Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 3
ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति।
निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते।।
निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते।।
jñeyaḥ sa nitya-sannyāsī yo na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati
nirdvandvo hi mahā-bāho sukhaṁ bandhāt pramucyate
also searched as "jneyah sa nityasannyasi yo na dveshti na kankshati"
Translation
He who neither hates nor desires, and is beyond the pairs of opposites, is to be understood as an ever-renouncer. Therefore, he is easily set free from bondage, O Arjuna.
Vāṇi's rendering
The true renouncer neither hates nor craves. Beyond the pull of opposites, such a one slips free easily.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ज्ञेयःjñeyaḥ | should be known, recognized as |
| सःsa | he, that one |
| नित्य-संन्यासीnitya-sannyāsī | the constant renouncer, one who has let go always and not only formally |
| यःyo | who (yaḥ, softened to yo before the following sound) |
| नna | not |
| द्वेष्टिdveṣṭi | hates, pushes away |
| नna | not |
| काङ्क्षतिkāṅkṣati | craves, reaches for |
| निर्द्वन्द्वःnirdvandvo | free of the pairs — heat and cold, praise and blame (nirdvandvaḥ before hi) |
| हिhi | indeed, for |
| महाबाहोmahā-bāho | O mighty-armed one — Krishna addressing Arjuna |
| सुखम्sukhaṁ | easily, without strain |
| बन्धात्bandhāt | from bondage |
| प्रमुच्यतेpramucyate | is set free, slips loose |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 3 mean?
It relocates renunciation. Krishna says the real sannyāsī is whoever neither hates nor craves — not whoever has left home, robes changed, duties dropped. Standing beyond the pull of opposites, such a one is loosed from bondage without struggle. The mark of renunciation is inward evenness, not outward absence.
jneyah sa nityasannyasi yo na dveshti na kankshati — what is this verse saying?
Know him as the ever-renouncer who neither hates nor craves. Krishna calls this renunciation nitya — constant — because it does not depend on circumstance. A man in the marketplace who wants nothing and rejects nothing has renounced more truly than one who fled and still burns.
How can someone be a renouncer while still acting in the world?
Because bondage is not made of actions but of pushing and pulling. Craving ties you to what you chase; hatred ties you just as firmly to what you flee. Remove both and the work continues while the rope falls away. Krishna is not asking you to stop; he is asking you to stop leaning.
What does nirdvandva mean here?
Free of the pairs — hot and cold, gain and loss, praise and blame. Not numb to them, but no longer governed by them. The pairs keep arriving; you simply stop treating one half as salvation and the other as ruin. That is where freedom becomes easy rather than earned.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has been asking whether to renounce or to act, as though renunciation were a change of clothes. Krishna moves it inward. The renouncer is not the one who left the house; it is the one who neither hates nor craves what arrives. You can sit in a cave and still be pulled — recoiling from the cold, reaching for the warmth. That reaching and recoiling is the rope. Where neither operates, there is nothing left for bondage to hold onto, and freedom is not achieved but noticed. Look at what you pushed away today. That is where you are still tied.