The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran

╭ chapter five
who left his palace to find a way to lead the world beyond suffering
and death. He became a wandering sannyasi, a lonely,
austere monk. Only after he had attained to complete enlightenment
did he return to society, to teach others of the peace
of nirvana.
Though Krishna acknowledges here that this way of sannyasa
can lead to the goal, he recommends the path of selfless
action or selfless service as the better way. He contrasts
the way of Sankhya – which in this context means knowledge
of the Self in a general way – to the way of yoga, which here
means the way of action. This term yoga presents difficulties
in the Gita because it means different things at different times,
and many definitions are given of this all-purpose term. But
for several chapters the topic under discussion has been the
active spiritual life, or karma yoga, and that is clearly what is
meant in this context. Sankhya and yoga might also be translated
as “theory and practice.”
It would seem that at the time of the Gita the path of wisdom
was regarded very highly, while the path of action may
have been looked upon as an adulteration of the spiritual life.
It is even possible that the Gita was the first Hindu scripture
to introduce the novel idea of combining karma yoga with the
pursuit of Self-knowledge. Krishna says that only immature,
inexperienced people look upon the paths of knowledge and
action as different. The true goal of action is knowledge of the
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