श्रीः
प्रपन्नपारिजाताय तोत्रवेत्रैकपाणये । ज्ञानमुद्राय कृष्णाय गीतामृतदुहे नमः ॥
ॐ नमो भगवते श्रीरमणाय
Chapter 5. कर्मसंन्यासयोगः
In Chapters 3 and 4, Bhagavan Sri Krishna had explained the roles of karma and jnanam in finding one's true nature and therefore, peace and bliss. While knowledge of the aatman-brahman is the final step to moksha, karma has to be performed with the right attitude so as to purify the mind. This way, the mind and intellect are ready to receive the teaching. Hence, karma is the means to ready oneself for knowledge. Karma sanyasa is the topic of discussion here.
When we perform karma with our ego at work, there is a sankalpa in the mind (the idea that I will get something out of this, which will make me happy), which leads to desires. Fulfilled desire leads to greed and unfulfilled desire leads to frustration. Rather, perform karma without being attached to the result, or better still, as a dedication to Ishvara and as His servant, and without the sense of doership. This purifies the mind. It brings about equanimity and liberates the person from the bondage of karma. This renunciation of the ego / agency / attachment is called karma-sanyasa, and is driven by knowledge.
Therefore, the correct way to understand karma-sanyasa is as follows - renounce agency / doership in karma, by knowing that wrong identification with the body-mind-intellect drives agency.
The jeevan-mukta performs karma with this attitude. He is in a state of Brahma-nirvanam, which is one of stable equilibrium, there are no waves in the mind and intellect. Since this state has been achieved through knowledge, it lasts forever. The Jeevan-mukta lives on as long as his prarabdha (the karma for which he has taken birth - ie, for which this body has been created) is exhausted and he is not born again.
The state of nirvana-sukham that a jeevan-mukta experiences, impacts people around him. Several devotees of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, have described the feeling of having left their bodies behind, when they entered his Sannidhi. When he turned his gaze upon them, they too experienced the bliss and contentment that he radiated.
Staying with Bhagavan Ramana, we find that his state was exactly as described in this chapter. He sings, in Aksharamanamalai –
சை எனத்தள்ளில் செய்வினை சுடும் அலால்
உய்வகை ஏது உரை அருணாசலா (அ) 35
O Arunachala! If you spurn and reject me, my prarabdha will burn me. How then can I be saved, do show me the jnana marga !
This is an important verse for mananam. Realisation of the non-dual Self, is the only way to escape the bondage created by karma. Karma, performed with the right attitude, is the means for knowledge and moksha.
Prakruti / nature drives the body – As Vidyaranyapada says in Panchadashi ज्ञानिना चरितुं शक्यं सम्यक्राज्यादिलौककम् (the jnani can perform all karma, including governing a kingdom) but he abides in the Self, he has transcended kartrutvam and bhoktrutvam.
This is real sanyasa – to develop freedom from anger and desire, attachment and aversion, doership, and through it, achieve purity of mind and thereafter find the supreme truth of oneness. By this, one has renounced inwardly and all his actions have been divinised because action has been offered to Ishvara. His senses are under control and he understands why he works. He performs svadharma without interference from his ego. He has renounced all mental identities such as I and mine. He identifies himself with the substratum of all beings, the aatma. He knows that prakruti / svabhava drives action and can stay disassociated with the nature of his karma. He works in a state of Yoga.
Merely renouncing the world outwardly, while holding on to abhimanam of I and mine, is counter-productive. The outer appearance is not relevant but the state of mind is.
Sri Ramakrishna says - the karma yogi has duties to perform, he holds onto Ishvara with one hand and works with the other. The ashrama-sanyasi (formal sanyasi) is free from duties, he holds onto Ishvara with both hands.
When his mind is pure through karma yoga, his mind has turned inwards. He is tranquil and integrated, aware that his body and mind perform their activities but his intellect has one-pointed focus (vyavasayatmika buddhi) on finding his true self. A pure mind reflects the Self perfectly and now when he receives the teaching, the self-luminous aatma is evident to him like the sun shining through the sky. He stays with the Self and is firmly established in it. Since he sees the one Self as the substratum of all, he sees everyone and everything alike, he can pierce through names and forms and see the divine in all. He is now truly a sanyasi and jnani.
यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः । तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥
सर्वं श्रीकृष्णार्पणमस्तु