Devanagari
सन्न्यासस्य महाबाहो तत्त्वमिच्छामि वेदितुम् ।
त्यागस्य च हृषीकेश पृथक्केशिनिषूदन ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
arjuna uvāca
sannyāsasya mahā-bāho
tattvam icchāmi veditum
tyāgasya ca hṛṣīkeśa
pṛthak keśi-niṣūdana
Synonyms
arjunaḥ uvāca
—
Arjuna said
;
sannyāsasya
—
of renunciation
;
mahā-bāho
—
O mighty-armed one
;
tattvam
—
the truth
;
icchāmi
—
I wish
;
veditum
—
to understand
;
tyāgasya
—
of renunciation
;
ca
—
also
;
hṛṣīkeśa
—
O master of the senses
;
pṛthak
—
differently
;
keśi-niṣūdana
—
O killer of the Keśī demon.
Translation
Arjuna said: O mighty-armed one, I wish to understand the purpose of renunciation [tyāga] and of the renounced order of life [sannyāsa], O killer of the Keśī demon, master of the senses.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
1. Arjuna said: O Mighty-armed one, controller of the senses, killer of Keśī, I desire to know the true meaning of sannyāsa and the different meaning of tyāga.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
1. Arjuna said: O Mighty-armed one, controller of the senses, killer of Keśi, I desire to know the difference between sannyāsa and tyāga.
Purport
Actually the Bhagavad-gītā is finished in seventeen chapters. The Eighteenth Chapter is a supplementary summarization of the topics discussed before. In every chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa stresses that devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life. This same point is summarized in the Eighteenth Chapter as the most confidential path of knowledge. In the first six chapters, stress was given to devotional service: yoginām api sarveṣām … “Of all yogīs or transcendentalists, one who always thinks of Me within himself is best.” In the next six chapters, pure devotional service and its nature and activity were discussed. In the third six chapters, knowledge, renunciation, the activities of material nature and transcendental nature, and devotional service were described. It was concluded that all acts should be performed in conjunction with the Supreme Lord, represented by the words oṁ tat sat, which indicate Viṣṇu, the Supreme Person. The third part of Bhagavad-gītā has shown that devotional service, and nothing else, is the ultimate purpose of life. This has been established by citing past ācāryas and the Brahma-sūtra, the Vedānta-sūtra . Certain impersonalists consider themselves to have a monopoly on the knowledge of Vedānta-sūtra, but actually the Vedānta-sūtra is meant for understanding devotional service, for the Lord Himself is the composer of the Vedānta-sūtra, and He is its knower. That is described in the Fifteenth Chapter. In every scripture, every Veda, devotional service is the objective. That is explained in Bhagavad-gītā .
As in the Second Chapter a synopsis of the whole subject matter was described, in the Eighteenth Chapter also the summary of all instruction is given. The purpose of life is indicated to be renunciation and attainment of the transcendental position above the three material modes of nature. Arjuna wants to clarify the two distinct subject matters of Bhagavad-gītā, namely renunciation ( tyāga ) and the renounced order of life ( sannyāsa ). Thus he is asking the meaning of these two words.
Two words used in this verse to address the Supreme Lord – Hṛṣīkeśa and Keśi-niṣūdana – are significant. Hṛṣīkeśa is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all senses, who can always help us attain mental serenity. Arjuna requests Him to summarize everything in such a way that he can remain equipoised. Yet he has some doubts, and doubts are always compared to demons. He therefore addresses Kṛṣṇa as Keśi-niṣūdana. Keśī was a most formidable demon who was killed by the Lord; now Arjuna is expecting Kṛṣṇa to kill the demon of doubt.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The eighteenth chapter speaks of the three types of sannyāsa, jṣāna and karma, defines liberation, and indicates bhakti as the highest secret of all.
“You stated in the previous chapter ‘Uttering the word tat, without seeking results, sacrifices, austerities and charities are performed by those with desire for liberation from the atat material world.’ Those with a desire for liberation are sannyāsīs. But there seems to be others who are detached from all the results of their work, as mentioned by You when you said sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān: give up all the result of your work with great attention. (BG 12.11) What is the tyāga of these others?” Wanting to know the distinction, Arjuna asks a question in this verse.
“If the words sannyāsa and tyāga have different meanings, I desire to know the distinct essence of these two. But if they mean the same thing, in Your opinion or others’ opinion, I desire to know what is that one meaning as well.
“O controller of the senses (hṛṣīkeśa), you have made this doubt arise in me since You are the instigator of my intelligence. O killer of Keśī (keśī-nisūdana), You will kill this doubt of mine just as You killed Keśī. O Mighty-armed one (mahā-bāho), You have great strength in Your arms, and I have insignificant strength in my arms. You have become friendly with an expansion such as me, rather than with Your other expansions with vast knowledge. Therefore I am not afraid to ask this question, since You have become somewhat friendly with me.”
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
In the eighteenth chapter, the Lord, summarizing all the topics of the Gītā, speaks about the most secret aspect of devotion and surrender within devotion.
The doubting Arjuna asks about the meaning of the word sannyāsa mentioned in statements such as sarva-karmāṇi manasā sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśī (BG 5.13) and the meaning of tyāga mentioned in such statements as tyaktvā karma-phalāsaṅgaṁ (BG 4.20). Do the two words have completely different meanings such as trees and stones, or do they have similar meanings like Kurus and Pāṇḍavas. If the words are completely different, then I want to know the different natures (pṛthak tattvam) of sannyāsa and tyāga. If they are two alternative words describing the same thing, I want to know that. O mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa, Hṛṣīkeśa, because You stimulate the function of intelligence, You alone have produced my doubt. You are also the killer of Keśi, and therefore You can kill my doubt.
Surrender Unto Me
In order to emphasize the goal of the all Bhagavad‑gita, which is surrender to Krsna, Krsna is now going to summarize more or less everything that He already told before. And He will begin by going over again that question that He has answered in many occasions ‑ what is Krsna recommending between renunciation of work and the renunciation of the fruits of one's work? Krsna is going to give His final prescription in His summary here: to renounce the fruits of one's work. But this is just one basic step in the relationship with Krsna summarizing the Bhagavad‑gita and leading us again to surrender to Krsna's lotus feet.
This particualar question is interesting. " I wish to understand the purpose of renunciation (tyaga) and of the renounced order of life (sannyasa)." What Arjuna is asking is: ''are the sannyasi or the renouncing order of life and tyaga or renunciation, are they the same thing? Are they two words meaning the same thing or are they two different words meaning two different things? Is any difference between tyaga and sannyasa or are they the same?" Arjuna is asking Krsna what is His opinion about this, and also in His reply, Krsna, is going to give the opinion of others as well.
We are already familiar with this: whether one should perform jnana‑yoga and renounce the activities, or perform niskama karma‑ yoga.
In the second verse, Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, says: