What is 145;renunciation146;?

Shri Bhagvan uvacha: Kamya-naam karma-naam nyasam sannyasam kavayo viduh/Sarvakarmaphalam tyagam prahustyagam vichakshanaah. 8216;The Blessed Lord said: Sages call 8216;sannyasa8217;, the renunciation of all actions done with desire. The wise declare that 8216;tyaga8217; is the renunciation of the fruit of activities8217;. Both sannyasa and tyaga in common parlance, indicate renunciation, the leaving or giving up of worldly objects and pursuits. But the Gita makes a deeper case for true renunciation as requiring an inner non-attachment above and beyond any merely physical act of material abandonment. A subtle distinction is made between sannyasa and tyaga, to define two aspects of renunciation. Sannyasa-renunciation signifies the abandonment of the desires and selfish motives that are the usual instigators of actions. Tyaga-renunciation means the relinquishment of, or non-identification with, the inevitable fruits that accrue from all actions.

In no wise does the Gita advocate the renunciation of action itself, for action is a necessity for the incarnate being and a positive support for the aspiring yogi. The actionless state is rather the culmination of renunciation, the inner abandonment of identification with the ego and its instruments of action, in the sole realisation that God is the Sole Doer, Perceiver and Knower. In this state, even though obligatory and dutiful actions continue, they are known as nishkama karma, inactive activity, because they cause no karmic bondage, being free from selfish motivation and from taking to oneself the resulting fruit. This is the ultimate or perfect renunciation towards which the yogi strives 8212; first, by learning to work without personal desire for attaining the fruit of action sannyasa; and second, by spiritually transcending identification with the resulting fruits tyaga. The Gita qualifies that a true sannyasi and true yogi is one who PERFORMS dutiful good actions to help mankind and meditative actions to find God. He is a sannyasi because he renounces the desire for the fruit of his actions; and he is a yogi because he helps others and himself spiritually towards God-realisation. The renunciation signified by sannyasa is thus a total mental relinquishment of the fruit of good actions during their performance. If, however, a sannyasi feeds the poor, mentally concentrating on the benefits of his actions, or if he meditates for the selfish longings of his ego for divine favours or powers, he compromises the purity of his renunciation. The Gita says that the true tyagi, like the sannyasi, is a yogi, working and meditating only to please God.

Extracted from 8216;God Talks with Arjuna8217;