Bhagavad Gita 18.1
Moksha Sanyasa Yoga · English Translation
Sanskrit
अर्जुन उवाच | संन्यासस्य महाबाहो तत्त्वमिच्छामि वेदितुम् | त्यागस्य च हृषीकेश पृथक्केशिनिषूदन ||१८-१||
Transliteration
arjuna uvāca . saṃnyāsasya mahābāho tattvamicchāmi veditum . tyāgasya ca hṛṣīkeśa pṛthakkeśiniṣūdana ||18-1||
Arjuna said I desire to know severally, O mighty-armed, the essence or truth of renunciation, O Hrishikesa, as also of abandonment, O slayer of Kesi.
Word by Word
संन्यासस्य of renunciation, महाबाहो O mightyarmed, तत्त्वम् the essence of truth, इच्छामि (I) wish, वेदितुम् to know, त्यागस्य of Tyaga or abandonment, च and, हृषीकेशः O Krishna, पृथक् severally, केशिनिषूदन् slayer of Kesi
Classical Commentary
The teaching of the whole of the GitaSastra is summed up beautifully in this discourse. This last discourse is a brief masterly summary of all that is told in the previous chapters. Arjuna wishes to know the distinction between Sannyasa and Tyaga. Kesi was an Asura whom Lord Krishna slew. So Lord Krishna is addressed as Kesinishudana by Arjuna. The words Sannyasa and Tyaga have been used here and there in the preceding discourses but their connotations are not lucidly distinguished. Therefore Lord Krishna clearly explains to Arjuna the right significance of the two terms in the following verse.