Karma Sanyasa Yoga
Arjuna asks Krishna directly which is better: renouncing action altogether, or performing action without attachment. Krishna answers that both lead to the same highest good, but that karma yoga — acting selflessly rather than withdrawing from the world — is the easier and surer path for most people, since true renunciation of the heart's craving is possible even in the midst of action. He describes the accomplished yogi as untouched by the consequences of action, like a lotus leaf that water cannot wet, because such a person acts with body, mind and senses but without personal claim on the result. The chapter also touches on the equanimity of true knowers, who look on a learned brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcaste with the same even eye, seeing the one reality within all of them. It ends by describing the deep peace available to one who recognizes Krishna as the enjoyer of all sacrifice and austerity, the great Lord of all worlds, and the selfless friend of every being.
“Renunciation and the yoga of action both lead to the highest good; but of the two, action performed without attachment is better than renunciation.”
“One who acts, offering all actions to Brahman and abandoning attachment, is untouched by evil, as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.”
“The truly wise see with an equal eye a learned and humble brahmin, a cow, an elephant, and even a dog and an outcaste.”
“One who is able, even here before leaving the body, to withstand the force born of desire and anger, is a yogi; that person is truly happy.”
“Knowing me as the one who accepts sacrifice and austerity, the great Lord of all the worlds, and the selfless friend of every being, one attains peace.”
Chapter summaries composed for MyBrahman; verse translations from the public-domain Kashinath Trimbak Telang translation (1882, Sacred Books of the East, vol. 8) where directly checkable, and/or widely-attested traditional renderings of famous verses, cited by standard chapter.verse numbering.