Verse 18.2

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 18.2:

काम्यानां कर्मणां न्यासं सन्न्यासं कवयो विदुः ।
सर्व-कर्म-फल-त्यागं प्राहुस् त्यागं विचक्षणाः ॥ २ ॥

kāmyānāṃ karmaṇāṃ nyāsaṃ sannyāsaṃ kavayo viduḥ |
sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṃ prāhus tyāgaṃ vicakṣaṇāḥ || 2 ||

śrī bhagavān uvāca–the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; kāmyānām–of fruitive; karmaṇām–activities; nyāsam–the abandonment; sannyāsam–as renunciation; kavayaḥ–the sages; viduḥ–understand; sarva-karma-phala–of the fruit of all activities; tyāgam–giving up; prāhuḥ–they declare; tyāgam–detachment; vicakṣaṇāḥ–enlightened.

Śrī Bhagavān said: According to enlightened sages, completely giving up all fruitive action is renunciation (sannyāsa), whereas to abandon the fruits of all action is called detachment (tyāga).

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

At first, to explain the different meanings of the two words sannyāsa and tyāga on the basis of the ancient doctrines, Śrī Bhagavān is speaking this verse beginning with kāmyānām.

The term sannyāsa means to completely give up all kāmya-karma (materially motivated action), such as performing a yajña to beget a son or attain the heavenly planets. But it does not imply that one should give up nitya-karma (obligatory duties), such as remembering gāyatrī-mantras.

The term tyāga refers to abandoning the fruits of all materially motivated action and obligatory action but not abandoning the activities themselves. Even the performance of one’s obligatory duties (nitya-karma) yields fruit, such as the attainment of Pitṛ-loka (the planet of the forefathers) and getting free from sin. This is expounded throughout the Śrutis. Therefore, tyāga means to perform all actions without desiring their result. Sannyāsa, however, means to perform all one’s obligatory duties (nitya-karma) without desiring the results and to give up fruitive action altogether. This is the difference between these two terms.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Śrī Bhagavān gives the opinion of highly exalted personalities who are fully conversant with the true principle. Renunciation (sannyāsa) certainly means to not completely abandon one’s obligatory duties (nitya-karma) or occasional religious duties incurred by specific circumstances (naimittika-karma), but to give up fruitive action (sakāma-karma) altogether. And detachment (tyāga) means to not abandon fruitive action (the selfishly motivated execu-tion of that duty) or obligatory and occasional actions altogether but to simply give up their results. Deliberation on both of these concepts is visible in various places throughout scripture. However, here, by knowing the opinion of Śrī Bhagavān Himself, as well as that of His devotees, who are conversant with the principles of Truth, it is possible to have absolute reconciliation of the above mentioned concepts.

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, by making Uddhava the object of His instruction, has explained the three types of yoga, namely karma, jñāna and bhakti, according to the eligibility of different individuals. For those who are attached to karma and its results, He instructs (niṣkāma) karma-yoga, the path of spiritual advancement through offering the fruit of one’s prescribed action to the Lord. For those supremely renounced persons who are completely detached from the results of karma, prescribed duties, He instructs jñāna-yoga, the path of spiritual advancement through transcendental knowledge. But for those moderate persons who are neither overly attached to the results of their prescribed duty nor who are dry renunciants, He instructs bhakti-yoga, the path of loving devotion to the Supreme Lord.

Generally, in the initial stages, a conditioned soul only has the qualification (adhikāra) to perform karma, his prescribed duty. In order to make him enter the stage (adhikāra) of jñāna, the instruction to relinquish the results of prescribed action (karma-phala-tyāga) and renounce action altogether (karma-sannyāsa) has been imparted. First, one should practise completely abandoning fruitive action (sakāma-karma) and then gradually, one should also renounce the fruits of obligatory and occasional duties (nitya-and naimittika-karma). A person’s heart is purified after performing this practice for some time and he becomes situated on a higher platform, jñāna. His qualification to perform his prescribed duty (karma) then ceases. In that stage it becomes possible for him to renounce karma completely. According to the statement “jñānaṃ ca mayi sannyaset–jñāna must also be renounced to attain Me” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.19.1), even jñāna should be renounced upon achieving perfection in it. However, unlike the karmīs and jñānīs, those who practice bhakti do not need to renounce bhakti upon attaining perfection in it. Rather, in the perfected stage, bhakti is executed in its purest, most developed manner.

Therefore, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself has made the following statements: “tāvat karmāṇi kurvīta–one should continue to perform karma as long as he is not satiated by it or has not developed śraddhā in hearing and reciting topics about Me” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.20.9); “jñāna-niṣṭho virakto vā–the conduct of those dedicated to cultivating transcendental knowledge and who are thus detached and the conduct of My exclusive devotees is beyond the range of rules and regulations” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.18.28); “yas tv ātma-ratir eva syād–a person who delights in the self, however, who remains contented and satisfied in the self, has no duties to perform” (Gītā 3.17); and “sarva-dharmān parityajya–completely abandon everything and take exclusive shelter of Me” (Gītā 18.66). The Yoga-vāśiṣṭha also states “na karmāṇi tyajeta yogī karmabhist yajyate hy asāv iti–a yogī should not give up his prescribed duty because the prescribed duty itself will renounce the yogī when he has attained an elevated level.”

Generally, scripture does not instruct conditioned souls to give up their prescribed duty;rather, it instructs them to just give up fruitive actions or the results of their actions. This is because generally, the living entity in his bound state is very much attached to performing fruitive action (sakāma-karma). If, in the beginning stage of his practice, he is instructed to give up action, he will not be able to embrace this. Therefore, such instructions are given to gradually bring him to a higher platform.

Through this step-by-step process, by first practising the renunciation of the fruits of action, the heart becomes purified. Thereafter, it is only possible to give up action completely when one achieves ātma-rati (the happiness of the self). For this reason, Śrī Bhagavān gives the instruction na buddhi-bhedaṃ janayet…–one should not instruct less intelligent people, who are attached to karma, or scripturally prescribed action, to give it up. Due to their immature intelligence, they will become confused and deviate from the spiritual path. Rather, by example, you should instruct them how to work without attachment” (Gītā 3.26). However, one should also remember that only for a person who has developed the qualification to engage in kevalā-bhakti, is it possible to completely give up all prescribed action (nitya-karma, naimittika-karma and kāmya-karma).

It is for this reason alone that the verse sarva-dharmān parityajya is spoken at the end of this chapter. In his commentary on this verse, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura writes, “When a person becomes qualified to perform unalloyed devotion to the Supreme Lord, then, as a result of the good fortune that has come about through the mercy of great saints, he is not inflicted by fault or sin even if he does not perform any of his regular prescribed duties (nitya-karma). In fact, if in that state he continues to engage in his scripturally prescribed regular and occasional duties (nitya-naimittika-karma), he incurs sin, because by doing so, he transgresses My instruction. In other words, the performance of nitya-naimittika-karma is not favourable to the execution of kevalā-bhakti.”

Here, nitya-karma refers to daily obligatory activities such as the worship of various demigods and goddesses as described in the section of the Vedas dealing with path of karma (fruitive activity). Naimittika-karma means ‘occasional religious activities’ such as the worship of the forefathers and demigods in the śrāddha ceremony (performed for deceased family members).

A person enters into the divine realm of pure devotion (kevalā-bhakti) to Śrī Kṛṣṇa only when he completely abandons these activities.

By studying Sat-kriyā-sāra-dīpikā by Śrīmad Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, the great Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācārya and protector of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava conceptions, we can understand that no authoritative scripture gives any injunctions for the pure, one-pointed devotees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa to worship the forefathers and demigods, regardless of the devotees’ varṇa or āśrama. Rather, if the exclusive devotees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa engage in the worship of the forefathers or demigods, it becomes an offence to devotional service (sevā-aparādha) and to the holy name (nāma-aparādha).

Śrīmad Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī uses evidence from scriptures to prove that when Śrī Kṛṣṇa is pleased by a person’s exclusive devotion, that devotee does not incur any sinful reaction or commit the fault of negligence, even if he gives up all other prescribed action. Such one-pointed devotees attain an auspicious position, whether they are situated in this universe or beyond it.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Śrī Kṛṣṇa as saying, “Sannyāsa means to completely give up all materially motivated fruitive activity (kāmya-karma) and perform regular (nitya) and occasional (naimittika) duties without desiring their fruit. Tyāga means to give up the fruit of all types of karma–regular (nitya) and occasional (naimittika) and fruitive (kāmya). Learned people explain this to be the difference between sannyāsa and tyāga.”