BG 18.1

Arjuna said: O mighty-armed one, I wish to understand the purpose of renunciation [tyāga] and of the renounced order of life [sannyāsa], O killer of the Keśī demon, master of the senses.

18.1. Arjuna said O Mighty-armed ! I desire to know severally the distinctive nature of renunciation and of relinishment, O Hrsikesa ! O Slayer of Kesin !

18.1 "Arjuna asked: O mighty One! I desire to know how relinquishment is distinguished from renunciation.

18.1 Samnyasaya etc. It has been delcared earlier that 'He [alone] is a man of relinishment and is also a man of wisdom' (II, 50); and 'He [alone] is a man of renunciation and a man of Yoga; but not he who remains without his fires (VI, 1)', and so on. Thus, becuase a man of relinishment and a man of renunciation are both found mentioned, now arises this estion from a person (Arjuna) who is desirous of understanding their difference. Now [by giving] the answer -

18.1 Arjuna said Both Sannyasa and Tyaga as a means for release are enjoined in such Srutis: 'Not by rituals, nor by progeny, nor by rituals, nor by progeny, nor by wealth but by Tyaga alone do some attain immortality ৷৷.' (Ma. Na., 5.14). Ascertaining the truth about the Supreme Reality from a knowledge of Vedanta, and becoming purified in mind by the means of Sannyasa Yoga, these Yatis (ascetics), at the dissolution of their bodies, attain the Lord who is higher than the freed selves and become liberated from bondage' (Man. U., 3.2.6). I want to know separately the truth, viz., whether Tyaga and Sannyasa are synonymous or not. The import is this. Do these two terms Sannyasa and Tyaga have different meanings or do they signify the same thing? If they signify different things, I want to know their different natures. If they are synonymous, their identical nature should be elucidated. Then, in order to prove that the nature of both is identical and that it is such and such, the Lord explains, showing the disagreements among some disputants:

18.1 O mighty-armed Hrsikesa, kesi-nisudana, O slayer of (the demon) Kesi; icchami, I want; veditum, to know; prthak, severally, through their mutual distinctions; tattvam, the truth, the intrinsic nature, i.e. the real meaning; sannyasasya, of sannyasa, i.e. the meaning of the word sannyasa, ca, as also; tyagasya, of tyaga, i.e. the meaning of the word tyaga. Kesi was a demon who had assumed the form of a horse, and Lord Vasudeva had killed him. Hence He is addressed by that name (Kesi-nisudana) by Arjuna. The word sannyasa and tyaga, used in various places in the preceding chapters, are not explicit in their implications. Therefore, in order to determine them for Arjuna who had put the estion,-

18.1 Arjuna said I desire to know the truth about renunciation (Sannyasa) and abnegation (Tyaga) severally, O Krsna.

18.1 Arjuna said O mighty-armed Hrsikesa, O slayer of (the demon) Kesi, I want to know serverally the truth about sannyasa as also about tyaga.