Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 4

English Translation

The fools, not the learned ones, speak of Sankhya (the path of Knowledge) and (Karma-) yoga as different. Any one who properly resorts to even one (of them) gets the result of both.

Detailed Commentary

।।5.4।। Elucidation -- 'Only children, not the wise, speak of Sāṅkhya Yoga and Karma Yoga as distinct.' In the first verse of this chapter, Arjuna has termed the means of abandoning actions in their very essence and attaining knowledge from realised Mahāpuruṣas as 'Karma Sannyāsa'. Lord Krishna, in the second verse, while emphasising His own principle, has also referred to this as 'Sannyāsa' and 'Karma Sannyāsa'. Now, the Lord refers to this very path as 'Sāṅkhya'. The Lord calls 'Sāṅkhya' the state of abiding in one's true Self (Swarūpa) after contemplating the distinction between the body and the Ātman. In the Lord's view, 'Sannyāsa' and 'Sāṅkhya' hold the same meaning, wherein the abandonment of actions in their very essence is not required. What Arjuna calls 'Karma Sannyāsa' is, without doubt, but an internal distinction within the 'Sāṅkhya' spoken of by the Lord. This is because even after hearing from a Guru, the seeker contemplates the distinction between the body and the Ātman. By the word 'Bālās' (children), the Lord indicates that those who, despite being advanced in age and intellect, consider Sāṅkhya Yoga and Karma Yoga to yield different fruits, are indeed unintelligent. Only those who have truly grasped the essence of Sāṅkhya Yoga and Karma Yoga are wise. They do not speak of both as yielding different fruits, for they look not at the methodologies of the two paths, but at their ultimate outcome. Considering the methodologies, the Lord has indeed accepted Sāṅkhya Yoga and Karma Yoga as two distinct types of practices in the third verse of the third chapter. While the methods of practice for both are different, the ultimate goal (Sādhya) is not. 'Ekamapyāsthitaḥ Samyagubhayoḥ Vindate Phalam' (He who is truly established in even one, reaps the fruit of both) — throughout the Bhagavad Gītā, the fruit of Sāṅkhya Yoga and Karma Yoga, which is the attainment of the Paramātman, is declared to be one. In the twenty-fourth verse of the thirteenth chapter, it is stated that through both these paths, one experiences the Paramātma-tattva within oneself. In the nineteenth verse of the third chapter, the attainment of the Paramātman is described for the Karma Yogī, and in the fourth verse of the twelfth chapter and the twenty-fourth verse of the thirteenth chapter, the attainment of the Paramātman is described for the Jñāna Yogī. Thus, in the Lord's opinion, both paths yield the same fruit.