BG 5.28 — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 5.28Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर् मुनिर् मोक्षपरायणः ।

विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः ॥

yatendriya-mano-buddhir munir mokṣa-parāyaṇaḥ

vigatecchā-bhaya-krodho yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ

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

meaning

The sage who has reined in senses, mind, and intellect, who aims only at liberation and has shed desire, fear, and anger, is always already free.

ekras · bhāṣya

The technique-portrait completes itself. "The muni whose senses, mind, and intellect are restrained, with moksha as his sole destination, kama and bhaya and krodha gone — yah sada mukta eva sah." The cadence at the close is the verse's quiet thunder. Such a one is sada — always — already mukta, even now, even in the body.

Madhusudana reads the verse as the third of three sutra-verses compressing the entire sixth chapter in advance. Inner renunciation, then meditative discipline, then the fruit as paramatma-jnana. The practical detail he supplies is technical: the half-closed eye, ardhonmilana placed at the brow-centre, is motivated. Full closure invites laya — the sleep-like dissolution — and full opening scatters; the half-closure holds the middle station the dhyana requires. The vigata triple — vigata-iccha, vigata-bhaya, vigata-krodha — names the three departures: desire from imagined goods to be acquired; fear from imagined evils to be averted; anger from the obstruction encountered along the way. All three rest on the same false sense of an other against whom they could be directed; with the inward turn, the address is no longer there.

Shankara reads the same departure as a structural consequence of the discipline. The sense-objects have been expelled from inward cognition by sheer withdrawal; what remains has nothing for the three to attach to. The renunciate is sada mukta because the conditions of bondage have been quietly removed, not because a new state has been gained.

Ramanuja softens the verse. The departure of kama, bhaya, and krodha is not violent suppression; it is the natural consequence of fixing awareness on atma-darshana. The discipline is what makes the practitioner moksha-parayana — solely intent on liberation — and the soleness of intent is what dissolves the three.

Context

where

Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 5.27

Shut out every sensory contact, fix your gaze in the space between the brows, and balance the inbreath and outbreath as they move within the nostrils.

What's going on

The sage who has reined in senses, mind, and intellect, who aims only at liberation and has shed desire, fear, and anger, is always already free.

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.───→here5.28───→6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→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───→here5.28───→6.1Soft sense of renouncer

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.───→here5.28───→18.66The combined-path view named and dismantled.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→5.29Knowing Me, all wandering ceases at once.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here5.28───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

5.14Two tiers of rulership───→here5.28───→9.9Like one detached, not actually

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

5.7'Self of all beings' just means the Lord.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→9.9He sits like one detached, not actually detached.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

5.1Renouncing isn't quitting the householder's life.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→6.20'Self' here is not soul but the Lord within.

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentstation · v2 · station 4/10

───→here5.28───→

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

5.12Peace of the released───→here5.28───→18.46Work as worship

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

5.14Lord neither acts nor causes───→here5.28───→13.20Prakriti causes, puruṣa enjoys

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

5.26Already-released sage───→here5.28───→16.21Triple gate of hell

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here5.28───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.───→here5.28───→7.1Lord answers a question Arjuna did not ask.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

5.1Body-residue karma vs. fruit-bearing karma.───→here5.28───→18.1Tyāga and saṃnyāsa named distinct.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

5.13All actions renounced by mind alone.───→here5.28───→18.1Tyāga = renouncing the relationship.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.───→here5.28───→7.1First six unfold 'you,' middle six unfold 'that.'

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→6.1Calling a karma-yogi 'renouncer' is only a courtesy.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

5.26With desire gone, the goal stands on all sides.───→here5.28───→6.24Renounce every desire born of will.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

5.19A mind in equality has already won.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→6.46The lover outranks every other yogi.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

5.8The knower thinks, 'I do nothing at all.'───→here5.28───→6.3Body, senses, and mind: none of them yours.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here5.28───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourapproach · v2

───→here5.28───→6.10Solitary seat

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here5.28───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here5.28───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here5.28───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here5.28───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here5.28───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartapproach

───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are one figure.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.───→here5.28───→16.5Daivī-asuric grief closed mid-text.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

5.1Arjuna asks the wrong question. first.───→here5.28───→6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

5.1Single-verse prelude sets sannyāsa-yoga eka.───→here5.28───→6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

5.5Where one path goes, the other reaches too.───→here5.28───→6.1The two paths are one through fruit-renouncing act.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here5.28───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here5.28───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here5.28───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here5.28───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

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

───→here5.28───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here5.28───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here5.28───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here5.28───→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.───→here5.28───→8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?───→here5.28───→6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here5.28───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here5.28───→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───→here5.28───→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───→here5.28───→6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm

Śabda · lemmas (16 unique · 16 occurrences)

मोक्ष mokṣa — liberation, release (from √muc) · compound

show all 16

यत √yam — to restrain, control (verbal root); also: which (relative) · compound participle (compound member)
इन्द्रिय indriya — sense, sense-organ; the eleven indriyas (5 jñānendriyas + 5 karmendriyas + manas) · compound
मनः manas — mind (lower mind), the inner organ of perception · compound
बुद्धिः buddhi — intellect, intelligence, discriminating faculty · nominative masculine singular noun
मुनिः muni — sage, silent ascetic (from √man 'think') · nominative masculine singular noun
परायणः parāyaṇa — supreme refuge, ultimate goal (para 'highest' + ayana 'going') · nominative masculine singular noun
विगत vi-√gam — to depart (vi- + √gam 'go') · compound participle (compound member)
इच्छा icchā — wish, desire, will · compound
भय bhaya — fear · compound
क्रोधः krodha — anger, wrath · nominative masculine singular noun
यः yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine singular noun
सदा sadā — always, ever
मुक्तः √muc — to release, free (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular participle noun
एव eva — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
सः tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If desire, fear, and anger are listed as the three that 'depart' (vigata), what is the structural relationship among them — does the extinction of desire automatically extinguish fear and anger, or must each be addressed independently?
02Śaṅkara says no further act is owed (na kartavyo'sti) by the one who is already free — does this undercut the role of karma-yoga in the chapters that follow, or is it a statement about the nature of such action?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja asserts that freedom in the practice-state equals freedom in the accomplished-state: what does it mean pedagogically that the sādhana and sādhya are indistinguishable here?
04Madhva's reading insists on kumbhaka (breath-retention) as the technical meaning of 'prāṇāpānau samau' — does the same phrase in Advaita carry a different denotation, and does the doctrinal school determine the physiology of the practice?
05Madhusūdana identifies laya (dissolution into sleep) and vikṣepa (scattered cognition) as the two failure modes that the half-closed-eye posture neutralises — how does this map onto modern phenomenological accounts of meditation failure?
06Vallabha situates jīvanmukti as an effect of prasāda rather than sādhana — is this a structurally different claim about causality, or merely a different vocabulary for the same state?
07All six commentators converge on 'mukta eva' (already free) as the verse's point, yet they diverge on what makes freedom present — is this a genuine doctrinal divergence or a surface disagreement over emphasis?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before an important meeting, sit for three minutes and deliberately withhold attention from every email, sound, or anticipation arising in the mind — treat each as a 'bāhya viṣaya' (external sense-object) that you are actively placing back outside. Notice that residual anxiety (the fear-component) has no object once the mind is withdrawn; the state itself is the teaching. This is Śaṅkara's withdrawal practice made concrete.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In a conflict with a colleague, pause and shift attention from the dispute to the awareness that is witnessing it — Rāmānuja's 'ātmāvalokana' (self-vision). Ask: what does the self that is observing this friction actually need? Often the answer is nothing, and the desire-fear-anger triad dissolves. You remain effective in the sādhana-state (engaged at work) while carrying the sādhya-state (inner freedom) simultaneously.

show all 6

Dvaita

When overwhelmed by a cascade of tasks, physically pause, look at a fixed point at eye-level (Madhva's 'bhruvoh madhyam' — the brow-midpoint technique), and hold a slow breath before exhaling. This is Madhva's kumbhaka-grounded practice: the jīva, recognising it is not the author of outcomes, delegates agency to Hari. The practical result is a reset of the nervous system before returning to action as worship.

Śuddhādvaita

In parenting or caregiving, when frustration peaks, treat the moment as an invitation to rest on Kṛṣṇa's support rather than double-down on personal will. Vallabha's 'prapañce eva muktaḥ' (free within the world) means the household itself is the field of liberation — there is nowhere else to go. Offering the frustration to the Lord (Īśvara-ālambana) is not bypassing the situation; it is entering it without the grip of personal desire.

Bhakti

At the end of the workday, before transitioning to home life, take two minutes to observe whether desire, fear, or anger still have active grip. Śrīdhara's simple portrait of the jīvanmukta — nothing exotic, just 'jīvannapi muktaḥ' (free even while living) — makes this a repeatable daily audit. No technique is prescribed beyond the honest check; the verse is itself the method.

Advaita-Bhakti

When attempting any contemplative practice (breath, mantra, open awareness), watch for the two failure modes Madhusūdana names: laya (drifting into drowsiness) and vikṣepa (scattered planning). The corrective for laya is a slight upward engagement of attention; the corrective for vikṣepa is a slight narrowing. Madhusūdana's ardhonmīlana (half-closed gaze) is a physical anchor for this dynamic balance — keep eyes open enough to stay alert, closed enough to stay inward.

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 28: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga