TEXT 1

Devanagari

अर्जुन उवाच
सन्न्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि ।
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम् ॥ १ ॥

Text

Tekst

arjuna uvāca
sannyāsaṁ karmaṇāṁ kṛṣṇa
punar yogaṁ ca śaṁsasi
yac chreya etayor ekaṁ
tan me brūhi su-niścitam

Synonyms

arjunaḥ uvāca — Arjuna said; sannyāsam — renunciation; karmaṇām — of all activities; kṛṣṇa — O Kṛṣṇa; punaḥ — again; yogam — devotional service; ca — also; śaṁsasi — You are praising; yat — which; śreyaḥ — is more beneficial; etayoḥ — of these two; ekam — one; tat — that; me — unto me; brūhi — please tell; su-niścitam — definitely.

arjunaḥ uvāca — Arjuna sagde; sannyāsam — forsagelse; karmaṇām — af alle handlinger; kṛṣṇa — O Kṛṣṇa; punaḥ — igen; yogam — hengiven tjeneste; ca — også; śaṁsasi — Du lovpriser; yat — hvilken; śreyaḥ — er mest gavnlig; etayoḥ — af disse to; ekam — en; tat — den; me — til mig; brūhi — vær god at fortælle; su-niścitam — bestemt.

Translation

Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of the two is more beneficial?

Arjuna sagde: O Kṛṣṇa, først beder Du mig forsage arbejde for derefter at råde mig til at arbejde i hengivenhed. Vil Du ikke nu én gang for alle fortælle mig, hvilken af de to der er bedst?

Purport

In this Fifth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord says that work in devotional service is better than dry mental speculation. Devotional service is easier than the latter because, being transcendental in nature, it frees one from reaction. In the Second Chapter, preliminary knowledge of the soul and its entanglement in the material body were explained. How to get out of this material encagement by buddhi-yoga, or devotional service, was also explained therein. In the Third Chapter, it was explained that a person who is situated on the platform of knowledge no longer has any duties to perform. And in the Fourth Chapter the Lord told Arjuna that all kinds of sacrificial work culminate in knowledge. However, at the end of the Fourth Chapter, the Lord advised Arjuna to wake up and fight, being situated in perfect knowledge. Therefore, by simultaneously stressing the importance of both work in devotion and inaction in knowledge, Kṛṣṇa has perplexed Arjuna and confused his determination. Arjuna understands that renunciation in knowledge involves cessation of all kinds of work performed as sense activities. But if one performs work in devotional service, then how is work stopped? In other words, he thinks that sannyāsa, or renunciation in knowledge, should be altogether free from all kinds of activity, because work and renunciation appear to him to be incompatible. He appears not to have understood that work in full knowledge is nonreactive and is therefore the same as inaction. He inquires, therefore, whether he should cease work altogether or work with full knowledge.

FORKLARING: Her i Bhagavad-gītās kapitel 5 fortæller Herren, at handling i hengiven tjeneste er bedre end tørre intellektuelle spekulationer. Hengiven tjeneste er lettere end sidstnævnte, for siden denne tjeneste er transcendental af natur, befrier den én for reaktioner. I kapitel 2 blev der givet en indledende kundskab om sjælen og dens indvikling i den materielle krop. Der blev det også forklaret, hvordan man gennem buddhi-yoga eller hengiven tjeneste slipper ud af det materielle fangenskab. I kapitel 3 blev det forklaret, at en person, der er situeret på kundskabens niveau, ingen pligter har længere, og i kapitel 4 fortalte Herren Arjuna, at alle former for offerhandlinger kulminerer i viden. I slutningen af kapitel 4 rådede Herren imidlertid Arjuna til at vågne op og kæmpe nu, hvor han var situeret i fuldkommen viden. Ved samtidig at lægge vægt på vigtigheden af både handling i hengivenhed og uvirksomhed i viden har Kṛṣṇa forvirret Arjuna og svækket hans beslutsomhed. Arjuna forstår, at forsagelse i viden indebærer ophør af alle former for handling, der bliver gjort for sansetilfredsstillelse. Men hvis man handler i hengiven tjeneste, hvordan er man da ophørt med al handling? Han tror med andre ord, at sannyāsa eller forsagelse i viden skal være helt fri for enhver form for aktivitet, for handling og forsagelse virker for ham uforenelige. Det lader til, at han ikke har forstået, at handling i fuld viden ingen reaktion medfører og derfor er det samme som uvirksomhed. Derfor spørger han, om han skal ophøre med al handling eller handle med fuld viden.