Bg 5.2

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

sannyāsaḥ karma-yogaś ca
niḥśreyasa-karāv ubhau
tayos tu karma-sannyāsāt
karma-yogo viśiṣyate

Word for word: 

śrī–bhagavān uvāca — the Personality of Godhead said; sannyāsaḥ — renunciation of work; karma–yogaḥ — work in devotion; ca — also; niḥśreyasa–karau — leading to the path of liberation; ubhau — both; tayoḥ — of the two; tu — but; karma–sannyāsāt — in comparison to the renunciation of fruitive work; karma–yogaḥ — work in devotion; viśiṣyate — is better.

Translation: 

The Personality of Godhead replied: The renunciation of work and work in devotion are both good for liberation. But, of the two, work in devotional service is better than renunciation of work.

 

sannyāsaḥ karma-yogaś ca => 

niḥśreyasa-karāv ubhau => Arjuna has asked which is śreya, Shri Krishna is saying ubhau both them are niḥśreyasa. niḥśreyasa means long term benefit. Both of them will give long term benefit 

tayos tu karma-sannyāsāt => among these out of these two, karma-yogo viśiṣyate => Karma Yoga is better.

 

So the point in BG is that one should ensure that one doesn’t get bound in material existence. So what causes bondage is attachment to the extent one doesn’t have attachment to that extent there is no bondage,

Krishna is saying both karma yoga and Karma Sanyas both prevent attachment both are good but among them Karma Yoga is better. Why it is better? Because that is easier. In purport Srila Prabhupada doesn’t focus on comparative virtue of Karma Yoga and Karma Sanyas but he focused that we should not get bound. 

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.4–6) confirms this as follows:

nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma
yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti
na sādhu manye yata ātmano ’yam
asann api kleśa-da āsa dehaḥ

 

parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto
yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam
yāvat kriyās tāvad idaṁ mano vai
karmātmakaṁ yena śarīra-bandhaḥ

 

evaṁ manaḥ karma-vaśaṁ prayuṅkte
avidyayātmany upadhīyamāne
prītir na yāvan mayi vāsudeve
na mucyate deha-yogena tāvat

 

nūnaṁ pramattaḥ => pramattaḥ means intoxicated in madness; 

kurute vikarma => such a person does vikarma. And what is Vikarma? indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti => When one acts for sense gratification 

na sādhu manye => That is not good 

yata ātmano ’yam => Why it is not good?

asann api kleśa-da āsa dehaḥ => The soul will get another body 

One will continue the cycle of birth and death and asann the body is temporary and along with temporary kleśa-da it gives miseries 

 

asann api kleśa-da āsa dehaḥ => We have material body and if we act for sense gratification we show it to material nature that I want to enjoy sense object so then we will get another material body but the material body is subject to so many mesries so we will get all those miseries also.

So material body gives us insignificant pleasure and significant pain, it gives insignificant pleasure the pleasure lasts for few moments but it give significant pain, how the pain sometimes last for hours, months or years

asann api kleśa-da āsa dehaḥ, so it is kleśa-da not Sukh-da, the body is Klesa-da 

Now how long a person continue like this?

parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto
yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam
yāvat kriyās tāvad idaṁ mano vai
karmātmakaṁ yena śarīra-bandhaḥ

 

parābhavas tāvad => Till that time parābha abodha-jāto => remain ignorant, bodha means knowledge abodha means no knowledge.

So as long as a person is ignorant he will be parābhava means failure 

Why? Because…

yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam => as long as one doesn’t enquire about the soul, there is some default activity all of us have to do so if we don’t know about spiritual activity then we will do material activity.

yāvat kriyās tāvad idaṁ mano vai => mind will be involved in Kriya what kind of Kriya ? 

karmātmakaṁ yena śarīra-bandhaḥ => one will act for karma and when one will act for fruitive activity śarīra-bandhaḥ one will become bound to the body.

Actually the soul and body are separate e.g. car and driver, a driver can walk out of car can take another car or may reach home and don’t need any car further. So two are different. But for all practical purpose the two, soul and body has become identical now we don’t think our self as soul, we think that is some theoretical concept that I am not body I am soul but all practical purposes soul has become melded in body right now, here practically means from our experience purpose, it very difficult for us to understand that soul is different from our body, why? That is because of the enjoying mentality, the enjoying mentality welds the soul to the body because of the desire to enjoy through the body, śarīra-bandhaḥ one become bound by desire to enjoy sense objects. The desire to engage in frutive activity by which one can get sense gratification.

So sense enjoyment and fruitive activities both bound the soul to the body what is the difference between the two? Both are similar sense gratification is directly enjoying with senses and fruitive activity are those activities that will lead to sense gratification, e.g. some one may do some karma kanda ritual by which one may later get sense gratification or other activities in this material world which leads to sense gratification.

 

evaṁ manaḥ karma-vaśaṁ prayuṅkte
avidyayātmany upadhīyamāne
prītir na yāvan mayi vāsudeve
na mucyate deha-yogena tāvat

 

evaṁ manaḥ karma-vaśaṁ prayuṅkte => so the mind will be in Karma Vasa, in the control of Karma, 

avidyayātmany upadhīyamāne => One will be controlled by avidya about the atma tatva about the spiritual reality. How long? prītir na yāvan mayi vāsudeve => Untill one develop priti for Lord Vasudev. 

na mucyate deha-yogena tāvat => deha-yogena => soul has become bound to the body. na mucyate => will not become free. Till prītir na yāvan mayi vāsudeve => Untill one has developed affection to Lord Vasudev.

 

What happens when we develop affection to Lord Vasudev? Then the mind is no longer filled with the enjoying mentality, this enjoying mentality binds mind with the body, thus by developing affection to Lord Vasudev we become free from enjoying mentality and we become free from material bondage thereof. So Srila Prabhupad’s whole purport is about staying free from material bondage.

 

Srila Prabupad: Therefore, jñāna (or knowledge that one is not this material body but spirit soul) is not sufficient for liberation. One has to act in the status of spirit soul, otherwise there is no escape from material bondage.

 

So just knowing is not enough we need to act at that level, when we act there is liberation by that So SP has explained acting is performing devotional service 

 

Renouncing which is used in Krishna’s service is not renounciation that is false renunciation falgu varagya, yukta vairgya is to renounce the enjoying mentality to use the things in Shri Krishna’s service so srila Prabhupas often uses the statement that actually nothing belongs to us so what is there actually to renounce? Everything even our body belongs to Shri Krishna so only thing to be renounced is the illusion that we have to renounce. I am Krishna’s and Krishna is mine, Aami to tomara Tumi to amara, key kaje aparedhana, what else I do…I am your and your are mine that is all that matters so in this way one makes steady spiritual advancement.

Srila Prabhupada point in the purport is: We don’t have to renounce action or possession we have to renounce the misconception that we are the enjoyers, we are cooperators, when Krishna enjoys we also enjoys as subordinates.