Chapter 2Verse 39 of 72

Bhagavad Gita 2.39

एषा तेऽभिहिता सांख्ये बुद्धिर्योगे त्विमां शृणु । बुद्ध्या युक्तो यया पार्थ कर्मबन्धं प्रहास्यसि ॥

eṣā te 'bhihitā sāṅkhye buddhir yoge tv imāṃ śṛṇu | buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha karma-bandhaṃ prahāsyasi ||

Translation

This understanding has been taught to you according to Sankhya. Now hear it according to Yoga, by which understanding, equipped with which, O son of Pṛthā, you will cast off the bonds of action.

Krishna names the structural shift. Sāṅkhya has been the teaching so far: the metaphysics of the deathless self, the argument from being. Now comes yoga: the same conclusion approached through action. The same destination by a different road. Karma-bandha, the bonds of action: the way deeds normally tie the doer to consequences and to identities. The yoga Krishna is about to teach is the technique by which those bonds do not bind. Not by avoiding the action, but by changing the relation the doer has to it. Aurobindo's reading: Sankhya is the seeing, Yoga is the doing. Both lead to the same release.

Reflection

Where in your life have you been seeing clearly but not yet acting from the seeing?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Two

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