Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18: The Yoga of Renunciation and Liberation

All 78 verses of Chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit, with English translation, per-word meanings, and Adi Shankara's commentary.

Verse 18.1 — Of 'saṃnyāsa,' O Mighty-armed, I desire to know the truth, O Hṛṣīkeśa, as also of…
Verse 18.2 — Sages understand 'saṃnyāsa' to be the renouncement of interested works; the abandonment…
Verse 18.3 — That action should be abandoned as an evil, some philosophers declare; while others…
Verse 18.4 — Learn from Me the truth about this abandonment, O best of the Bhāratas; abandonment…
Verse 18.5 — Practice of worship, gift, and austerity should not be given up; it is quite necessary…
Verse 18.6 — But even those actions should be performed, setting aside attachment and the fruits…
Verse 18.7 — Verily, the abandonment of an obligatory duty is not proper; the abandonment thereof from…
Verse 18.8 — Whatever act one may abandon because it is painful, from fear of bodily trouble, he…
Verse 18.9 — Whatever obligatory work is done, O Arjuna, merely because it ought to be done…
Verse 18.10 — He hates not evil action, nor is he attached to a good one — he who has abandoned…
Verse 18.11 — Verily, it is not possible for an embodied being to abandon actions completely; he who…
Verse 18.12 — The threefold fruit of action — evil, good, and mixed — accrues after death to…
Verse 18.13 — These five factors in the accomplishment of all action, know thou from Me, O…
Verse 18.14 — The seat and actor and the various organs, and the several functions of various sorts…
Verse 18.15 — Whatever action a man does by the body, speech and mind, right or the opposite, these…
Verse 18.16 — Now, such being the case, verily, he who, as untrained in understanding, looks on the…
Verse 18.17 — He who is free from egotistic notion, whose mind is not tainted — though he kills these…
Verse 18.18 — Knowledge, the object known, the knower, (form) the threefold impulse to action; the…
Verse 18.19 — Knowledge and action, and the agent, are said in the science of the guṇas to be of three…
Verse 18.20 — That by which a man sees the one Indestructible Reality in all beings, inseparate in the…
Verse 18.21 — But that knowledge which, by differentiation, sees in all the creatures various entities…
Verse 18.22 — But that which clings to one single effect as if it were all, without reason, having no…
Verse 18.23 — An action which is ordained, which is free from attachment, which is done without love or…
Verse 18.24 — But the action which is done by one longing for pleasures or done by the egotistic…
Verse 18.25 — The action which is undertaken from delusion, without regarding the consequence, loss…
Verse 18.26 — Free from attachment, not given to egotism, endued with firmness and vigour, unaffected…
Verse 18.27 — Passionate, desiring to attain the fruit of action, greedy, cruel, impure, subject to joy…
Verse 18.28 — Unsteady, vulgar, unbending, deceptive, wicked, indolent, desponding and procrastinating…
Verse 18.29 — The threefold division of intellect and firmness according to qualities, about to be…
Verse 18.30 — That which knows action and inaction, what ought to be done and what ought not to be…
Verse 18.31 — That by which one wrongly understands dharma and adharma, and also what ought to be done…
Verse 18.32 — That which, enveloped in darkness, sees adharma as dharma and all things perverted, that…
Verse 18.33 — The firmness which is ever accompanied by Yoga, and by which the activities of thought…
Verse 18.34 — But the firmness with which one holds fast to dharma and pleasures and wealth, desirous…
Verse 18.35 — That with which a stupid man does not give up sleep, fear, grief, depression and lust…
Verse 18.36 — And now hear from Me, O lord of the Bhāratas, of the threefold pleasure, in which one…
Verse 18.37 — That which is like poison at first, like nectar at the end, that pleasure is declared to…
Verse 18.38 — That pleasure which arises from the contact of the sense-organ with the object, at first…
Verse 18.39 — The pleasure which at first and in the sequel is delusive of the self, arising from…
Verse 18.40 — There is no being on earth, or again in heaven among the Devas, that can be free from…
Verse 18.41 — Of Brāhmaṇas and Kṣatriyas and Vaiśyas, as also of Śūdras, O Parantapa, the duties are…
Verse 18.42 — Serenity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, forgiveness, and also uprightness…
Verse 18.43 — Bravery, boldness, fortitude, promptness, not flying from battle, generosity and…
Verse 18.44 — Ploughing, cattle-rearing, and trade are the duties of the Vaiśyas, born of nature. And…
Verse 18.45 — Devoted each to his own duty, man attains perfection; how one, devoted to one's own duty…
Verse 18.46 — Him from whom is the evolution of (all) beings, by whom all this is pervaded — by…
Verse 18.47 — Better is one's own duty (though) destitute of merits, than the duty of another well…
Verse 18.48 — The duty born with oneself, O son of Kuntī, though faulty, one ought not to abandon; for…
Verse 18.49 — He whose reason is not attached anywhere, whose self is subdued, from whom desire has…
Verse 18.50 — How he who has attained perfection reaches Brahman, that in brief do thou learn from Me…
Verse 18.51 — Endued with a pure reason, controlling the self with firmness, abandoning sound and other…
Verse 18.52 — Resorting to a sequestered spot, eating but little, speech and body and mind subdued…
Verse 18.53 — Having abandoned egotism, strength, arrogance, desire, enmity, property, free from the…
Verse 18.54 — Becoming Brahman, of serene self, he neither grieves nor desires, treating all beings…
Verse 18.55 — By Devotion he knows Me in truth, what and who I am; then, knowing Me in truth, he…
Verse 18.56 — Doing continually all actions whatsoever, taking refuge in Me — by My Grace he reaches…
Verse 18.57 — Mentally resigning all deeds to Me, regarding Me as the Supreme, resorting to mental…
Verse 18.58 — Fixing thy heart in Me, thou shalt, by My Grace, cross over all difficulties; but if from…
Verse 18.59 — If, indulging egotism, thou thinkest 'I will not fight,' vain is this, thy resolve…
Verse 18.60 — Bound (as thou art), O son of Kuntī, by thy own nature-born act, that which from delusion…
Verse 18.61 — The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, whirling by Māyā all beings (as…
Verse 18.62 — Fly unto Him for refuge with all thy being, O Bhārata; by His Grace shalt thou obtain…
Verse 18.63 — Thus has wisdom, more secret than all that is secret, been declared to thee by Me…
Verse 18.64 — Hear thou again My word supreme, the most secret of all; because thou art My firm friend…
Verse 18.65 — Fix thy thought on Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, do homage to Me. Thou shalt reach…
Verse 18.66 — Abandoning all righteous deeds, seek Me as thy sole Refuge; I will liberate thee from all…
Verse 18.67 — This (which has been taught) to thee is never to be taught to one who is devoid of…
Verse 18.68 — He who with supreme devotion to Me will teach this Supreme Secret to My devotees, shall…
Verse 18.69 — Nor is there any among men who does dearer service to Me than he; nor shall there be…
Verse 18.70 — And he who will study this sacred dialogue of ours, by him I shall have been worshipped…
Verse 18.71 — And the man also who hears, full of faith and free from malice, even he, liberated, shall…
Verse 18.72 — Has it been heard by thee, O Pārtha, with an attentive mind? Has the delusion of…
Verse 18.73 — Destroyed is delusion, and I have gained recognition through Thy Grace, O Achyuta. I am…
Verse 18.74 — Thus have I heard this wonderful dialogue between Vāsudeva and the high-souled Pārtha…
Verse 18.75 — Through the grace of Vyāsa have I heard this Supreme and most secret Yoga direct from…
Verse 18.76 — O king, remembering every moment this wonderful and holy dialogue between Keśava and…
Verse 18.77 — And remembering every moment the most wonderful Form of Hari, great is my wonder, O king…
Verse 18.78 — Wherever is Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Yoga, wherever is Arjuna, the archer, there fortune…