Chapter 5, Verse 1
arjuna uvāca
saṁnyāsaṁ karmaṇāṁ kṛṣṇa
punar-yogaṁ ca śaṁsasi
yac-chreya etayor-ekaṁ
tan-me brūhi suniścitam
Arjuna says: You declare to me the renunciation of works, O Krishna, and yet You again declare to me Karma Yoga; which one is the better way? Tell me with a clear decisiveness.
“You declare to me the renunciation of works, O Krishna.”
Here Arjuna addresses Bhagavan as Krishna, the ever-blissful, the One who
attracts everybody to Him.
“And yet You again declare to me Karma Yoga.” Arjuna says, “You have shown me the path of action with renunciation of all the results: how to do my duty in a free way by surrendering it to You. And yet you have also declared to me the path of knowledge which is the renunciation of action! Now, I am asking you, which one of these two paths will be good for me? Please tell me clearly.”
Arjuna is still examining what Krishna says in previous chapters about Jyaana Yoga, the path of knowledge and Karma Yoga, the path of action. The Lord says, “Both paths are okay.” But the mind of Arjuna is still troubled, because if Krishna considers knowledge superior to action, why does He also urge him to fight? If knowledge is superior to action, then Krishna should just say, “Okay, renounce everything, go and sit in a cave!” This doubt is still playing in Arjuna’s mind, so he is unable to really understand what Krishna is trying to tell him. He continues to look at this from the point of view of the mind, asking Lord Krishna, “Which one will be better for me? Which path should he adopt to attain this true wisdom, to attain the wisdom of the Self?” And in which way should he be disciplined - by meditating on this knowledge or by doing his duty without any personal expectation, without any attachment, dedicating all his action to God? Arjuna is sitting there in his chariot, on the battlefield, sincerely asking, “Which path, Lord?”
Bhagavad Gita
