Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
नियतस्य तु संन्यासः कर्मणो नोपपद्यते ।
मोहात्तस्य परित्यागस्तामसः परिकीर्तितः ॥७॥
niyatasya tu sannyāsaḥ
karmaṇo nopapadyate
mohāt tasya parityāgas
tāmasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ
Word for word (synonyms)
- niyatasya
- prescribed duties
- tu
- but
- sannyāsaḥ
- renunciation
- karmaṇaḥ
- activities
- na
- never
- upapadyate
- is deserved
- mohāt
- by illusion
- tasya
- of which
- parityāgaḥ
- renunciation
- tāmasaḥ
- in the mode of ignorance
- parikīrtitaḥ
- declared
Translation
Prescribed duties should never be renounced. If, by illusion, one gives up his prescribed duties, such renunciation is said to be in the mode of ignorance.
Defined in the Gītā
Renunciation
What is real renunciation?
The Supreme Lord said, To give up the results of all activities is called renunciation [tyāga] by the wise. And that state is called the renounced order of life [sannyāsa] by great learned men.
Purport
Work for material satisfaction must be given up, but activities which promote one to spiritual activity, like cooking for the Supreme Lord and offering the food to the Lord and then accepting the food, are recommended. It is said that a person in the renounced order of life should not cook for himself. Cooking for oneself is prohibited, but cooking for the Supreme Lord is not prohibited. Similarly, a sannyāsī may perform a marriage ceremony to help his disciple in the advancement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one renounces such activities, it is to be understood that he is acting in the mode of darkness.
What this verse teaches
Tyāga in ignorance
- Subsection
- Renunciation (tyāga) in three modes
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.