The document summarizes Sant Jnaneswar's Marathi commentary called Jnaneswari on the Bhagavad Gita. It provides background on Jnaneswar, who wrote the commentary at age 15. It then summarizes several verses from Chapter 5 on karma sanyasa yoga, or the yoga of work and renunciation. The verses discuss renouncing work versus working without attachment, seeing all beings as equal, and finding eternal bliss through yoga and self-realization.

1. BHAGAVAD GITA
Commentary by
Sant Jnaneswar
PROF. T. K. G. NAMBOODHIRI
Thiruvalla, Kerala, India

2. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
JNANESWARI
• Jnaneswari is the commentary on Bhagavad
Gita written by Saint Jnaneswar, who lived in
Maharashtra in the 13th Century AD.
• This very popular & simple commentary was
written in Marathi by Saint Jnaneswar when he
was only 15 years of age.
• The complete English translation of this
commentary is available at
http://www.bvbpune.org/contents1.html
T K G Namboodhiri

3. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
JNANESWARI
• The Marathi commentary Jnaneswari has been translated
into most Indian languages, English & other several
European languages.
• The Malayalam translation of Jnaneswari was prepared
by Shri M. P. Chandrasekharan Pillai (1924-1999),of
Thiruvalla, Kerala. After a devotional labour of 4
years, referring several English & other translations, Shri.
Pillai completed his Malayalam Jnaneswari in 1990.
During this period, he was an inmate of
Anandasram, Kanjangad, Kerala, who published the
commentary.
• This presentation is based entirely on this Malayalam
version of Jnaneswari T K G Namboodhiri

4. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
CHAPTER 5
KARMA SANYASA YOGA
YOGA OF WORK & RENUNCIATION
T K G Namboodhiri

5. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.1
Arjuna asked the Lord: Krishna, you said
that actions should be renounced, but in
the same breath, you asked me to work
according to Karma-Yoga. You initially
advised me to leave all work. Next
moment you praised the need for
constantly working in an unattached way.
Is it renouncing work, or getting involved
in work, which will lead to lasting benefit
for me? Kindly give me a definite answer.
T K G Namboodhiri

6. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.2
Lord Krishna Replied: Arjuna, renouncement of
work, as well as self-less work, both lead to
liberation. If you think carefully, both renouncing
action, & doing action without any desire for its
fruits, are ways to attain liberation. But the path-of-
action is the one which can be adopted both by the
learned as well as the ignorant. Only a very strong
person can swim across a river with strong
currents, but if you have a boat, even women &
children can easily cross that river. Similarly
Karma-Yoga is suitable for everyone & is simple. If
you follow it, you will eventually get the benefit of
renunciation also.
T K G Namboodhiri

7. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.3
Arjuna, understand that one who never
desires anything, nor hates anything, is a
permanent renouncer. He is beyond dualities
& happy. Do not worry about anything that is
lost. Never entertain even a trace of feelings
like “I” or “Mine”. Such a person is a
perpetual renouncer. Once you attain such a
state, you will be liberated from bondage of
work. Having no trace of desires, you will
never get entangled in work. You will remain
always in bliss.
T K G Namboodhiri

8. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 5.4 & 5.5
Only ignorant children will say that the path-
of-knowledge, & the path-of-action give
different results. Wise men believe that both
yield the same result-Liberation. One
following any one of them properly, gets the
benefit of both. Where monks who follow the
path-of-knowledge reach, the same goal is
reached by Karma-Yogis, that of Liberation.
One who realizes this fact is the one who has
understood things correctly.
T K G Namboodhiri

9. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.6
It is very difficult for one to reach the state of renunciation
needed for following the path-of-knowledge without prior
purification of the mind through practicing the path-of-action.
But the one who has gained equanimity of mind through Karma-
Yoga, becomes a real renouncer, & gradually attains union with
the Brahman. Only ignorant persons think that these two paths
are separate. Those who have realized the Truth knows that
these two paths are one & the same. As you cannot separate
emptiness from the sky, you cannot separate these two paths
of realization. Those who have reached the summit of the
mountain of liberation through the path-of-action, easily
descend to the plains of bliss of Self-realization. But those who
have not attained the equanimity of mind through the path-of-
action can never hope to become a real renouncer.
T K G Namboodhiri

10. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.7
One, who through the path-of-action has attained
equanimity of mind, with a purified mind, has conquered
his body & senses, & who knows that the Soul in his body
is the same as that in all other living beings, is not
tainted by the work he does. Such a person withdraws
his desires for worldly enjoyments, & keeps his mind
fixed on the inner self. A piece of salt remains
insignificant till it dissolves in the sea, after which it
becomes the infinite spread of the ocean. Similarly, one
who merges with the Infinite Brahman, though retains
the human form, has become universal in his thinking &
he goes beyond time & space. He loses all identity as the
doer of his action, & thus remains untainted by whatever
actions he performs.
T K G Namboodhiri

11. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 5.8 & 5.9
One, who has realized the Self & is
established in Self-Knowledge, does all
activities a normal person does. He
breaths, sees, tastes, talks and does
essential work using his organs of action.
Though he sees with his eyes, hears with his
ears, etc. he never gets entangled with the
seen & heard objects. He considers all these
activities as mere working of his sense
organs with their objects, & never feel any
sense of doership. Hence he remains
untainted by his actions.
T K G Namboodhiri

12. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.10
One who does all his work as offering to God, &
discards all desires for the fruits of his
action, is not tainted by his actions, just like
the lotus leaf floating on water is not wetted by
it. Such a person maintains all sensual
perceptions and engages in essential activities.
A lamp lit in a house lets all household
activities to be done in its light, but is not
affected by them. Similarly, a Karma-Yogi is not
tainted by his actions.
T K G Namboodhiri

13. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 5.11 to 5.13
Those who practice Yoga, work with their body, mind &
intellect only, renouncing the fruits of action, with the aim of
attaining Self-Knowledge. The work of a Karma-Yogi is just like
a child’s play, without any attachments. They work without any
attachments to the fruits of action & attain permanent peace.
One who works for the fruits of action gets bound by his
actions & suffer. A Karma-Yogi works with purity using his
body, senses, mind & intellect, & with detachment for fruits of
action. Controlling his senses, mind & intellect, & renouncing
all fruits of work, a Yogi dwells in his body with 9
openings, blissfully. He neither does anything nor causes any
work to be done. Though he works like a normal
person, absence of any feelings of doership, makes all his work
non-work. He remains always blissfully in union with the SELF.
T K G Namboodhiri

14. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 5.14 & 5.15
God neither creates work & doership, nor the
desire for fruits of work in the world. Though
He is the cause of creation of the whole
universe, He remains untainted & beyond
doership. Deluded living beings act according
to their inborn tendencies. The fully Perfect
God does not accept anybody’s sin, nor does He
take their virtue. Ignorance shields true
knowledge, and living beings get deluded. He
incarnates & performs His actions by His own
will, but this does not alter his formlessness or
inertness.
T K G Namboodhiri

15. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.16
Persons whose ignorance has been removed by
self-knowledge, their knowledge shines &
illuminates everything, just as the Sun
illuminates the whole world. Only when the
ignorance is completely removed, desires &
habits disappear. Then the realization of the
non-doership of God becomes clear. Then all
differences vanish & God and the seeker
becomes one. Such persons view the whole
universe in their Self.
T K G Namboodhiri

16. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.17
Persons who have known the Self, &
realized that they are none other than the
Supreme Self, who is engrossed in the
Self, & who consider Self to be their
ultimate Goal, exhaust all their sin
through knowledge, & attain the state of
the Ultimate from where there is no
return. Established in equanimity, such
people will permanently stay in the
Brahman.
T K G Namboodhiri

17. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.18
The man of Self-Knowledge sees a
Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog & a
person who eats the dog in the same way.
He does not differentiate between the
Brahmin who is well-educated but humble
& an outcaste who eats dogs & live an
uncultured life. As long as the feeling of
“I” & “mine” exists, the differences exist,
but once that feeling is dead, no
differentiation is possible.
T K G Namboodhiri

18. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.19
Persons whose minds are established in
equality, cross the sea of birth & death in this
life itself. Brahman is stainless & exists
equally in all. Those who view everything
equally has become Brahman Itself. Without
renouncing sense objects, without starving
the senses, they have achieved detachment
from desires & sensual pleasures. Though
appearing to be normal people, they are ,in
reality, the Infinite Brahman.
T K G Namboodhiri

19. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 5.20 & 5.21
The knower of Brahman who has concentrated
his mind & intellect in Brahman, who has
grasped the essence of Brahman & is
constantly immersed in bliss, does not feel
happy with pleasant things or grieve with
unpleasant happenings. Undisturbed &
equanimous, he is Brahman in the form of man.
Such a person is disinterested in sensual
pleasures from outside world as he is always
filled with the permanent bliss of self-
knowledge. He is always established in
Brahman & enjoys unending happiness.
T K G Namboodhiri

20. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.22
The pleasures derived from the contacts
of sense-organs with their sense-objects
are really seeds of pain &
sorrow, because they all have a
beginning & an end. Wise people, who
have experienced the bliss of Self-
Knowledge do not find any pleasure in
them. Sensual pleasures are like
lightening, impermanent & short- lived.
They are merely the cause of suffering &
pain.
T K G Namboodhiri

21. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.23
One, who conquers desire, anger & the
mental disturbances caused by
them, becomes eligible to realize the Self
in this life itself. He becomes mentally
peaceful & happy. Such people immersed
in the eternal Bliss of Self-
Knowledge, lose the awareness of their
body & the veil of ego is torn away from
them. They lose all dualities & get fully
immersed in Bliss.
T K G Namboodhiri

22. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 5.24 & 5.25
The Yogi who finds happiness in
himself & always remains in self-
illumination, gradually merges with
the Brahman & gets liberated. Yogis
whose sins have ended & whose
doubts have vanished & their minds &
intellect fully under control & who
enjoy doing good for other living
beings attains the bliss of Brahman.
T K G Namboodhiri

23. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.26
Seekers who have completely eliminated
desires & anger, & always remain in
contemplation of the Self, attain Eternal
Bliss. Those who have withdrawn their
minds from sensual objects, &
concentrated their mind on the Self, stay
in the lap of bliss & become the Brahman
Itself. How one can reach the State of
Brahman in the present human life itself is
explained in the two following verses.
T K G Namboodhiri

24. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 5.27 & 5.28
A seeker must withdraw from all sensual
contacts with the outside world, sit & fix
his eyes on the midpoint of his
eyebrows, & equalise his in & out
breathing through the nose. He must
control his senses, mind & intellect, &
contemplate on his goal of attaining
liberation. Devoid of all desires, interests
& other thoughts, he in the present body
itself merges with the Brahman.
T K G Namboodhiri

25. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 5.29
One who through Yoga recognises Me
as the Lord who accepts all
offerings, sacrifices & penance, as
the Over-Lord of all the world, & as
the friend of all beings, attains
permanent peace. Such Yogis attain
the state of Brahman in this life itself.
These free souls, lead a worldly life
doing good for everyone.
T K G Namboodhiri