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Krishna stated that acts of sacrifice, austerity, and charity should be performed giving up attachment and fruit. However (tu), renunciation (sannyāsaḥ) of prescribed (niyatasya) actions (karmaṇo) should never be done (nopapadyate). Krishna describes the act of giving up in three modes. Giving them [one’s prescribed actions] (tasya) up (parityāgas) because of illusion (mohāt) is declared to be (parikīrtitaḥ) in the mode of darkness (tāmasaḥ). (BG 18.7)

One (sa) who (yat) gives up (tyajet) action (karma) considering it as miserable (duḥkham ity eva) out of fear of (bhayāt) bodily discomfort (kāya-kleśa) has given up (kṛtvā tyāgaṁ) in the mode of passion (rājasaṁ). Certainly (eva), one does not (na) gain (labhet) the fruit (phalaṁ) of giving up (tyāga) [by giving up in the mode of passion]. (BG 18.8)

When one performs (kriyate) a prescribed (niyataṁ) action (karma) only because it ought to be done (kāryam ity eva yat), and giving up (tyaktvā) attachment (saṅgaṁ) and fruit (phalaṁ caiva), in Krishna’s opinion (mataḥ), such giving up (sa tyāgaḥ) is in the mode of goodness (sāttviko). (BG 18.9) Who is an intelligent renouncer? The intelligent (medhāvī ) renouncer (tyāgī) absorbed in goodness (sattva-samāviṣṭo), with doubts obliterated (chinna-saṁśayaḥ), neither hates (na dveṣṭy) inauspicious and unpleasant (akuśalaṁ) work (karma) nor attached (nānuṣajjate) to the auspicious and pleasant (kuśale). (BG 18.10)

Clearly, Krishna cautions us against giving up our prescribed actions but recommends that we give up the attachment and fruits associated with our actions. Why? It is indeed (hi) not (na) possible (śakyaṁ) for an embodied being (deha-bhṛtā) to give up (tyaktuṁ) actions (karmāṇy) forever (aśeṣataḥ). But (tu), one who (yas) gives up the fruit of action (karma-phala-tyāgī) is said to be (abhidhīyate) the one (sa) who has truly given up (tyāgīty). (BG 18.11)

Krishna enunciaes the law of karma here. The threefold (tri-vidhaṁ) fruits of action (karmaṇaḥ phalam) – desirable, undesirable, and mixed (aniṣṭam iṣṭaṁ miśraṁ ca) – accrue (bhavaty) even after death (pretya) for those who have not given up (atyāgināṁ), but (tu) not (na) ever (kvacit) for one who is renounced (sannyāsināṁ). (BG 18.12)

The Bhagavad Gita has been revolving around one fundamental question, which Arjuna had asked in chapter 2, chapter 3, and chapter 5, albeit framed differently, and now again he is bringing it back in chapter 18 – what should we really give up on the path to perfection – the action itself or the fruit of action?

Once and for all, Arjuna desires (icchāmi) to distinctly (pṛthak) know (veditum) the truth (tattvam) about renunciation (sannyāsasya) and giving up (tyāgasya). (BG 18.1) The renunciation (nyāsaṁ) of actions (karmaṇāṁ) that are based on selfish material desires (kāmyānāṁ) is what the learned (kavayo) know (viduḥ) as renunciation (sannyāsaṁ). The giving up of the results of all actions (sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ) is what the seers (vicakṣaṇāḥ) call (prāhus) giving up (tyāgaṁ). (BG 18.2) Note that Krishna uses the exact same phrase in BG 12.11: sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ.

There are diverse opinions on the topic of giving up. Some (eke) sages (manīṣiṇaḥ) declare (prāhur) that action (karma) should be given up (tyājyaṁ) considering it as faulty (doṣa-vad ity), while others (cāpare) maintain that acts of sacrifice, charity, and austerity (yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma) should never be given up (na tyājyam iti). (BG 18.3) Krishna now wants us to hear (śṛṇu me tatra) His conclusion (niścayaṁ) about giving up (tyāge). The giving up (tyāgo hi) is described (samprakīrtitaḥ) to be of three kinds (tri-vidhaḥ). (BG 18.4)

Before delineating the three kinds of giving up, Krishna first reiterates on some general principles. Acts of sacrifice, charity, and austerity (yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma) must not to be given up (na tyājyaṁ kāryam eva tat). In fact, sacrifice, charity, and austerity (yajño dānaṁ tapaś ca) purify (pāvanāni) even (eva) the great sages (manīṣiṇām). (BG 18.5) But (tu), furthermore (api), all these (etāny) activities (karmāṇi) should be performed (kartavyānīti) giving up (tyaktvā) attachment (saṅgaṁ) and fruits [or results] (phalāni ca). That is Krishna’s (me) final (niścitaṁ) transcendental (uttamam) opinion (matam). (BG 18.6)

In chapter 3, Krishna emphatically establishes the path of action yoga to be superior to renouncing action (BG 3.7). In chapter 5, Krishna made the message even stronger by calling out that renunciation of action produces a lot of distress while engagement in yoga unavoidably leads to self-realization (BG 5.6). Note that at this point, renunciation (sannyāsa) has been misconstrued (by Arjuna) as the renunciation of action.

In chapter 6, Krishna clarifies the real meaning of renunciation (sannyāsa) by going on to say that there is actually no difference between a renunciant and an action yogi. Performing one’s prescribed duties without attachment to results makes one simultaneously a yogi and a renunciant. On the other hand, neglecting one’s duties, one is neither a yogi nor a renunciant. (BG 6.1) The key point is that one cannot be a yogi or a renunciant without renouncing the desires for sense gratification (BG 6.2). The conclusion is that real renunciation (sannyāsa) refers to the spirit of renunciation whereby one is not merely renouncing things or actions but renouncing the false material conceptions that one is a proprietor of things, a doer of actions (or a cause of results) and an enjoyer of results.

Is renouncing active life relevant for anybody? Yes, for a meditation (dhyāna) yogi in the advanced (yogārūḍha) stage. At a neophyte (yogārurukṣu) stage, a meditation yogi continues with the prescribed duties (karma). But, at an advanced (yogārūḍha) stage, the meditation yogi gives up all material engagements (śamaḥ), including even the actions involving non-attached action yoga (BG 6.3). It is noteworthy that to be very clear in His message, Krsna uses the word śamaḥ, not sannyāsa, to mean giving up of actions.

But, how does one recognize whether one is an advanced (yogārūḍha) meditation (dhyāna) yogi? An advanced (yogārūḍha) meditation yogi is one who has renounced all material desires (sarva-saṅkalpa-sannyāsī), which essentially means he/she does not engage in sense gratification (nendriyārtheṣu), or fruitive actions (karmasu). (BG 6.4) [Sense gratification means enjoying results with the senses, while fruitive action means expecting results for enjoyment.]

How does one go from the neophyte (yogārurukṣu) to the advanced (yogārūḍha) stage? Krishna answers this question in the next section.