Bhagavad Gītā Chapter V — Renouncing the Fruit of Works (Karmasanyasayog)

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter V — Renouncing the Fruit of Works (Karmasanyasayog)

N=1 distillation. Source: Arnold, The Song Celestial (1885), Gutenberg #2388. Quotes char-for-char audited — PASS (see quote audit hinduism vedanta). Tags: ../00-methodology.md. Citation Gītā 5.

Chapter role

Resolves the recurring question — renounce action or perform it? Krishna: both lead to bliss, but action-in-holiness is the better way. The truly detached one acts thinking "nought of myself I do," like a lotus-leaf unstained by water. The chapter delivers a radical equal-vision ethic: the wise see one Self in Brahmin, cow, elephant, dog, and outcast alike.

Atomic statements

G5-C1: Both renunciation of action and action-in-holiness lead to the supreme; but doing works without attachment is the better path. (FOUNDATIONAL / YOGA-PATHS)

• Gītā 5: "To cease from works / Is well, and to do works in holiness / Is well; and both conduct to bliss supreme; / But of these twain the better way is his / Who working piously refraineth not."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

G5-C2: The detached one, knowing "the senses act on the sense-world," thinks "Nought of myself I do!" — unstained by deeds as the lotus-leaf by water. (FOUNDATIONAL / YOGA-PATHS+ATMAN-BRAHMAN)

• Gītā 5: "'Nought of myself I do!' / Thus will he think—who holds the truth of truths…" / "The world of sense can no more stain his soul / Than waters mar th' enamelled lotus-leaf."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

G5-C3: The wise see the same Self everywhere, with equal eye — in a learned Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and an outcast dog-eater. (FOUNDATIONAL / ATMAN-BRAHMAN+NON-HARM)

• Gītā 5: "To him who wisely sees, / The Brahman with his scrolls and sanctities, / The cow, the elephant, the unclean dog, / The Outcast gorging dog's meat, are all one."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

G5-C4: Sense-joys begin and end and breed grief; mastering lust and anger, the sage rests in inner bliss and touches nirvāna in Brahman. (OPERATIONAL / DESIRE+MOKSHA)

• Gītā 5: "The joys / Springing from sense-life are but quickening wombs / Which breed sure griefs…" / "if a man shall learn… / To master lust and anger, he is blest!… his life is merged / In Brahma's life; he doth Nirvana touch!"
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

Step 4 — Clusters

Cluster	Atomic statements	Intent
Action ≈ renunciation	C1, C2	Both reach the goal; detached action is best
Equal vision	C3	The same Self in all beings, across all social rank
Inner bliss over sense-joy	C4	Mastering passion yields the peace of Brahman

Step 5 — Internal tensions

None; the chapter explicitly dissolves the action/renunciation dichotomy as a beginner's confusion ("'Tis the new scholar talks as they were two").

Step 6 — Synthesized chapter principles

G5-P1: Detached action and renunciation reach the same goal — and action is the surer road

Renouncing works and doing works in holiness both lead to liberation; acting without attachment ("nought of myself I do," lotus-leaf unstained) is the better, more accessible way.

• Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: YOGA-PATHS · Covers: C1, C2 · Evidence: Gītā 5

G5-P2: The equal vision — one Self in all beings

The wise see the same Self in the learned and the outcast, in human and animal alike; this equal regard is the practical face of ātman-knowledge.

• Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: ATMAN-BRAHMAN+NON-HARM · Covers: C3 · Evidence: Gītā 5

G5-P3: Inner peace surpasses sense-pleasure

Sense-joys begin and end and breed grief; mastering lust and anger, the sage finds an inner bliss that touches the peace of Brahman.

• Tier: OPERATIONAL · Domain: DESIRE+MOKSHA · Covers: C4 · Evidence: Gītā 5

Step 7 — Traceability

Principle	Atomic statements	Citation
G5-P1	C1, C2	Gītā 5
G5-P2	C3	Gītā 5
G5-P3	C4	Gītā 5

Step 8 — Quality

• Coverage: high. Orphaned: <10%. Principles: 3. Traceability: 100%.

Step 9 — Validation

• Claim-vs-warrant: G5-P2 is a striking convergence node — the equal regard of all beings (across caste, even species) reads as a powerful claim of universal dignity/non-discrimination, deeply convergent with other traditions' equality claims. Its warrant, however, is distinctively Vedāntic: equality follows not from each being's separate worth but from the identity of the one Self in all (a monist warrant), which diverges from a creator-conferred-dignity warrant. G5-P1 and G5-P3 converge broadly (inner mastery over sense-pleasure).