Sanskrit
यं संन्यासमिति प्राहुर्योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव । न ह्यसंन्यस्तसङ्कल्पो योगी भवति कश्चन ॥
yaṃ saṃnyāsam iti prāhur yogaṃ taṃ viddhi pāṇḍava na hy asaṃnyastasaṅkalpo yogī bhavati kaścana
Translation
That which is called renunciation, know thou that as yoga, O Pandava; nor doth any one become a Yogi with the formative will unrenounced.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna equates sannyasa and yoga outright — the same discipline named two ways. The qualifier is sankalpa, the will that plans toward and anticipates future outcomes; no one becomes a yogi while that will remains unrenounced. This sharpens verse 1’s claim: renunciation isn’t giving up the act, it’s giving up the mental grasping that drives and anticipates its result. Saṅkalpa — the forming of an intention aimed at a result — is the precise thing to be given up; it is BG 4.19’s kāma-saṅkalpa again. Drop it, and the same action continues without binding.
Study deeper
Word by word
- yaṃ saṃnyāsam iti prāhurयं संन्यासं इति प्राहुः
- what they call renunciation (yam + saṃnyāsam + iti + prāhuḥ)
- yogaṃ taṃ viddhi pāṇḍavaयोगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव
- know that as yoga, O Pāṇḍava (yogam + tam + viddhi + pāṇḍava)
- na hy asaṃnyastasaṅkalpoन ह्य् असंन्यस्तसङ्कल्पो
- for no one who has not renounced [selfish] purpose (na + hi + a-saṃnyasta-saṅkalpaḥ)
- yogī bhavati kaścanaयोगी भवति कश्चन
- becomes a yogi (yogī + bhavati + kaścana)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Verse 1 said renunciation and yoga are the same thing; verse 2 tells you exactly what’s being renounced, and it isn’t action — it’s sankalpa, the will that plans toward and anticipates a result before it arrives. That’s a much narrower and harder target than “stop doing things.”
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- The habit worth breaking usually isn't the action itself — it's the mental rehearsal of how it'll turn out before you've even started. Notice when your mind is already at the destination while your hands are still at the beginning, and bring it back.
Professional
- Before a big presentation or negotiation, catch yourself scripting the outcome in your head — the win, the praise, the promotion — and separate that from the actual preparation. The rehearsal of the payoff drains focus the work itself needs.
Family & Social
- When you're about to have a hard conversation with someone close to you, notice if you're already planning their reaction and rehearsing your response to it instead of the actual person in front of you. Drop the script, keep the presence.
Ask yourself
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