BG 5.22 — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 5.22Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Kaunteya · anuṣṭubh

ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते ।

आद्य्अन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥

ye hi saṃsparśajā bhogā duḥkha-yonaya eva te

ādy-anta-vantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ

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

meaning

Pleasures born of sense-contact are wombs of sorrow, Arjuna, bounded by a beginning and an end; a wise person finds no delight in them.

ekras · bhāṣya

The verse names the bhogas plainly and the wise man's response. "The bhogas born of samsparsha are wombs of sorrow only, kaunteya, with beginning and end; the budha does not delight in them." Three predicates come quickly: duhkha-yoni — wombs of suffering; ady-anta-vantah — bounded fore and aft; therefore na teshu ramate budhah — the wise one finds no delight there.

Madhusudana brings Patanjali's three-fold analysis to bear directly. Parinama-tapa-samskara-duhkhaih guna-vritti-virodhat. Sense-pleasure is suffering in three temporal registers. Parinama-duhkha — the desire ripens into frustration; the longed-for object, when reached, fails to deliver its promised completeness. Tapa-duhkha — the dvesha that guards the pleasure breeds its own anguish; the fear of losing what was won is its own ongoing pain. Samskara-duhkha — the residue of the pleasure regenerates craving across lives, and the craving is itself the next round's bondage. The wise man is not refusing what is sweet; he sees the entire arc and does not enter.

Shridhara catches the diagnosis at the present-moment level. Sense-pleasures are already infected — spardha, asuya, and similar afflictions — even as they are being enjoyed, vartamana-kale api. The arc does not wait for the future to spoil; the spoilage is concurrent with the enjoyment.

Madhva keeps the gloss instrumental and terse: the verse's purpose is to establish samnyasa, not to develop a metaphysics of impermanence.

Vallabha catches the cleanest contrast: prakritendriya-janya pleasures are ady-anta-vat, bounded; brahma-ananda received through the inward path is not. The first is therefore an-artha, the second pravritta-pravritti — full purposiveness.

Context

where

Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Kaunteya

preceded by — BG 5.21

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

What's going on

Pleasures born of sense-contact are wombs of sorrow, Arjuna, bounded by a beginning and an end; a wise person finds no delight in them.

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.───→here5.22───→6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→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───→here5.22───→6.1Soft sense of renouncer

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.───→here5.22───→18.66The combined-path view named and dismantled.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→5.29Knowing Me, all wandering ceases at once.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here5.22───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

5.14Two tiers of rulership───→here5.22───→9.9Like one detached, not actually

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

5.7'Self of all beings' just means the Lord.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→9.9He sits like one detached, not actually detached.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

5.1Renouncing isn't quitting the householder's life.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→6.20'Self' here is not soul but the Lord within.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

5.12Peace of the released───→here5.22───→18.46Work as worship

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

2.58Tortoise withdrawing───→here5.22───→5.27Senses excluded

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

5.14Lord neither acts nor causes───→here5.22───→13.20Prakriti causes, puruṣa enjoys

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

3.37Kāma is the enemy───→here5.22───→5.23Endure the urge

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here5.22───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.───→here5.22───→7.1Lord answers a question Arjuna did not ask.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

5.1Body-residue karma vs. fruit-bearing karma.───→here5.22───→18.1Tyāga and saṃnyāsa named distinct.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

5.13All actions renounced by mind alone.───→here5.22───→18.1Tyāga = renouncing the relationship.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.───→here5.22───→7.1First six unfold 'you,' middle six unfold 'that.'

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→5.23Endure desire and anger while still alive.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

5.19A mind in equality has already won.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→6.46The lover outranks every other yogi.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

5.8The knower thinks, 'I do nothing at all.'───→here5.22───→6.3Body, senses, and mind: none of them yours.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here5.22───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourapproach · v2

───→here5.22───→6.10Solitary seat

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here5.22───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here5.22───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here5.22───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here5.22───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here5.22───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartapproach

───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are one figure.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.───→here5.22───→16.5Daivī-asuric grief closed mid-text.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

5.1Arjuna asks the wrong question. first.───→here5.22───→6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

5.1Single-verse prelude sets sannyāsa-yoga eka.───→here5.22───→6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

5.5Where one path goes, the other reaches too.───→here5.22───→6.1The two paths are one through fruit-renouncing act.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here5.22───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here5.22───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here5.22───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here5.22───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

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

───→here5.22───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here5.22───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here5.22───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here5.22───→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.───→here5.22───→8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?───→here5.22───→6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here5.22───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here5.22───→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───→here5.22───→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───→here5.22───→6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm

Śabda · lemmas (16 unique · 17 occurrences)

ते·तेषु tad ×2 — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine plural noun / locative masculine plural noun
रमते √ram — to delight in, sport (verbal root); rāma · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
कौन्तेय kaunteya — son of Kuntī (epithet of Arjuna) · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 1.27, 2.14, 2.37, 2.60, 3.9, 3.39 +18
बुधः budha — wise, learned (from √budh) · nominative masculine singular noun

show all 16

ये yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine plural noun
हि hi — for, indeed, because (particle)
संस्पर्श saṃsparśa — contact, touching (sam- + √spṛś) · compound
जाः ja — born of, produced from (suffix) · nominative masculine plural noun
भोगाः bhoga — enjoyment, experience (sensual) · nominative masculine plural noun
दुःख duḥkha — suffering, sorrow, pain · compound
योनयः yoni — womb, source, origin · nominative masculine plural noun
एव eva — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
आदि ādi — beginning, origin; first; (suffix: 'X and so on') · compound
अन्त anta — end, conclusion, limit, death · compound
वन्तः vat — possessor of (suffix); also: like, as
न na — not (negation particle)

Praśna · so what (7)

01If all sense-pleasures are duhkha-yoni by structure (not merely by excess), does moderation solve anything -- or does Shankara's impermanence argument make every dose of pleasure an unresolved debt?
02Madhusudana distinguishes the vivekin (who suffers even mild pleasure-contact as pain, like the eye-cup) from the mudha (who endures gross sorrow without noticing). Is heightened sensitivity to suffering a mark of progress or a burden -- and what does that imply for pedagogy?

show all 7

03Ramanuja's tad-yathatmya-vid (knower of their real nature) implies that correct seeing, not bare renunciation, is the operative act. How does right-knowing differ from suppression, and which is Krsna actually recommending here?
04Vallabha reframes the verse as an argument FOR brahma-ananda rather than against pleasure. Does the verse's grammar support an affirmative reading, or is Vallabha importing his Pushti-marga telos onto a neutral negation?
05Madhva compresses the verse to a single instrumental clause (for the sake of renunciation). What does the minimalism of his gloss reveal about how Dvaita handles verses that resist bhakti-devotional elaboration?
06Shridhara's present-tense sorrow (spardha, suya -- rivalry, jealousy -- operative right now, mid-pleasure) suggests the pain is social and relational, not metaphysical. Which of the six schools best addresses this relational dimension?
07All six schools agree that the budha does not delight in sense-pleasures -- but they disagree on whether this non-delight is cognitive (avidya removed), relational (yathatmya-knowledge), structural (tri-guna analysis), or devotional (kainkarya-orientation). Does the verse itself adjudicate, or does it deliberately leave the mechanism open?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When a craving arises -- for food, approval, entertainment -- pause and trace it to its structural source: the conjunction (samyoga) of a sense-organ with an object produced by avidya. Note that the satisfaction you anticipate already contains its termination. Practice viveka (discrimination) not as suppression but as clear seeing: this pleasure has a birthday and a death-day; no stable self resides in its interval.

Dvaita

Identify one habitual kama-bhoga -- a comfort pattern that subtly claims your first loyalty (scrolling, snacking, status-seeking) -- and practice a deliberate sannyasa of that specific habit for a defined period. Frame the renunciation not as self-punishment but as clearing space for the jiva's proper posture: dependent, worshipful orientation toward Hari rather than toward any created object.

show all 4

Bhakti

In social and professional life, watch for the spardha-suya complex -- rivalry, jealousy, envy -- that activates the moment you or another gains a pleasure. That activation is the real-time signature of duhkha-yonitva. Use it as a sensor: when the rivalry-reflex fires, recognize it as evidence that the pleasure-object is already doing its work as a sorrow-source, without waiting for separation or loss.

Advaita-Bhakti

Keep Madhusudana's three-register audit as a decision-making tool. For any anticipated pleasure ask: (1) parinama -- how will this transform as circumstances shift? (2) tapa -- what will I protect or resent to sustain it? (3) samskara -- what impression will this leave that pulls me back for more? If all three are non-trivial, the akshi-patra standard applies: the vivekin declines not because the pleasure is grossly wrong but because the composite cost exceeds the yield.

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 22: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga