Chapter 18 · Verse 1

Yoga through the Perfection of Renunciation and Surrender

अर्जुन उवाच संन्यासस्य महाबाहो तत्त्वमिच्छामि वेदितुम्। त्यागस्य च हृषीकेश पृथक्केशिनिषूदन

arjuna uvācha sannyāsasya mahā-bāho tattvam ichchhāmi veditum tyāgasya cha hṛiṣhīkeśha pṛithak keśhi-niṣhūdana

Word Meanings

arjunaḥ uvācha sanyāsasya mahā-bāho tattvam ichchhāmi veditum tyāgasya cha hṛiṣhīkeśha pṛithak keśhī-niṣhūdana

Translation

Arjuna said: O mighty-armed one, O Hrishikesha, O slayer of Keshi, I wish to understand the true nature of renunciation and relinquishment, each distinctly.

Commentary

संन्यासस्य of renunciation? महाबाहो O mightyarmed? तत्त्वम् the essence of truth? इच्छामि (I) wish? वेदितुम् to know? त्यागस्य of Tyaga or abandonment? च and? हृषीकेशः O Krishna? पृथक् severally? केशिनिषूदन् slayer of Kesi.Commentary The teaching of the whole of the GitaSastra is summed up beautifully in this discourse. This last discourse is a brief masterly summary of all that is told in the previous chapters. Arjuna wishes to know the distinction between Sannyasa and Tyaga.Kesi was an Asura whom Lord Krishna slew. So Lord Krishna is addressed as Kesinishudana by Arjuna.The words Sannyasa and Tyaga have been used here and there in the preceding discourses but their connotations are not lucidly distinguished. Therefore Lord Krishna clearly explains to Arjuna the right significance of the two terms in the following verse.