BG 5.8 — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 5.8Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

नैव किं चित् करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् ।

पश्यञ् शृण्वन् स्पृशञ् जिघ्रन्नश्नन् गच्छन् स्वपञ् श्वसन् ॥

naiva kiṃ cit karomīti yukto manyeta tattva-vit

paśyañ śṛṇvan spṛśañ jighrann aśnan gacchan svapañ śvasan

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

The knower of truth, fully absorbed, says "I do nothing at all" while the senses go on seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, and breathing.

ekras · bhāṣya

The participles enumerate ordinary life: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing. Through all of it, the absorbed knower of truth holds: I do nothing whatsoever.

Shankara is precise on what makes this not a denial. The senses go on contacting their objects; the prana goes on breathing. The atman, witness in its own nature, neither acts nor is the agent of any of it. The seer who perceives akarma — non-action — within all bodily activity is the one Krishna names tattva-vit.

Ramanuja reads the holding-steady as anusandhana — a sustained understanding the knower keeps in mind: the organs of knowing and the organs of acting move among their objects by their own impetus; the atman's sole nature is jnana-ekasvabhava, pure sentience, with no intrinsic kartritva. The doership the seeker once felt is correctly relocated to its actual seat — the prakriti-bound instrumental complex — leaving the atman where it always was.

Madhusudana, characteristically, builds the verse twice. Direct reading: the tattva-vit with samahitachitta witnesses the jnanendriyas, karmendriyas, the five prana-varieties, and the fourfold antahkarana each in their own domain, holding firmly: I do nothing. Sequential reading: the same verse names the path by which the seeker arrived at that holding.

Vallabha resolves the apparent paradox at a different angle: the activity belongs to the mind and organs moving in their own sphere — svasva-vishayeshu — not to the atman, and the one who holds this is na lipyate, untouched.

Context

where

Chapter 5 · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 5.7

Yoked to yoga, pure in mind, master of body and sense, seeing one's own self in all beings, a person acts and yet is not stained.

What's going on

The knower of truth, fully absorbed, says “I do nothing at all” while the senses go on seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, and breathing.

Sūtras through this verse (63)

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.───→here5.8───→5.13Lay down all acts in mind; sit at ease, body free.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

5.1Every clause tagged jñāna or karma.───→here5.8───→7.1First hexad ends, middle hexad opens.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

4.23Clinging to anything is what binds you.───→here5.8───→5.12Drop the wish for fruit, not the fruit itself.

show all 63

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursstation · anchor

───→here5.8───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldstation

───→here5.8───→

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing───→here5.8───→5.13Nine-gated city, all karma laid down

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.───→here5.8───→18.66The combined-path view named and dismantled.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.───→here5.8───→18.41Each order's work is born of its own nature.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemybetween

4.18See not-doing in doing, doing in not-doing.───→here5.8───→5.13Body-self confusion is the only error.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedbetween

2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..───→here5.8───→5.13Nine-gated city: body remains, doership does not.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingapproach

───→here5.8───→5.29Friend of all beings, the witness of every act.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here5.8───→7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

4.14Acts without clinging───→here5.8───→5.14Two tiers of rulership

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

5.7'Self of all beings' just means the Lord.───→here5.8───→8.3The 'imperishable Brahman' is the supreme person.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.───→here5.8───→5.14The soul rules the inert; the Lord rules the soul.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

4.14He acts but does not cling to the act.───→here5.8───→5.14The Lord rules the modes; the soul rules the body.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

5.1Renouncing isn't quitting the householder's life.───→here5.8───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are one person, two names.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

2.59The taste fades only when the source is seen.───→here5.8───→5.16Mediated knowing is just the first step.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

5.7'Self of all' resolves to the Lord himself.───→here5.8───→6.20'Self' here is not soul but the Lord within.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursstation

───→here5.8───→

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

5.6Renunciation needs the path───→here5.8───→5.10Lotus-leaf in water

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

2.58Tortoise withdrawing───→here5.8───→5.27Senses excluded

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

3.27Modes act, ego claims───→here5.8───→5.13Nine-gated city

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementbetween · other

3.37Kāma is the enemy───→here5.8───→5.23Endure the urge

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here5.8───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

5.1Recap-then-question becomes the rule.───→here5.8───→7.1Lord answers a question Arjuna did not ask.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

5.1Body-residue karma vs. fruit-bearing karma.───→here5.8───→18.1Tyāga and saṃnyāsa named distinct.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

4.18Action-in-inaction: the upādhi seen. Anchor.───→here5.8───→5.13All actions renounced by mind alone.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningbetween

5.1Two chapters settled action and knowing.───→here5.8───→7.1First six unfold 'you,' middle six unfold 'that.'

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

5.1Not combined, not optional; distributed by fitness.───→here5.8───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are one under two views.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

5.1Action for the ignorant: purification's only door.───→here5.8───→6.1Renouncing too lives by purity of mind.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

5.1Neither combined, nor optionally substituted.───→here5.8───→5.13The knower's body acts; the knower does not.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

3.43Use intellect to slay the enemy within.───→here5.8───→5.12Renounce the wish for fruit, not the fruit.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here5.8───→5.18See a sage, a cow, a dog as one.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

5.4Insight and practice are not two paths.───→here5.8───→6.46The lover outranks every other yogi.

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourapproach · v2

───→here5.8───→6.10Solitary seat

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here5.8───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here5.8───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here5.8───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here5.8───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here5.8───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartapproach

───→here5.8───→6.30See Me everywhere, I am never lost.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

5.1A four-clause summary of all of 2 through 4.───→here5.8───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

2.12From here to 18.66: one Krishna-utterance.───→here5.8───→5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

5.5The fruit of either is one and the same.───→here5.8───→6.1The renouncer and yogi are one figure.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

2.11First grief — chapter-1 cowardice — closed.───→here5.8───→5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

5.1Arjuna asks the wrong question. first.───→here5.8───→6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

5.1Single-verse prelude sets sannyāsa-yoga eka.───→here5.8───→6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

5.5Where one path goes, the other reaches too.───→here5.8───→6.1The two paths are one through fruit-renouncing act.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here5.8───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here5.8───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here5.8───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here5.8───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsapproach

───→here5.8───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here5.8───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here5.8───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here5.8───→6.47Six chapters of aphorism close at this verse.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

5.5See sāṅkhya and yoga as one — see truly.───→here5.8───→8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

5.1Settling the doubt: renounce or work?───→here5.8───→6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here5.8───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here5.8───→7.14Undivided love crosses the great mist.

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

3.27Palm, kartala. Akartritva, non-doership. 'Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani s───→here5.8───→5.18Ring finger. Samadrishti. 'Vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini, shuni ch

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

5.5'Yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate.' The place reached by sa───→here5.8───→6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm

Śabda · lemmas (18 unique · 18 occurrences)

मन्येत √man — to think, regard, consider (verbal root) · present optative 3rd person singular verb · also at 3.27, 5.9

show all 18

न na — not (negation particle)
एव eva — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
किम् ka — who? what? (interrogative) · accusative neuter singular noun
चित् cit — consciousness, pure awareness (verbal root √cit 'perceive')
करोमि kṛ — to do, make (verbal root) · present indicative 1st person singular verb
इति iti — thus (quotative particle)
युक्तः √yuj — to yoke, join, engage in (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular participle noun
तत्त्व tattva — thatness, principle, reality · compound
विद् vid — to know; to find (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular noun
पश्यन् dṛś — to see (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb · also at 1.38, 3.20, 5.9, 6.20, 13.24, 13.28 +2
शृण्वन् √śru — to hear (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb
स्पृशन् √spṛś — to touch (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb
जिघ्रन् √ghrā — to smell (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb
अश्नन् √aś — to eat / to pervade (verbal root, two homophonous roots) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb
गच्छन् gam — to go (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb
स्वपन् √svap — to sleep (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb
श्वसन् √śvas — to breathe (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb

Praśna · so what (7)

01If the tattva-vit genuinely holds 'I do nothing,' does this preclude moral accountability — and how does each school resolve that tension without collapsing into quietism?
02Śaṅkara's mirage analogy implies that once the truth is seen, karma-yoga has no further purchase. Does this mean jñāna and karma-yoga are ultimately sequential, not parallel paths?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja's formulation ('instrument-caused, not essence-caused' agenthood) preserves the jīva's distinctness while denying ego-doership — what distinguishes this phenomenologically from Advaita's non-agenthood?
04The verse lists eleven bodily operations without hierarchy — is this list exhaustive, conventional, or a pedagogical gesture? What is the significance of kūrma-prāṇa appearing in Śrīdhara's anatomy but not in Śaṅkara's?
05Vallabha's citation of Brahma-sūtra 4.1.13 (karma non-adhesion on knowledge-dawn) makes akartṛtva a grace-event, not a self-effort. Does this make the verse primarily about epistemology or about ontological transformation?
06Madhusūdana's dual reading (simultaneous vs. sequential) opens a question about whether non-doership is available before antaḥkaraṇa-śuddhi (inner organ purification) is complete — and what a practitioner is to do in the meantime.
07Madhva's thin bhāṣya on 5.8 (one framing line only) may signal that this verse is structurally less central to Dvaita's architecture than to Advaita's. What verses ARE the Dvaita analogues for foundational akartṛtva?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

In any demanding piece of work — writing a report, navigating a tense conversation — pause and ask: which entity is actually doing this? The eye is reading, the vocal organ is speaking, the intellect is processing. The witness (sākṣin) is uninvolved. This is not a relaxation technique; it is a recognition drill. The moment the mirage is clearly seen as mirage, thirst-toward-it dissolves without effort. Do the work; do not claim its authorship.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Before any action of consequence, establish the anusandhāna (continuous inner acknowledgement): 'My hands move, my mind plans — these are modes (prakāras) of the Lord's body acting. I, the ātman, am the knower within, not the executor.' This does not reduce care or diligence; it reseats the motivation from ego-ownership to kainkarya (devoted service). The same action performed with and without this recognition differs in quality of bondage, not in visible output.

show all 6

Dvaita

Acknowledge before acting that you are a dependent instrument (parādhīna) and Hari is the independent cause. In practice this means: when an action succeeds, attribute the real agency upward; when it fails, do not collapse into self-condemnation — a parādhīna instrument that malfunctions is not the root cause. This preserves vigorous effort (the instrument must function well) while dissolving pride (the instrument cannot claim the result).

Śuddhādvaita

When guilt or pride arises mid-action, recall that the senses are operating in their own field — 'na aham.' This is not a license for carelessness; it is a receptivity to Kṛṣṇa's grace (prasāda) actively dissolving the karma-root that makes this action feel self-authored. The Puṣṭi practitioner stays attentive and engaged, but holds the engagement lightly, as something given rather than grabbed.

Bhakti

Run Śrīdhara's anatomical inventory mentally at the end of each day: what did the eye do? what did the feet do? what did the breath do? Each faculty returns to its faculty-column. You, the one reviewing, are not any of these columns. This is a structured vairāgya (dispassion) practice grounded in the verse's own list — not an abstract negation but a precise, organ-by-organ release of false ownership accumulated through the day.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's sequential reading is a training curriculum: begin as a karma-yogin (action with non-attachment), allow the antaḥkaraṇa (inner organ) to become progressively cleaner, notice that the fourfold inner apparatus — manas, buddhi, ahaṃkāra, citta — are themselves objects witnessed, not the witnessing subject. Non-doership is not forced; it emerges as a byproduct of that purification. The practical corollary: do not pretend to non-doership before the śuddhi is real — that is spiritual performance, not tattva-knowledge.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 5, Verse 8: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga