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Bhagavad-gītā 18.8

दु:खमित्येव यत्कर्म कायक्ल‍ेशभयात्त्यजेत् । स कृत्वा राजसं त्यागं नैव त्यागफलं लभेत् ॥ ८ ॥
duḥkham ity eva yat karma
[duhkham ity eva yat karma]
kāya-kleśa-bhayāt tyajet
[kaaya-klesha-bhayaat tyajet]
sa kṛtvā rājasaṁ tyāgaṁ
[sa kritvaa raajasam tyaagam]
naiva tyāga-phalaṁ labhet
[naiva tyaaga-phalam labhet]
Word-for-word
duḥkham — unhappy iti — thus eva — certainly yat — which karma — work kāya — for the body kleśa — trouble bhayāt — out of fear tyajet — gives up saḥ — he kṛtvā — after doing rājasam — in the mode of passion tyāgam — renunciation na — not eva — certainly tyāga — of renunciation phalam — the results labhet — gains .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
duḥkham ity eva yat karma
duḥkham
unhappy
iti
thus
eva
certainly
yat
which
karma
work
kāya-kleśa-bhayāt tyajet
kāya
for the body
kleśa
trouble
bhayāt
out of fear
tyajet
gives up
sa kṛtvā rājasaṁ tyāgaṁ
saḥ
he
kṛtvā
after doing
rājasam
in the mode of passion
tyāgam
renunciation
naiva tyāga-phalaṁ labhet
na
not
eva
certainly
tyāga
of renunciation
phalam
the results
labhet
gains .
Important Words
  • duḥkham — trouble, distress
    The whole motive of rājasa renunciation in one word. The work is given up *because* it causes pain — not because the soul has matured beyond it.
  • bhayāt — out of fear
    Ablative. The renouncer here is identified not by what he gives up but by what he is afraid of. Fear, not vairāgya, drives the action.
  • kleśa — trouble, distress
    Specifically bodily trouble (kāya-kleśa in the compound). The dread of kleśa is what powers rājasa renunciation — comfort, not wisdom, is its motive.
  • rājasam — in the mode of passion
    The middle category. Rājasa-tyāga is more dignified than tāmasa but still bound to the body and its preferences.
  • phalam — fruit, result
    An exquisite irony. He renounced fruits and yet does not even gain the fruit *of renouncing* (tyāga-phalam). Tāmasa and rājasa both miss the real harvest of giving up.
  • labhet — gains
    Optative. With the verse's negation, Kṛṣṇa firmly states that the elevation tyāga is meant to confer will not arrive when its motive is bodily fear.
Anyone who gives up prescribed duties as troublesome or out of fear of bodily discomfort is said to have renounced in the mode of passion. Such action never leads to the elevation of renunciation.
Classical Sanskrit analysis शास्त्रीय विश्लेषण
How Sanskrit scholars read this verse — split, rearranged, grammar-tagged. For the plain English distilled meaning, jump to Plain meaning below.
Auto-generated study layers — original analysis of the public-domain śloka. Review against a published edition for academic work.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
Quitting an action merely because it hurts the body is renunciation in the mode of passion. Such cowardly drop-out yields nothing of the real fruit of renunciation — the inner freedom that tyāga is meant to deliver.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
Rājasa-tyāga is calibrated to comfort, not to truth. The motive is 'kāya-kleśa-bhaya' — fear of physical effort. The verse warns against confusing aversion with detachment: the rājasa renunciate looks like a yogī but has only swapped one craving (for ease) for another. Cross-ref to 3.4-6 on the futility of forced inaction.
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
यत् कर्म दुःखम् इति एव काय-क्ल‍ेश-भयात् त्यजेत्, सः राजसं त्यागं कृत्वा त्याग-फलं न एव लभेत् ।
yat karma duḥkham iti eva kāya-kla‍eśa-bhayāt tyajet, saḥ rājasaṃ tyāgaṃ kṛtvā tyāga-phalaṃ na eva labhet |
Whoever abandons an action merely as 'painful', out of fear of bodily strain — having performed that rājasa renunciation, he obtains no fruit of renunciation at all.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
दुःखम् इति एव यत् कर्म काय-क्ल‍ेश-भयात् त्यजेत् । सः कृत्वा राजसं त्यागं न एव त्याग-फलं लभेत् ॥
duḥkham iti eva yat karma kāya-kla‍eśa-bhayāt tyajet | saḥ kṛtvā rājasaṃ tyāgaṃ na eva tyāga-phalaṃ labhet ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
दुःखम् duḥkham दुःख (n.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) pain
इति iti ind. (indeclinable) thus
एव eva ind. (indeclinable) merely
यत् yat यद् (pron. (pronoun)) acc.sg. (accusative singular)n. which
कर्म karma कर्मन् (n.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) action
काय-क्लेश-भयात् kāya-kleśa-bhayāt tatpuruṣa cpd. (compound) abl.sg. (ablative singular)n. from fear of bodily distress
त्यजेत् tyajet √त्यज् opt. (optative) 3sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) should abandon
सः saḥ तद् (pron. (pronoun)) nom.sg. (nominative singular)m. he
कृत्वा kṛtvā √कृ abs. (absolutive) having performed
राजसम् rājasam राजस (adj.) acc.sg. (accusative singular)m. rājasa
त्यागम् tyāgam त्याग (m.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) renunciation
न na ind. (indeclinable) negation not
त्याग-फलम् tyāga-phalam tatpuruṣa cpd. (compound) acc.sg. (accusative singular)n. the fruit of renunciation
लभेत् labhet √लभ् opt. (optative) 3sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) would obtain
Purport

One who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should not give up earning money out of fear that he is performing fruitive activities. If by working one can engage his money in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or if by rising early in the morning one can advance his transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one should not desist out of fear or because such activities are considered troublesome. Such renunciation is in the mode of passion. The result of passionate work is always miserable. If a person renounces work in that spirit, he never gets the result of renunciation.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
8. One who gives up the obligatory actions out of fear of bodily pain, thinking it is an unnecessary inconvenience for the body, performs tyāga in the mode of rajas, and does not attain the intended result of that tyāga.
Commentary

Even though one knows that performance of nitya-karma is necessary and to do it is praiseworthy and to neglect to do it is a sinful, if one rejects the action thinking it is useless trouble to the body, it is known as rajasic tyāga. One will not attain the desired result of tyāga, knowledge, by doing so.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
8. One who gives up the obligatory actions out of fear of bodily pain, thinking it is an unnecessary inconvenience for the body, and performs tyāga in the mode of rajas, does not attain the intended result of that tyāga.
Commentary

Even knowing that performing prescribed actions with no desire is a cause of liberation, if the desirer of liberation gives up those actions out of fear of bodily pain (kāya kleśa bhāyāt), such as having difficulties to obtain the materials for sacrifice or disliking the discomfort of a morning bath, his renunciation is in the mode of passion, since such experience of discontent is the quality of the mode of passion. Having given up the actions, that person will not attain steadiness in jñāna (tyāga phalam), which is the result of performance of the action.

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

Someone may take sannyasa because he is having so many business troubles, the family his giving him so much trouble, and his work is so difficult, he finds no happiness in the world... one may take sannyasa and think 'what is the use of working hard to get bread, if I go to Vrndavana I can get so many capatis to eat and I don't have to work at all and I save myself so much trouble.' In that way if someone takes sannyasa and dresses in the sannyasa way ‑ this is in the mode of passion, not what Krsna recommends. A person in this consciousness knows that he should do his duty in detachment but he rejects doing the duty because it is too hard, too difficult. And yet, he still wants to get some spiritual benefit, 'I will be a sadhu, I will be a sannyasi, but I don't work hard, it is too difficult.'

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Renunciation in the mode of passion

Giving up prescribed duties as troublesome or out of fear of bodily discomfort
Examples:
In Krishna consciousness, giving up earning money out of fear that it is fruitive activity is not recommended, one should engage his money in Krishna consciousness
Rising early in the morning may be troublesome
Result of passionate work is always miserable – One does not elevate in renunciation

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF TEXTS 18.5 & 18.6

Regardless of his personal level of advancement, the

spiritualist always encourage the following of purificatory practices

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
18.8 Yat, whatever; karma, action; tyajet, one may relinish, eva, merely; iti, as being; kuhkham, painful; [As being impossible to accomplish.] kaya-klesa-bhayat, from fear of physical suffering, out of fear of bodily pain; sah, he; krtva, having resorted; tyagam, to renunciation; rajasam, based on rajas, arising from rajas; will eva, surely; na labhet (shuld rather be labhate), not acire; tyaga-phalam, fruits of renunciation, the result called Liberation, which follows from renunciation of all actions as a conseence of Illumination. Which, again, is the renunciation based on sattva?
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
18.8 Although actions constitute the indirect menas for release, yet they produce mental depression, since they can be done only by collecting materials involving painful effort and since they cause bodily strain on account of their reiring strenuous exertion. If, on account of such fear, one decides that the practice of knowledge alone should be tried for perfection in Yoga, and abandons actions like the great sacrifices applicable to one's station in life, he practises renunciation rooted in Rajas. Since that is not the meaning of the Sastras, one cannot win the fruit of renunciation in the form of the rise of knowledge. So it will be shown further one: 'That reason by which one erroneously knows, O Arjuna, is Rajasika' (18.31). In fact, actions do not directly cause purity of the mind but indirectly by winning the grace of God.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
18.8 See Comment under 18.11
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
18.8 He who abandons action on account of the fear of bodily trouble (because it is painful), does not obtain the merit of renunciation by doing such Rajasic renunciation.
Commentary

18.8 दुःखम् (it is) painful? इति thus? एव even? यत् which? कर्म action? कायक्लेशभयात् from fear of bodily trouble? त्यजेत् abandons? सः he? कृत्वा performing? राजसम् Rajasic? त्यागम् abandonment? न not? एव even? त्यागफलम् the fruit of abandonment? लभेत् obtains.Commentary Phalam Fruit or reward Moksha or emancipation which is the reward of renunciation of all actions accompanied with wisdom.Determination and persistence are reired for the performance of religious duties and actions. One may begin action but may relinish it before it is completed on account of some difficulties or physical suffering. What then is Sattvic renunciation The Lord says --

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
18.8 Whatever action one may relinish merely as being painful, from fear of physical suffering, he, having resorted to renunciation based on rajas, will surely not acire the fruits of renunciation.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
18.8 To avoid an action through fear of physical suffering, because it is likely to be painful, is to act from passion, and the benefit of renunciation will not follow.
Related values & verses
Related values
Prema (Divine Love)Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Daya (Compassion / Mercy)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Kritajnata (Gratitude)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Nyaya (Justice / Righteous Judgment)Shraddha (Faith / Reverence)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)
Related verses
BG 6.1 BG 2.14 BG 18.28 SB 7.15.38 SB 11.19.27 SB 11.23.28 CC Antya 6.308 CC Madhya 22.145 CC Antya 3.137 BRS 1.2.256 Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.2
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Renunciation done out of fear of bodily trouble — rajasic; one does not gain the result of renunciation.
Practical Applications
  • Recognize fear-based renunciation as rajasic, not pure.
  • Address the fear; don't bypass it through renunciation.
  • Refine the motive.
Reflection Questions
  • Where is my renunciation fear-based?
  • What addresses the underlying fear?
Analogy

A pilgrim quits the long walk because his feet hurt and the sun is hot. He sits in the shade and calls it renunciation. The shade is real, the rest is real — but the destination is no closer. He has spared his body and lost his pilgrimage.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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