5.2
श्रीभगवानुवाच
संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ ।
तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ॥
śrībhagavān uvāca
saṃnyāsaḥ karmayogaś ca niḥśreyasakarāv ubhau
tayos tu karmasaṃnyāsāt karmayogo viśiṣyate
Śrī Bhagavān (श्रीभगवान्) is speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन). This is Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण). The answer starts at once.
The verse
saṃnyāsa (संन्यास) and the yoga of action both make the highest good, and of the two the yoga of action stands ahead of the renunciation of action.
नेपालीमा
संन्यास र कर्मको योग दुवैले परम श्रेय गराउँछन्। दुईमध्ये कर्मको योग कर्मको संन्यासभन्दा अगाडि छ।
Where it sits
This is the answer to 5.1. Both reach the end. Of the two, the yoga of action is the one for the man who asked. He is still on the field. The dropping of action is real, and it is the harder one to pick up first.
Split: संन्यासः + कर्म-योगः + च + निःश्रेयस-करौ + उभौ + तयोः + तु + कर्म-संन्यासात् + कर्म-योगः + विशिष्यते
saṃnyāsaḥ + karma-yogaḥ + ca + niḥśreyasa-karau + ubhau + tayoḥ + tu + karma-saṃnyāsāt + karma-yogaḥ + viśiṣyate
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| संन्यासः | saṃnyāsaḥ | nominative singular | renunciation. |
| कर्म-योगः | karma-yogaḥ | nominative singular | the yoga of action. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. |
| निःश्रेयस-करौ | niḥśreyasa-karau | nominative dual | the two that make the highest good. niḥśreyasa (निःश्रेयस) is that good. kara (कर) is "making." |
| उभौ | ubhau | nominative dual | both. |
| तयोः | tayoḥ | genitive dual | of those two. |
| तु | tu | indeclinable | and, but. The turn in the sentence. |
| कर्म-संन्यासात् | karma-saṃnyāsāt | ablative singular | from the renunciation of action. Than that renunciation. |
| कर्म-योगः | karma-yogaḥ | nominative singular | the yoga of action. |
| विशिष्यते | viśiṣyate | present, 3rd singular of vi-śiṣ (वि-शिष्) | is distinguished. Stands ahead. |
The phrases
saṃnyāsaḥ karmayogaḥ ca (संन्यासः कर्मयोगः च) are the two subjects, and they stay two. The adjective that follows is dual: niḥśreyasakarau ubhau (निःश्रेयसकरौ उभौ). Both make the highest good. The recited line joins the dual au (औ) to the next vowel: niḥśreyasakarāv ubhau (निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ).
tayoḥ tu (तयोः तु) comes back to the pair in the genitive. "Of those two, though." The second half does not cancel the first. It ranks them.
karmasaṃnyāsāt karmayogaḥ viśiṣyate (कर्मसंन्यासात् कर्मयोगः विशिष्यते) is the ranking. The ablative is the one you measure from. The yoga of action stands ahead of the renunciation of action.
karmayogaḥ ca (कर्मयोगः च) is recited karmayogaś ca (कर्मयोगश्च). tayoḥ tu (तयोः तु) is recited tayos tu (तयोस्तु). कर्मयोगः before the voiced v (व्) of viśiṣyate (विशिष्यते) is recited karmayogo (कर्मयोगो).
Sanskrit in this line
The ablative singular of an a (अ)-stem is --āt (आत्). saṃnyāsa (संन्यास) becomes saṃnyāsāt (संन्यासात्). Beside viśiṣyate (विशिष्यते) that ending answers "than." The thing in the ablative is the lower of the two. The thing in the nominative is the one that stands ahead. English puts "than" between them. Sanskrit puts the lower one in the ablative and lets the verb do the ranking.
Say it back
Give both halves. If the answer comes out as "renunciation is better," the ablative has been turned around. karmasaṃnyāsāt (कर्मसंन्यासात्) is the one he measures from, and karmayogaḥ (कर्मयोगः) is the one that stands ahead.