233. Four Paths of Renunciation

The Bhagavad Gita contains eighteen chapters and 700 verses. The eighteenth chapter is called Moksha Sanyas Yoga -union with Liberation through renunciation. It is reaching the destination, which is moksha or liberation, through the path of sanyas or renunciation. This liberation is getting freedom from our divisive mindset; freedom from belief systems; and finally, even freedom from renunciation. This chapter begins with Arjun's question, "O Hrishikesha, I wish to know distinctly the truth of sannyas (renunciation) and tyaga (relinquishment or abandonment)" (18.1). Krishna replies, "Sages call 'sanyas' the renunciation of all desire ridden actions. The wise declare that 'tyaga' is the relinquishment of the fruits of activities (18.2). Some philosophers declare that all work is tainted and should be forsaken; others declare that acts of yajna (fire rituals or selfless actions), daan (charity), and tapah (penance or self-discipline) should not be relinquished" (18.3). Krishna uses sanyas and tyaga interchangeably, thus, indicating that these are two different names used for renunciation. Krishna makes us aware of the four schools of thought on the aspect of renunciation. Incidentally, at their core, all the belief systems are based on one school of thought or another. The first school is about the renunciation of all desire-ridden actions. It is the absence of motivation while performing actions. The second school states that renunciation is relinquishing the fruits of action while performing any karma (action) The third school is about renouncing all the actions as they are all tainted. This school of thought suggests dropping the sense of doer-ship by treating the 'existence' as the doer of actions. Finally, the fourth school is about being selective about actions. Actions like yagna, daan and tapah shouldn't be relinquished. Whatever may be the school of thought, in one way or another all these paths lead to the same destination -mokha.