Chapter 5

1. Arjuna said:
   Krishna, first you are giving praise to the renunciation of activities, then you give praise to yoga. Please tell me definitively which one is more beneficial.
2. The Blessed One said:
   Renunciation of work or the work of Yoga, both of them lead to the way of openness. But of the two, the work of yoga is better than the renunciation of all work.
3. He should be understood always as the renouncer, who neither rejects nor desires. Free of duality, great warrior, he is always happily liberated from bondage.
4. The ill-informed say that yoga is different from witnessing. When you are involved in one, you are completely enjoying the results of both.
5. Whatever achievement is gained by witnessing, one can also attain through yoga. You can attain unity through either method, if you have eyes to see.
6. But simply renouncing all things without taking up yoga, great warrior, can afflict you with misery. One who practices yoga will be engaged. He can attain Brahma easily that way.
7. A pure soul practicing yoga is centered in his soul, having conquered the senses. He will have compassion to all living beings, and though he acts he will never become attached.
8. One who knows reality will think: 'I am never involved in doing, even though I am seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, eating, defecating, dreaming and breathing'.
9. Let one always consider thusly, although they may be talking, giving, taking, opening and closing, and generally involving the senses in activities.
10. Dedicate all works to Brahma. One who takes actions, but without attachment, is always free of wrongdoing, like a lotus leaf is not touched by the water upon which it rests.
11. Purified of body, mind, awareness and the senses, practitioners of yoga perform all actions while giving up attachment. This purifies the soul.
12. One thus practicing, giving up the lust of result, achieves unswerving peace. One who does not practice this, acting with desired results in mind, will always become attached.
13. Renouncing all activities of the mind, one who is so focused will always be blissful. In the city of nine gates (the body), one must be embodied in such a way that you desire no action nor any result.
14. The master of this city will claim no possession of it, nor cause its people (parts) to take actions. Nor will he be connected to the results of any activities, but only act naturally.
15. Likewise the greater king of all the cities (Brahma) will not accept any saintliness or sin. It is only individual beings who are deluded to believe so, their awareness clouded by ignorance.
16. However, when ignorance is destroyed by awareness, the awareness of a living being becomes like a golden dawn, revealing the highest.
17. One whose consciousness is always thus focused, one whose soul is always thus focused, one whose trust is always thus focused, one whose total comfort is only in this, he achieves unity. By awareness all doubts are swept away.
18. Well armed with true wisdom and gentleness, the learned will see no difference in the priest, the cow, the elephant, the dog, or the outcast.
19. Those whose mind is focused on seeing the unity will certainly conquer birth and death, even in this lifetime. As Brahma is perfectly united, so shall the united be in Brahma.
20. One who is completely aware of Brahma is in Brahma. He will neither rejoice when good things happen nor will he become unhappy when bad things happen.
21. One whose soul is not clouded by nonessential pleasures will enjoy the bliss of the soul. By uniting to Brahma you unite to your soul, and enjoy unlimited bliss.
22. The senses are certainly the source of pleasures, and also of suffering. All of these things shall come and all things shall pass. Son of Kunti, the enlightened never revel in such things.
23. One who is able to tolerate desire and anger born of lusts, in this very body before it dies; he who can accept it all will find happiness in his humanity.
24. One who has inner happiness, focusing inwardly and enjoying the inner world, he is certainly a mystic. Being aware of the reality of Brahma, he obtains enlightenment in Brahma.
25. Those who are inwardly active achieve enlightenment in Brahma. They are free of any wrongdoing. They have destroyed duality, are focused on the soul, and are doing a service to all living things.
26. Those who are free of desire and anger, the saintly ones who have control of consciousness, the ones who have become aware of the soul, they are assured to gain enlightenment in Brahma.
27. Suspend nonessential sensory forces, like sound and eyesight, in the space between the eyes. Keep the incoming and outgoing breath in the nostrils.
28. In this way controlling the senses, awareness, and the mind, the seeker will be destined for liberation. He will discard desires, fear and anger. He will certainly be forever free.
29. The receiver of offerings and sacrifices, the great lord of all the worlds and their rulers, the benefactor of all living beings, one who knows me as this will achieve peace.

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