Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
दुःखमित्येव यत्कर्म कायक्लेशभयात्त्यजेत् ।
स कृत्वा राजसं त्यागं नैव त्यागफलं लभेत् ॥८॥
duḥkham ity eva yat karma
kāya-kleśa-bhayāt tyajet
sa kṛtvā rājasaṁ tyāgaṁ
naiva tyāga-phalaṁ labhet
Word for word (synonyms)
- duḥkham
- unhappy
- iti
- thus
- eva
- certainly
- yat
- that which
- karma
- work
- kāya
- body
- kleśa
- troublesome
- bhayāt
- out of
- tyajet
- fear
- saḥ
- that
- kṛtvā
- after doing
- rājasam
- in the mode of passion
- tyāgam
- renunciation
- na eva
- certainly not
- tyāga
- renounced
- phalam
- results
- labhet
- gain
Translation
Anyone who gives up prescribed duties as troublesome, or out of fear, is said to be in the mode of passion. Such action never leads to the elevation of renunciation.
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
One who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should not give up earning money out of fear that he is performing fruitive activities. If by working one can engage his money in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or if by rising early in the morning one can advance his transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one should not desist out of fear or because such activities are considered troublesome. Such renunciation is in the mode of passion. The result of passionate work is always miserable. Even if a person renounces work in that spirit, he never gets the result of renunciation.
What this verse teaches
Tyāga in passion
- 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.