Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 1

Gita 5.1

(अर्जुन उवाच)

संन्यासम्, कर्मणाम्, कृष्ण, पुनः, योगम्, च, शंससि,
यत्, श्रेयः, एतयोः, एकम्, तत्, मे, ब्रूहि, सुनिश्चितम्।।1।।

Gita 5.1

(Arjun uvaach)

Sannyaasam’, karmnaam’, Krishna, punH, yogam’, ch, shansasi,
Yat’, shreyH, etyoH, ekam’, tat’, me, broohi, sunishchitam’ ||1||

(Arjun said)

Translation: (Krishna) O Krishna! You (karmnaam’) of actions (sannyaasam’) renunciation i.e. doing sadhna by abandoning actions, sitting in a posture, closing ears etc (ch) and (punH) then (yogam’) of Karmyog i.e doing sadhna while performing actions (shansasi) praise, therefore (etyoH) out of these two (yat’) which (ekam’) one (me) for me (sunishchitam’) definitely (shreyH) is auspicious way (tat’) that (broohi) tell. (1)

Gita 5.1: O Krishna! You praise the renunciation (sanyas) of actions (karm) i.e doing sadhna by abandoning actions, sitting in a posture, closing ears etc, and then praise karmyog i.e. to do sadhna while performing actions. Therefore out of these two tell me that way which is definitely auspicious for me.

Meaning - Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 1: Arjun is saying that God, on one hand you are saying that it is auspicious to do sadhna while performing actions. Then in Gita Chapter 4 mantra 25 to 30, you are saying that some believe doing austerity, doing pranayam (the breathing exercise), some by closing nose, ears etc listening to naad (sound) etc, to be the ways to self wellbeing. Therefore, I have become confused by your contradictory statement. Please tell me one way with certainty.

Description of Karm Sanyas:

Karm Sanyas is done in two ways; 1. One Sanyas (renunciation) is that in which the devotee, inspired to attain God, stubbornly goes and sits in a jungle and does baseless sadhna devoid of the injunctions of the scriptures; 2. The second, even when staying at home does sadhna by forcefully (hathyog) sitting in one place for hours abandoning the injunctions of the scriptures. Both of these are Karm Sanyasi.

Description of Karmyog:

This is also of two types. One living with family, besides performing worldly tasks does scripture-based sadhna, or without getting married, living at home or in a monastery, while performing worldly actions i.e. rendering service, does scripture-based sadhna. Both of these are Karmyogi.

The second type of Karmyogis are those who live in family and do sadhna abandoning the methods prescribed in the scriptures, or without getting married, live at home or serve in a monastery. These are also known as Karmyogi.