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Bhagavad-gītā 6.2

यं सन्न्यासमिति प्राहुर्योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव । न ह्यसन्न्यस्तसङ्कल्पो योगी भवति कश्चन ॥ २ ॥
yaṁ sannyāsam iti prāhur
[yam sannyaasam iti praahur]
yogaṁ taṁ viddhi pāṇḍava
[yogam tam viddhi paandava]
na hy asannyasta-saṅkalpo
[na hy asannyasta-sankalpo]
yogī bhavati kaścana
[yogee bhavati kashchana]
Word-for-word
yam — what sannyāsam — renunciation iti — thus prāhuḥ — they say yogam — linking with the Supreme tam — that viddhi — you must know pāṇḍava — O son of Pāṇḍu na — never hi — certainly asannyasta — without giving up saṅkalpaḥ — desire for self-satisfaction yogī — a mystic transcendentalist bhavati — becomes kaścana — anyone .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
yaṁ sannyāsam iti prāhur
yam
what
sannyāsam
renunciation
iti
thus
prāhuḥ
they say
yogaṁ taṁ viddhi pāṇḍava
yogam
linking with the Supreme
tam
that
viddhi
you must know
pāṇḍava
O son of Pāṇḍu
na hy asannyasta-saṅkalpo
na
never
hi
certainly
asannyasta
without giving up
saṅkalpaḥ
desire for self-satisfaction
yogī bhavati kaścana
yogī
a mystic transcendentalist
bhavati
becomes
kaścana
anyone .
Important Words
  • sannyāsam — renunciation
    Accusative. Kṛṣṇa is about to identify (viddhi) one thing with another — the grammar is doing the equation. What the world calls sannyāsa, you must know to be yoga.
  • yogam — linking with the Supreme
    From √yuj, 'to yoke.' Yoga here is not technique but connection. The verse insists that genuine connection and genuine renunciation are one teaching seen from two sides.
  • asannyasta — without giving up
    Negative past participle. The structural pivot of the verse — if this one thing is not given up, nothing else qualifies as yoga.
  • saṅkalpaḥ — desire for self-satisfaction
    Literally 'resolve, intention' — but here, the willed projection of the mind onto an object of enjoyment. The seed of all karmic entanglement is not the deed but the saṅkalpa that precedes it.
  • kaścana — anyone
    Universal quantifier paired with na — 'not anyone, ever.' Kṛṣṇa closes the door on exceptions: no genius, no austerity, no lineage exempts a soul from this prerequisite.
What is called renunciation you should know to be the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme, O son of Pāṇḍu, for one can never become a yogī unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification.
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)
Renunciation and yoga are not two paths but one: the inner act of dropping saṅkalpa — the ego-driven willful design. Without that, no posture, no breath-control, no withdrawal makes anyone a yogī.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
Saṅkalpa is the seed-thought 'I want this result' from which kāma sprouts (cf. 2.62). By identifying sannyāsa with the renunciation of saṅkalpa, Kṛṣṇa relocates renunciation from robe and fire-pit to the mind itself — preparing the chapter's long meditation on mano-nigraha (mind-control).
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
हे पाण्डव! यं सन्न्यासम् इति प्राहुः, तं योगं विद्धि; हि असन्न्यस्त-सङ्कल्पः कश्चन योगी न भवति।
he pāṇḍava! yaṃ sannyāsam iti prāhuḥ, taṃ yogaṃ viddhi; hi asannyasta-saṅkalpaḥ kaścana yogī na bhavati|
O son of Pāṇḍu, know that what is called renunciation is the very same as yoga; for no one whose self-willed designs are unrenounced ever becomes a yogī.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
यं सन्न्यासम् इति प्राहुः योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव । न हि असन्न्यस्त-सङ्कल्पः योगी भवति कश्चन ॥
yaṃ sannyāsam iti prāhuḥ yogaṃ taṃ viddhi pāṇḍava | na hi asannyasta-saṅkalpaḥ yogī bhavati kaścana ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
यम् yam यद् (rel. pron. (pronoun)) acc.sg. (accusative singular)m. which
सन्न्यासम् sannyāsam सन्न्यास (m.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) renunciation
इति iti ind. (indeclinable) quotation marker thus
प्राहुः prāhuḥ प्र + √अह् perf. (perfect) 3pl.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) they call
योगम् yogam योग (m.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) yoga
तम् tam तद् (dem. (demonstrative) pron. (pronoun)) acc.sg. (accusative singular)m. that
विद्धि viddhi √विद् impv. 2sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) know!
पाण्डव pāṇḍava पाण्डव (m.) voc.sg. (vocative singular) O son of Pāṇḍu
न हि na hi ind. (indeclinable) + ind. (indeclinable) for not
असन्न्यस्त-सङ्कल्पः asannyasta-saṅkalpaḥ अ + सन्न्यस्त (p.p.p. (past passive participle)) + सङ्कल्प (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular)m., bahuvrīhi cpd. (compound) one whose resolves are unrenounced
योगी yogī योगिन् (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) yogī
भवति bhavati √भू pres. (present) 3sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) becomes
कश्चन kaścana किम् + चन (indef. pron. (pronoun)) nom.sg. (nominative singular)m. anyone
Purport

Real sannyāsa-yoga or bhakti means that one should know his constitutional position as the living entity, and act accordingly. The living entity has no separate independent identity. He is the marginal energy of the Supreme. When he is entrapped by material energy, he is conditioned, and when he is Kṛṣṇa conscious, or aware of the spiritual energy, then he is in his real and natural state of life. Therefore, when one is in complete knowledge, one ceases all material sense gratification, or renounces all kinds of sense gratificatory activities. This is practiced by the yogīs who restrain the senses from material attachment. But a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness has no opportunity to engage his senses in anything which is not for the purpose of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is simultaneously a sannyāsī and a yogī. The purpose of knowledge and of restraining the senses, as prescribed in the jñāna and yoga processes, is automatically served in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one is unable to give up the activities of his selfish nature, then jñāna and yoga are of no avail. The real aim is for a living entity to give up all selfish satisfaction and to be prepared to satisfy the Supreme. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has no desire for any kind of self-enjoyment. He is always engaged for the enjoyment of the Supreme. One who has no information of the Supreme must therefore be engaged in self-satisfaction, because no one can stand on the platform of inactivity. All purposes are perfectly served by the practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
2. O son of Pāṇḍu, know that the meaning of sannyāsa is the same as the meaning of yoga. One who has not given up desire in his actions is never a yogī.
Commentary

Sannyāsa means to renounce the results of ones actions. Yoga means to have a mind which is not agitated by the desire to enjoy sense objects. Therefore it should be understood that both words mean the same thing. He who has not given up the desire to enjoy objects (asannyasta-saṅkalpaḥ) is not called a yogī.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
2. O son of Pāṇḍu, know that the meaning of sannyāsa is the same as the meaning of yoga. One who has not given up desire in his actions is never a yogī.
Commentary

“The word sannyāsa means to be fixed in jñāna characterized by stopping the functions of all the senses. The word yoga refers to controlling the internal functions (citta vṛtti nirodha). You have said that a person is practicing jñāna and yoga by performing karma yoga, whose essence is employing the senses. What sense (vṛtti) of the words jñāna and yoga produces this statement?” “O Pāṇḍava, know that the karma yoga (yoga) which the knowers of meaning call sannyasa (jñāna yoga) is none other than āṣṭaṅga yoga (tam). ” “We call a man a lion because of similarity in qualities such as bravery. But what is the similarity here?” “One who has not renounced desires for the fruits of actions (sannyasta saṁkalpaḥ) cannot be either a jñāna yogī or aṣṭaṅga yogī. Only one who has given up those desires can be either type of yogī. Because of similarity in giving up the desire from results of action in jñāna, and similarity in stopping the internal functions in the form of thirst for enjoyment in yoga, both terms are used in describing the karma yogī, by taking a secondary sense of the words (gauṇa vṛtti).”

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

Many times Krsna uses the term 'yoga'. Here it means 'astanga‑yoga' but also means 'karma‑yoga'. 'Jnana‑yoga' and 'karma sannyasa' (renunciation of work) are considered to be the same as 'sankhya‑yoga' (renunciation of work). 'Karma‑yoga' and 'Astanga‑yoga' are considered to be work (with the organs of the body). Here is the essence: it is renunciation of the desire of sense enjoyement that has to be done. That is real renunciation.

[ 2 . To attain advancement in yoga, in the beginning, one should work to attain the advanced stage of neither desiring nor working for sense gratification. (3‑4) ]

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

Detached action is same as renunciation because both require freedom from desire of sense

gratification.

LINK BETWEEN TEXTS 6.2 & 6.3

Krishna now explains that the yoga process is divided into two levels.

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
6.2 Yam, that which is characterized by the giving up of all actions and their results; which prahuh, they, the knowers of the Vedas and the Smrtis, call; sannyasam iti, monasticism, in the real sense; viddhi, known; tam, that monasticism in the real sense; to be yogam, Yoga, consisting in the performance of actions, O Pandava. Accepting what kind of similarity between Karma-yoga, which is characterized by engagement (in actions), and its opposite, renunciation in the real sense, which is characterized by cessation from work, has their eation been stated? When such an apprehension arises, the answer is this; From the point of view of the agent, there does exist a simialrity of Karma-yoga with real renunciation. For he who is a monk in the real sense, from the very fact of his having given up all the means needed for accomplishing actions, gives up the thought of all actions and their results-the source of desire that leads to engagement in work. [Thoughts about an object lead to the desire for it, which in turn leads to actions for getting it. (Also see note under 4.19)] also, even while performing actions, gives up the thought for results. Pointing out this idea, the Lord says: Hi, for; kascit, nobody, no man of action whosoever; asannyasta-sankalpah, who has not given up expactaions-one by whom has not been renounced expectation, anticipation, of results;bhavati, becomes, i.e. can become; yogi, a yogi, a man of concentration, because thought of results is the cause of the disturbance of mind. Therefore, any man of action who gives up the thought of results would become a yogi, a man of concentration with an unperturbed mind, because of his having given up thought of results which is the cause of mental distractions. This is the purport. Thus, because of the similarity of real monasticism with Karma-yoga from the point of veiw of giving up by the agent, Karma-yoga is extolled as monasticism in, 'That which they call monasticism, know that to be Yoga, O Pandava.' Since Karma-yoga, which is independent of results, is the remote help to Dhyana-yoga, therefore it has been praised as monasticism. Thereafter, now the Lord shows how Karma-yoga is helpful to Dhyana-yoga:
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
6.2 Know Karma Yoga only to be that which they call as Sannyasa i.e., as Jnana Yoga or knowledge of the real nature of the self. Sri Krsna substantiates this by the words, 'For no one whose delusive identification of the body with the self is not abandoned, becomes a true Karma Yogin.' 'One whose delusion is abandoned is one by whom the delusion of identifying the self with Prakrti (body), which is in reality distinct from the self, is not rejected by the contemplation of the real nature of the self. One who is not of this kind is one whose delusion is not abandoned. One who is not of this kind cannot become a Karma Yogin of the type described here. It has already been said: 'He whose every undertaking is free from desire for fruits and delusive identification of the body with the self ৷৷.' (4.19). Sri Krsna now teaches that by Karma Yoga alone one succeeds in Yoga without the risk of fall.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
6.1-2 The subject matter that has been thus established in the series of the preceding chapters is summarised by a couple of verses. Anasritah etc. Yam etc. Bounden : Ordained [in the law books] according to one's caste etc. [Thus] man-lf-renunciation and man-of-Yoga are synonyms. That is why [the Lord] says, 'what [the learned] call renunciation' etc. Therefore, without Yoga no renunciation is possible. Similarly Yoga is not possible without renouncing the intention [for fruit]. Conseently, the Yoga and renunciation are ever interlinked. The idea, suggested by 'not he who remains [simply] without his fires etc.' is this : He remains neither without fires, nor without actions and yet he is man of renunciation, Hence this is strange. Of course, following the principle [involved in the statement] 'Playing dice is the kingship, without throne', and following logic it has been asserted already that renunciation is not possible for a person who remains simply without actions. Yet-
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
6.2 Do thou, O Arjuna, know Yoga to be that which they call renunciation; no one verily becomes a Yogi who has not renounced thoughts.
Commentary

6.2 यम् which? संन्यासम् renunciation? इति thus? प्राहुः (they) call? योगम् Yoga? तम् that? विद्धि know? पाण्डव O Pandava? न not? हि verily? असंन्यस्तसङ्कल्पः one who has not renounced thoughts? योगी Yogi? भवति becomes? कश्चन anyone.Commentary Sankalpa is the working of the imagining faculty of the mind that makes plans for the future and guesses the results of plans so formed. No one can become a Karma Yogi who plans and schemes and expects fruits for his actions. No devotee of action who has not renounced the thought of the fruits of his actions can become a Yogi of steady mind. The thought of the fruits will certainly make the mind unsteady.Lord Krishna eulogises Karma Yoga here because it is the means or an external aid (Bahiranga Sadhana) to Dhyana Yoga. Karma Yoga is a steppingstone to Dhyana Yoga. It leads to the Yoga of Meditation in due course. In order to encourage the practice of Karna Yoga it is stated here that Karma Yoga is Sannyasa. (Cf.V.4)

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
6.2 That which they call monasticism, know that to be Yoa, O Pandava, For, nobody who has not given up expectations can be a yogi.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
6.2 O Arjuna! Renunciation is in fact what is called Right Action. No one can become spiritual who has not renounced all desire.
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)
Related verses
BG 5.4 BG 5.5 BG 6.1 SB 11.20.6 SB 3.25.13 SB 11.19.33 CC Madhya 22.87 CC Madhya 19.167 CC Madhya 24.185 Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.3.13BRS 1.1.11
Study Q&A referencing this verse
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Sannyāsa and yoga are the same — no one becomes a yogi without renouncing the desire for sense-gratification.
Practical Applications
  • Treat renunciation of sense-craving as the prerequisite, not the optional add-on.
  • Audit which sense-cravings you've been indulging while calling yourself a yogi.
  • Reduce one craving per season as steady practice.
Reflection Questions
  • What sense-craving still binds me?
  • What single discipline would loosen it?
Analogy

Two travelers approach the same mountain from opposite slopes — one calls his path 'renunciation,' the other 'yoga.' At the summit they meet and find they have climbed the same peak. Kṛṣṇa here lays down the rule of the climb: whichever slope you call yours, you cannot ascend an inch while still hauling the sack of saṅkalpa.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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