noun
उभौ ubh — both (dual indeclinable form) · nominative masculine dual noun
तयोः tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · genitive masculine dual noun
तु tu — but, on the other hand (particle)

Praśna · so what (7)

01If both paths genuinely lead to liberation, why does Kṛṣṇa bother ranking them — is the superiority of karma-yoga absolute or only contextual to Arjuna's adhikāra (qualification)?
02Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja agree on karma-yoga's superiority but for opposite structural reasons — Śaṅkara as jñāna-preparation, Rāmānuja as independent bhakti-kainkarya. Which reading determines what a practitioner should actually do differently?

show all 7

03Madhva refuses to let 'saṃnyāsa' mean monastic life here. How much doctrinal weight rides on lexical choices in a single compound like karma-saṃnyāsa — and how does one adjudicate when bhāṣyakāras simply disagree on the referent?
04Śrīdhara's staged model (karma-yoga → citta-śuddhi → jñāna → saṃnyāsa) makes the two paths sequential rather than rival. Does this resolve Arjuna's dilemma or dissolve it by deferral?
05Vallabha's manasaiva-tyāgaḥ (only mental renunciation) position could legitimate any continued outer action. What safeguards in the Puṣṭi-mārga framework prevent this from collapsing into rationalized attachment?
06All six schools agree karma-yoga is viśiṣyate (superior/distinguished). Yet the word viśiṣyate is comparative, not absolute. Who, if anyone, should choose saṃnyāsa — and does any school give a clear positive answer?
07This verse is explicitly described by Śaṅkara as followed by 'kasmāt — on what grounds?' (the next verse). Does treating 5.2 in isolation distort its meaning, and what does that imply for verse-by-verse commentary formats?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before you quit your current responsibilities in the name of 'spiritual practice,' ask: has karma-yoga purified your citta enough that saṃnyāsa would be jñāna-deepening rather than avoidance? Śaṅkara's point is that premature withdrawal is not renunciation — it is another form of delusion. Do the work in front of you without craving the fruit; jñāna will arise when the ground is ready.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Treat each professional or household duty as kainkarya — service rendered to Bhagavān who is present as the antaryāmin (inner controller) in every being you interact with. The Rāmānuja framing makes karma-yoga independently sufficient: you do not need a prior jñāna phase. Dedicate the action, not just the fruit — the dedication transforms the act's quality, not merely its karmic consequence.

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Dvaita

Madhva's test for any renunciation: are you releasing the dvandvas (pairs: heat-cold, praise-blame, gain-loss) or merely performing an institutional role? Genuine saṃnyāsa is indifference to opposites maintained while serving Hari. If your 'renunciation' is a career move or social identity, it is not the saṃnyāsa this verse ranks. Focus instead on mat-pūjā — consistent, dependent worship — which Madhva ranks above all other paths.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's manasaiva-tyāgaḥ principle means you can remain fully engaged in worldly life — parenting, work, community — while holding those activities lightly in the mind. The outward form of karma-yoga is participation; the inward form is non-grasping. For someone in the householder phase this is not a compromise but the authoritative prescription: engage fully, possess nothing mentally.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's reading offers a diagnostic: if you are experiencing grief, confusion, or identity-crisis (deha-ātma-abhimāna), do not attempt to resolve it by stepping back from action. Enter karma-yoga instead — the discipline of purposeful, non-attached action systematically cuts the confusion that meditation alone, without a purified citta, cannot touch. Clarity follows purification; do not wait for clarity before acting.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's adhikāra-sampādakatva framing is a practical self-assessment tool: if sustained meditation or formal renunciation feels forced or produces aridity, that is a signal of missing adhikāra (qualification), not a signal to push harder into saṃnyāsa. Return to karma-yoga — consistent action offered without personal agenda — until the qualification for higher practices ripens organically. The path is self-revealing if you match practice to actual capacity.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 5, Verse 2: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga