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BG 6.1 — 6.1 The Blessed Lord said He who performs his bounden duty without depending on the fruits of his actions he is a Sannyasi and a Yogi; not he who is with
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श्रीभगवानुवाच |
अनाश्रितः कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः |
स संन्यासी च योगी च न निरग्निर्न चाक्रियः ||६-१||

śrībhagavānuvāca . anāśritaḥ karmaphalaṃ kāryaṃ karma karoti yaḥ . sa saṃnyāsī ca yogī ca na niragnirna cākriyaḥ ||6-1||


6.1 The Blessed Lord said He who performs his bounden duty without depending on the fruits of his actions he is a Sannyasi and a Yogi; not he who is without fire and without action.

Word-by-word meanings

6.1 अनाश्रितः not depending (on)? कर्मफलम् fruit of action? कार्यम् bounden? कर्म duty? करोति performs? यः who? सः he? संन्यासी Sannyasi (ascetic)? च and? योगी Yogi? च and? न not? निरग्निः without fire? न not? च and? अक्रियः without action.Commentary Actions such as Agnihotra? etc.? performed without the expectation of their fruits purify the mind and become the means to Dhyana Yoga or the Yoga of Meditation.Karyam Karma bounden duty.Niragnih without fire. He who has renounced the daily rituals

Commentaries

Non-dualism. The individual self and Brahman are one. The world is appearance (maya). Liberation through knowledge.

Swami Gambirananda

6.1 The Blessed Lord said He who performs an action which is his duty, without depending on the result of action, he is a monk and a yogi; (but) not (so in) he who does not keep a fire and is actionless.

Sri Shankaracharya

6.1 Anasritah, without depending on;-on what?-on that which is karma-phalam, the result of action- i.e. without craving for the result of action-. He who craves for the results of actions becomes dependent on the results of actions. But this person is the opposite of such a one. Hence (it is said), 'wihtout depending on the result of action. Having become so, yah he who; karoti, performs accomplishes; (karma, an action;) which is his karyam, duty, the nityakarmas such as Agnihotra etc. which are opposed to the kamya-karmas-. Whoever is a man of action of this kind is distinguished from the other men of action. In order to express this idea the Lord says, sah, he ; is a sannyasi, monk, and a yogi. Sanyyasa, means renunciation. he who is possessed of this is a sannyasi, a monk. And he is also a yogi. Yoga means concentration of mind. He who has that is a yogi. It is to be understood that this man is possessed of these alities. It is not to be understood that, only that person who does not keep a fire (niragnih) and who is actionless (akriyah) is a monk and a yogi. Niragnih is one from whom the fires [viz Garhapatya, Ahavaniya, Anvaharya-pacana, etc.], which are the accessories of rites, have bocome dissociated. By kriya are mean austerity, charity, etc. which are performed wityout fire. Akriyah, actionless, is he who does not have even such kriyas. Objection: Is it not only with regard to one who does not keep a fire and is acitonless that monasticsm and meditativeness are well known in the Vedas, Smrtis and scriptures dealing with meditation? Why are monasticism and meditativeness spoken of here with regard to one who keeps a fire and is a man of action-which is not accepted as a fact? Reply: This defect does not arise, because both are sought to be asserted in some secondary sense. Objection: How is that? Reply: His being monk is by virtue of his having given up hankering for the results of actions; and his being a man of meditation is from the fact of his doing actions as accesories to meditation or from his rejection of thoughts for the results of actions which cause disturbances in the mind. Thus both are used in a figurative sense. On the contrary, it is not that monasticism and meditativeness are meant in the primary sense. With a veiw to pointing out this idea, the Lord says:

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This interpretation draws on the Advaita tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

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