Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Bg 18.2

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kāmyānāṁ karmaṇāṁ nyāsaṁ
sannyāsaṁ kavayo viduḥ
sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ
prāhus tyāgaṁ vicakṣaṇāḥ

Synonyms: 

śrī–bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; kāmyānām — with desire; karmaṇām — of activities; nyāsam — renunciation; sannyāsam — the renounced order of life; kavayaḥ — the learned; viduḥ — know; sarva — of all; karma — activities; phala — of results; tyāgam — renunciation; prāhuḥ — call; tyāgam — renunciation; vicakṣaṇāḥ — the experienced.

Translation: 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The giving up of activities that are based on material desire is what great learned men call the renounced order of life [sannyāsa]. And giving up the results of all activities is what the wise call renunciation [tyāga].

kāmyānāṁ karmaṇāṁ nyāsaṁ, kāmyānāṁ karmaṇāṁ, for kāmyā Karam, nyāsaṁ, renunciation, 

sannyāsaṁ kavayo viduḥ, so the wise declare what is sanyas, sanyas is to give up Kamya Karma, 

And

sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ, and giving up all kinds of work 

that is 

prāhus tyāgaṁ vicakṣaṇāḥ, tyāgaṁ vicakṣaṇāḥ, that is actually tyaga.

Tyaga vs Sannyasa

Two types of karma (fruitive activity as per scriptures):

Not all fruitive activities are sinful there are fruitive activities which are good. 

  1. Nitya-karma (standard prescribed duties): e.g. Sandhya vandana, Brahmanas are supposed to do Gyatri every day, Sandhya vandana is nitya karma it has to be done every day and it is a lifelong duty that a Brahmana performs.
  2. Kamya-karma (that Karam which is done to fulfill a particular Kama): e.g. Putra-kameshti Yajna. Like Dharam, Artha, Kama so dharma can be performed to fulfill a particular types of Kama.

Sannyasa: Give up kamya karma (not nitya karma)

kāmyānāṁ karmaṇāṁ nyāsaṁ
sannyāsaṁ kavayo viduḥ

So Sanyasis are meant to give up the kamya karma not Nitya Karma, 

So Sanyasis give up all material desires and give up doing anything to fulfill those desires. 

Tyaga: Do both nitya and kamyakarma, but without attachment

sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ
prāhus tyāgaṁ vicakṣaṇāḥ

And what is Tyaga? sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ that means Krishna defines Tyga more as not just renunciation of action but renunciation of attachment in action. So when one is not attached one is Tyagi, Krishna is telling here. 

So one is to give up a particular kind of Karam the other is to do Karma but to do it without attachment.

Sanyasis give up Kamaya Karam but those who are not sanyasi and those who has spirit of tyaga they may do Kamya Karma also but they don’t do it for the sake of material desire they do it for the sake of spiritual achievement for the sake of purification, for the sake of realization, for the sake ultimately for the liberation.

End of transcription.