Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 49

असक्तबुद्धिः सर्वत्र जितात्मा विगतस्पृहः । नैष्कर्म्यसिद्धिं परमां संन्यासेनाधिगच्छति

asaktabuddhiḥ sarvatra jitātmā vigataspṛhaḥ | naiṣkarmyasiddhiṃ paramāṃ saṃnyāsenādhigacchati

Translation

He whose reason is not attached anywhere, whose self is subdued, from whom desire has fled, he by renunciation attains the supreme state of freedom from action.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

asaktabuddhiḥ

unattached, reason, whose, he

sarvatra

everywhere

jitātmā

conquered, self, by whom, he

vigataspṛhaḥ

gone, desires, from whom, he

naiṣkarmyasiddhim

gone, actions, from whom, he — his condition — of that, the perfection

paramām

highest

sannyāsena

by renunciation

adhigacchati

obtains

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

He whose reason (buddhi, antaḥ-karaṇa) is free from attachment to sons, wife, and other objects of attachment, whose self (antaḥ-karaṇa) is brought under his own control, from whom desire for the body, for life, and for pleasures has fled — a person of this sort who knows the Self attains to the supreme perfection, to absolute freedom from action (naiṣkarmya-siddhi), by saṃnyāsa. In virtue of his knowledge of the unity of the actionless (niṣkriya) Brahman and the Self, all actions have fled from him. This is the state of immediate liberation (sadyo-mukti).