BG 5.21 — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 5.21Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Tāta · anuṣṭubh

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत् सुखम् ।

स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥

bāhya-sparśeṣv asaktātmā vindaty ātmani yat sukham

sa brahma-yoga-yuktātmā sukham akṣayam aśnute

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

meaning

Whoever turns away from outer sense-pleasures finds joy within; yoked to Brahman through yoga, that person tastes happiness that never runs out.

ekras · bhāṣya

The one whose inner instrument is unattached to outer touches finds joy in the atman; yoked through brahma-yoga, that one tastes joy that does not run out. Sparsha here is the wider sense — touch as the metonym for all sense-contact, sound and the rest included.

Shankara holds the analogy precisely. The atma-sukha is not a new acquisition; it is the Self's own nature, veiled only by craving. When craving relaxes its grip, what is uncovered was already there. United through brahma-yoga — samadhi on Brahman — the seeker tastes a joy that has no terminus, because what is being tasted is what was never absent.

Madhusudana opens with the standard purva-paksha sharply. Sense-pleasure has been experienced across many births and is therefore extremely powerful; how can a mind still attached to it find stable footing in Brahman, which is imperceptible and appears, to ordinary experience, devoid of all pleasure? The Vartika is cited: even when Brahman's ananda is heard of, the unfamiliar voice has nothing to land on. The verse answers by pointing to a quieter sukha that is already discoverable when the outer pull recedes.

Shridhara names this inner joy sattvika upashama-atmaka, the quietude-natured joy already present within the antahkarana.

Madhva sharpens the doctrine: kama-rahita and brahma-yoga-yukta are inseparable conditions; atma-sukha without brahma-dhyana does not arrive.

Vallabha catches the subtler register: the yogi here is sattvika-sukha-finding, but the brahma-yoga-yukta-atma has gone further and tasted aishvarya itself, the lordly delight that belongs to Bhagavan.

Context

where

Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Tāta

preceded by — BG 5.20

A knower of Brahman neither swells at good fortune nor shrinks from misfortune, grounded in steady understanding, free from delusion, abiding in Brahman.

What's going on

Whoever turns away from outer sense-pleasures finds joy within; yoked to Brahman through yoga, that person tastes happiness that never runs out.

Sūtras through this verse (63)

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

5.13Lay down all acts in mind; sit at ease, body free.───→here5.21───→6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.───→here5.21───→7.1First hexad ends, middle hexad opens.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

5.12Drop the wish for fruit, not the fruit itself.───→here5.21───→5.29The Lord owns every act, never you.

show all 63

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

5.13Nine-gated city, all karma laid down───→here5.21───→6.1Soft sense of renouncer

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.───→here5.21───→18.66The combined-path view named and dismantled.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.───→here5.21───→18.41Each order's work is born of its own nature.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemybetween

5.13Body-self confusion is the only error.───→here5.21───→13.2One Self lights every body as one sun lights all.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedbetween

5.13Nine-gated city: body remains, doership does not.───→here5.21───→5.29Knowing Me, all wandering ceases at once.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here5.21───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here5.21───→7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldexit

5.8I do nothing at all, says the knower.───→here5.21───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

5.14Two tiers of rulership───→here5.21───→9.9Like one detached, not actually

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

5.7'Self of all beings' just means the Lord.───→here5.21───→8.3The 'imperishable Brahman' is the supreme person.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

5.14The soul rules the inert; the Lord rules the soul.───→here5.21───→6.9Souls differ by nature not by accident alone.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

5.14The Lord rules the modes; the soul rules the body.───→here5.21───→9.9He sits like one detached, not actually detached.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

5.1Renouncing isn't quitting the householder's life.───→here5.21───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are one person, two names.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

5.16Mediated knowing is just the first step.───→here5.21───→6.7The stilled mind sees the seated supreme self.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

5.7'Self of all' resolves to the Lord himself.───→here5.21───→6.20'Self' here is not soul but the Lord within.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

5.12Peace of the released───→here5.21───→18.46Work as worship

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

2.58Tortoise withdrawing───→here5.21───→5.27Senses excluded

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

5.14Lord neither acts nor causes───→here5.21───→13.20Prakriti causes, puruṣa enjoys

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

3.37Kāma is the enemy───→here5.21───→5.23Endure the urge

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here5.21───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.───→here5.21───→7.1Lord answers a question Arjuna did not ask.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

5.1Body-residue karma vs. fruit-bearing karma.───→here5.21───→18.1Tyāga and saṃnyāsa named distinct.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

5.13All actions renounced by mind alone.───→here5.21───→18.1Tyāga = renouncing the relationship.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.───→here5.21───→7.1First six unfold 'you,' middle six unfold 'that.'

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.───→here5.21───→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.───→here5.21───→6.1Renouncing too lives by purity of mind.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

5.13The knower's body acts; the knower does not.───→here5.21───→6.1Calling a karma-yogi 'renouncer' is only a courtesy.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

5.12Renounce the wish for fruit, not the fruit.───→here5.21───→5.23Endure desire and anger while still alive.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

5.19A mind in equality has already won.───→here5.21───→6.8Clay, stone, and gold are all level to him.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

5.4Insight and practice are not two paths.───→here5.21───→6.46The lover outranks every other yogi.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

5.8The knower thinks, 'I do nothing at all.'───→here5.21───→6.3Body, senses, and mind: none of them yours.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here5.21───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourapproach · v2

───→here5.21───→6.10Solitary seat

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here5.21───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here5.21───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here5.21───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here5.21───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here5.21───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartapproach

───→here5.21───→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.───→here5.21───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.───→here5.21───→9.24The receiver of all rites is named one verse.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

5.5The fruit of either is one and the same.───→here5.21───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are one figure.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.───→here5.21───→16.5Daivī-asuric grief closed mid-text.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

5.1Arjuna asks the wrong question. first.───→here5.21───→6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

5.1Single-verse prelude sets sannyāsa-yoga eka.───→here5.21───→6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

5.5Where one path goes, the other reaches too.───→here5.21───→6.1The two paths are one through fruit-renouncing act.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here5.21───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here5.21───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here5.21───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here5.21───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

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

───→here5.21───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here5.21───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here5.21───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here5.21───→6.47Six chapters of aphorism close at this verse.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

5.5See sāṅkhya and yoga as one — see truly.───→here5.21───→8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?───→here5.21───→6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here5.21───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here5.21───→7.14Undivided love crosses the great mist.

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

5.18Ring finger. Samadrishti. 'Vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini, shuni ch───→here5.21───→9.22Pinky finger. Shraddha, faith. Gaurav lands shraddha with the Sushma Swaraj six-

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

5.5'Yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate.' The place reached by sa───→here5.21───→6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 16 occurrences)

आत्मा·आत्मनि ātman ×3 — the Self, soul; one's own self · nominative masculine singular noun / locative masculine singular noun
सुखम् sukha ×2 — happiness, pleasure, ease · accusative neuter singular noun
बाह्य bāhya — external, outer · compound · also at 5.24, 5.27
अक्षयम् akṣaya — undecaying (a- + kṣaya 'decay', from √kṣi) · accusative neuter singular noun
अश्नुते √aś — to eat / to pervade (verbal root, two homophonous roots) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb

show all 13

स्पर्शेषु sparśa — touch, contact, sense-contact · locative masculine plural noun
असक्त asakta — unattached, detached (a- + sakta past-pple. of √sañj 'cling') · compound
विन्दति √vid — to know; to find (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
यत् yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · accusative neuter singular noun
स tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine singular noun
ब्रह्म brahman — Brahman (the Absolute); also: the Veda; sacred utterance · compound · also at 1.1, 2.72, 3.14, 3.15, 4.21, 4.24 +40
योग yoga — yoga; union, discipline, application · compound
युक्त √yuj — to yoke, join, engage in (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member) · also at 1.14, 2.28, 2.39, 2.50, 2.51, 2.61 +37

Praśna · so what (7)

01If ātma-sukha is already present within, what exactly is the practitioner doing when meditating — discovering something or removing something?
02Śaṅkara and Madhva agree on detachment from sense-objects but disagree on whether the resulting joy dissolves the jīva into Brahman or leaves it as a distinct worshipper: which account better explains why the joy is called akṣaya (imperishable)?

show all 7

03Madhusūdana's pūrva-pakṣa is psychologically precise: sense-pleasure reinforced across many births is more vivid than unexerienced Brahman-ānanda — what practice bridges that experiential gap?
04Rāmānuja inserts 'brahma-abhyāsa' (continuous practice of Brahman) where Śaṅkara inserts 'samādhi' — does this difference entail a different relationship between effort and grace?
05Vallabha reads akṣaya-sukha as Kṛṣṇa's own svarūpa-ānanda flowing in; Śaṅkara reads it as the Self's intrinsic nature unobstructed. Are these two accounts compatible, or do they require different metaphysics of the Self?
06The verse names two stages: (1) finding inner joy through detachment, (2) tasting inexhaustible joy through brahma-yoga. Is stage 1 a necessary precondition for stage 2, or can stage 2 be entered directly?
07Śrīdhara calls the inner joy sāttvika and upaśama-ātmaka (quietude-natured) — does that mean it is still within the guṇas, and if so, how does it lead beyond them to akṣaya-sukha?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When a familiar craving arises — for a notification, a compliment, a comfort food — pause and notice the antahkarana itself, the awareness that is present before and after the craving. Resting there for even thirty seconds is the bāhya-sparśa-vairāgya (detachment from outer touches) the verse describes. The Śaṅkara application: not suppression, but steady redirection of the inner organ away from the transient toward what is always already present.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Treat repeated practice of a devotional discipline — japa (repetition of a divine name), seva (service), pārāyaṇa (scriptural recitation) — as brahma-abhyāsa: the continuous habit-grooves of Brahman-orientation that Rāmānuja identifies as the mechanism for akṣaya-sukha. Each such act is kainkarya (service) that rewires the nervous system away from prakṛti-driven enjoyment toward divine experience.

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Dvaita

Before any significant decision, ask: 'Am I acting from kāma (desire for result) or from dharma (right action as worship of Hari)?' Madhva's anyathā na ('not otherwise') is a daily quality check: ātma-sukha found in kāma-sahita action is impermanent; the same action done as dhyāna-supported worship of Hari yields the inexhaustible kind.

Śuddhādvaita

In the Puṣṭi-mārga spirit, cultivate the recognition that any genuine moment of inner quietude — however brief — is Kṛṣṇa's prasāda already flowing in. Do not treat these moments as your achievement; receive them as gifts. This receptivity (rather than aggressive striving) is the Vallabha application: open the vessel by shedding saṃmoha, and the akṣaya-sukha pours in of its own.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's practical arc: when the mind is agitated by outer stimuli, consciously withdraw attention to the upaśama (quietude) available within — not a blank void but a gentle sāttvika stillness. Use this as a daily transition practice between tasks. Over time, this upaśama becomes the stable platform from which samādhi becomes possible, exactly as the verse sequences the two stages.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's application addresses the person who knows Brahman intellectually but still finds sense-pleasure more compelling. The practice: honestly audit where tṛṣṇā (thirst) lives — in the body, in social media, in approval-seeking — and apply precise vairāgya (dispassion) there, not in the abstract. As the tṛṣṇā-śūnyatā (desire-voidness) grows, the nirmalasattva-vṛtti (pure-sattva mental mode) naturally surfaces the upaśama-sukha that is the pratyag-ātman's own nature. Bhakti accelerates this: Kṛṣṇa-love is the fastest solvent of competing desires.

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 21: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga