Arjuna asks again which path is better: giving up work, or serving through work. Krishna says both lead to peace, but the better way belongs to the person who keeps working piously and does not walk away. The true renouncer seeks nothing and rejects nothing, and the opposites of pleasure and pain do not shake him. Only a beginner, Krishna says, talks as if the paths called Sankhya and Yoga were two. A wise person who follows one gets the fruit of both.
The yogi thinks, "Nought of myself I do," when he sees, hears, eats, walks, sleeps, or opens his eyes, because the senses are only playing with the senses. Work done in the thought of Brahm does not stain him, any more than water marks a lotus leaf. Chasing results ties a person down. The Lord of the world does not take on anyone's good or evil deeds; people err because ignorance darkens their knowing, and their own selves push them toward the work and the craving. When that darkness lifts, a learned priest, a cow, an elephant, and an outcast look the same to the one who sees clearly.
Joy from the senses is a womb that breeds grief, because it begins and ends. A person who can master lust and anger while still in the body finds contentment and light within. The chapter ends with a saint who shuts out the touch of the senses, fixes his eyes between his brows, and breathes slow and even. He has put away passion, fear, and rage. He is free, Krishna says, even now.
Coming Up in Chapter 6
Krishna opens by saying the true renouncer is not the man who lights no fire and lifts no hand. It is the one who does the work that is his to do and seeks no gain from it. Then he turns to the Self, and tells Arjuna to raise it by the soul and not trample it down.
