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Chapter 18-1

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18-Moksh-Sanyaas Yog-1

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1. Hearing this Arjun said - "Hey Long-armed, Hey Omnipresent, Hey Vaasudev, I wish to know the Tattwa (main points) of Sanyaas and Tyaag (sacrifice, or abandoning something) separately."

 2. Krishn said - "Hey Arjun, Abandoning the Kaamya (wishful) Karm* is called Sanyaas - Pandit say like this; and many learned people say that to give up the attachment to the fruits of all Karm is called Tyaag.
* Whatever Yagya, Daan, Tap and worship are done to get wife, son, and wealth etc; or to remove faults and calamities, they are called Kaamya Karm.
** Whatever are the dutiful Karm - Eeshwar Bhakti; worship of Devtaa; service of mother, father and Guru etc; Yagya; Daan; Tap; making living according to Varn and Aashram; when these Karm are done with no desire of their fruit, that is called abandoning the fruit of all Karm.

 3. Several learned people say that, all Karm are with fault, that is why all Karm should be abandoned; while some others say that Yagya, Daan and Tap like Karm are not to be abandoned.
Yagya is the traditional fire ritual. In a broader sense, it refers to worship and a sense of dedication to one's work.
Daan is charity, but bordering on philanthropy.
Tap refers to austerity, penance, and single-minded focus on work).

 4. Hey Arjun, Now I will tell you about the ultimate truth about Tyaag. Hey best man, This abandoning also has been said of three types - Saatwik, Raajas and Taamas.

 5. Yagya, Daan and Tap Karm are not to be abandoned. It is undoubtedly duty to do them, because all the three cleanse the wise people.

 6. That is why Hey Paarth, Yagya, Daan and Tap Karm and other good Karm are not to be abandoned. They should certainly be done, but they should be done abandoning the desire of their fruits. This is my own view.

 7. And Hey Arjun, It is not good even to abandon Niyat Karm* also, because abandoning those Karm is called Taamas Tyaag. (see also Geetaa, 18/48)
* According to Prakriti and decided by Shaastra, whatever natural and general Karm are prescribed for different Varn and Aashram - they are called "Swa-Dharm" (one's own duties), "Sahaj Dharm" (natural duties), "Niyat Karm" (prescribed duties), "Swabhaav Niyat Karm" etc names. Work that is meant to be done is Niyat Karm - means to perform one's responsibilities or to the work that is in tune with one's inherent nature - that must be done. When one abandons the work out of delusion, that Tyaag is of Taamas nature. Tamas is the state of deluded lethargy.

 8. And if any person abandons all Karm, thinking that "all Karm are sorrowful" and  because of physical pains, that person also doesn't get the fruit of abandoning the Karm even after doing Raajas Tyaag. (means his all Tyaag goes waste)
Rajas is the state of relentless activity.

 9. Hey Arjun, who does Shaastra prescribed Karm thinking that "Action is duty", and does them without any attachment to it and its fruit, the same is called Saatwik Tyaag. (Means not abandoning the duty Karm at the same time not being attached to that Karm and its fruit also, is called Saatwik Tyaag
Sattwa is the state of saintly goodness.

10. And Hey Arjun, Whoever doesn't feel bad by doing bad Karm and is not attached to good Karm, only the same pure doubtless Sat Gunee person is certainly Gyaanee and Tyaagee.

11. Because whoever is born, he cannot abandon Karm fully. (see also Geetaa, 3/35) Whoever person abandons only the fruits of Karm, only he is a Tyaagee person, it is said so.
Fruits of action are the rewards or results of our work. One should ideally focus on work and not on the Fruits.

12. Who do Karm with desires, they get the good, bad and mixed fruits of their Karm, and hose fruits (results) follow them even after their death; while Tyaagee people do not get the fruits of their Karm at any time (because their Karm are not attached to their fruits).
This shows that as a person's Karm go with him after his death, if those Karm were done with attachment to their fruits, those fruits will also go with those Karm with that person; but if he had done them without any desire of their fruit, those Karm will go with him without their fruit - and thus that person will not be liable to bear those fruits. (see also " Body" second section for clearer explanation)

13. And Hey Long-armed, To complete all Karm, these five factors are said to govern the outcome of all actions in Saankhya principles. You listen to them from me.

14. In this regard, Aadhaar (for whom the Karm is done), Kartaa (doer), various Karan (whatever Indriyaan and means or resources are used to do that Karm are called Karan), various movements and the fifth cause is said to be as Daiv (Sanskaar of previously done good or bad Karm).

The scriptures proclaim that five factors govern the outcome of all actions : the individual, the situation, the tools he has, the method to use the tools, and unknown forces. Tools may mean knowledge, skills, or resources)

15. Whatever Karm are done with Manasaa, Vaachaa and Karmanaa (mind, speech and heart), whether they are Shaastra prescribed or Shaastra opposite, all involve these five causes.

16. But in spite of that, whoever person sees only Aatmaa as doer because of his impure Buddhi*, that A-Gyaanee doesn't see the reality.

* A person's Buddhi becomes pure by Satsang, reading Shaastra, doing Dharm Karm, worshipping Bhagavaan etc, therefore in the absence of these things a person's Buddhi should be understood as impure.

17. And Hey Arjun, Who has no feeling of "I" as a doer, and whose mind is not attached to worldly materials and all Karm; that person, even after killing all Lok, neither kills anybody nor is bound to any kind of Paap. (see Note 18/17)

18. Knower, knowledge, and means to know (Gyaataa, Gyaan and Gyeya) - they all inspire to do Karm (means a person wants to do some Karm when these three are present). And Kartaa, Karan and Karm - these three are the cause of Karm.

19. All the three, Gyaan, Karm and Kartaa are also of three types according to three Gun. You listen to me about them.

20. By which knowledge, a person sees one immortal undivided Paramaatmaa in all Bhoot (living beings), that knowledge is called Saatwik knowledge.

21. And by which knowledge, a person sees separate things in all Bhoot, that knowledge is called Raajasik knowledge.

22. And by which knowledge, a person considers each short-lived Maayaavee mortal body as Aatmaa and gets attached to it, and which knowledge is illogical and without the meaning of Tattwa; that knowledge is called Taamasik knowledge.

23. Hey Arjun, Whatever Karm, which is prescribed by Shaastra; is done without the pride of doing and desire of its fruit, and is done by a person who is beyond any kind of attachment, such Karm is called Saatwik.

24. And whatever Karm needs a lot of labor, and is done by a person who is proud of doing it and desires for its fruit, that Karm is called Raajasik.

25. And whatever Karm is done without consideration of its result, loss, Hinsaa and capacity and is started only with ignorance, that Karm is called as Taamasik Karm.

26. Hey Arjun, Whichever Kartaa (doer) is without attachment, without pride, is patient, is enthusiastic, doesn't feel good or bad in its completing or not completing, that Kartaa is considered as Saatwik.

27. And whichever Kartaa is attached to the Karm, desires for the fruit of the Karm, is greedy, gives troubles to others, misbehaves, gets happy seeing the Karm completed and sad seeing it not completed, that Kartaa is said to be Raajasik.

28. Whoever is of impure heart, is without knowledge, is proud, is cunning, and destroys means of other's living, has the nature of being sad, is lazy, doubts other people, and is procrastinator, that Kartaa is said to be Taamasik.

29. Hey Arjun, Now you listen to the three types of Buddhi, and Dhaaran power according to three Gun.

30. Hey Paarth, Whichever Buddhi knows Pravritti path and Nivritti path (see Note 18/30); duties and not to do Karm; fear and fearlessness; binding and Moksh by their Tattwa, that Buddhi is Saatwik.

31. By which Buddhi a person doesn't know the difference between Dharm and A-Dharm, and duty and not to do Karm, that Buddhi is Raajasik.

32. And Hey Paarth, Tamo Gunee Buddhi considers A-Dharm as Dharm and takes everything opposite to what it should be. This type of Buddhi is called Taamasik.

33. Hey Paarth, By whichever holy (thinking only about Bhagavaan) Dhaaranaa a person, by Dhyaan Yog, takes the activities of mind, Praan and Indriyaan, is called Saatwik.

34. And Hey Prithaa Putra Arjun, By whichever Dhaaranaa, a person desires for fruit and with intense attachment, takes the activities of Dharm, Arth and Kaam, that Dhaaranaa is Raajasik.

35. And Hey Paarth, By whichever Dhaaranaa, an evil minded person doesn't abandon the sleep, worry, sorrow and craziness (means retains them), the same Dhaaranaa is called Taamasik.

36. Hey Arjun, Now you listen to about three types of joy. Hey Best in Bharat [Vansh], In whichever joy, the Saadhak is involved by singing Bhagavaan's glory, meditation and service etc and destroys his sorrows..

37. The same joy, first it feels like poison in the beginning of the Saadhanaa, but later its result is like Amrit, therefore whichever joy comes through Bhagavaan related Buddhi, it is called Saatwik.
* As a child who always wants to play, doesn't like to study, and considers it like poison, in the same way an attached person also feels Bhagavaan's Bhakti etc like poison.

38. Whatever joy one gets through his Indriya by enjoying subjects of Indriyaan, although that joy is like Amrit at the time of enjoying, but its result is like poison*, that is why it is considered as Raajas.
* Because this type of joy destroys might, Buddhi, wealth, enthusiasm and the other Lok, that is it is called like poison.
[Which is as poison in the beginning, but is like nectar in the end; that is declared to be "good" pleasure, born from the serenity of one's own mind. That which is like nectar in the beginning from the connection of the sense-object with the senses, but is as poison in the end, is held to be of "passion".
--The same idea is given in Kath Upanishad also. There their terms are given as Preya and Shreya.]

39. Whatever joy deludes Aatmaa while enjoying as well as in the end, that joy born from sleep, laziness, and craziness is called Taamas joy.

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Created by Sushma Gupta On 5/27/04
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Modified on 09/27/11