Chapter 6 - Verse 1

He who desires the fruits of actions is dependent thereon; but different from him is the man in question; he is not dependent on the fruits of actions.

He who is thus free from a desire for the fruits of actions and performs action, such as the Agnihotra or fire-sacrifice as a bounden duty (nitya-karma),—not as a kamya-karma or action done with a motive, as a means of attaining some immediate specific end in view,—he who performs actions thus is superior to those who perform actions in a different spirit. Wtth a view to impress this truth, the Lord says that he is Sannyāsin and a Yogin. He should be regarded as possessing both the attributes, the attributes of renunciation (samnyasa) and steadfastness of mind (Yoga). Not he alone should be regarded as a Sannyāsin and a Yogin who is without fire and without action, who neither lights sacrificial fires nor engages in other actions, such as austerities and the like which require no help of sacrificial fires.

(Objection) :—In the sruti, in the smriti, and in the yoga-sastras, it is plainly taught that a Sannyāsin or a Yogin is one who is without fire and without action. How is it that the Lord teaches here a strange doctrine that he who lights fire and performs actions is a Sannyāsin and a Yogin?

(Answer) :—This is not to be regarded as a fault; for, it is intended to represent a devotee to action as a Sannyāsin and a Yogin in a secondary sense of the two terms. He is regarded as a Sannyāsin because of his renunciation of the thoughts concerning the fruits of action; and he is regarded as a Yogin because he performs action as a means of attaining to Yoga or because he abandons thoughts concerning the fruits of actions as causing unsteadiness of mind. Thus, it is only in a secondary sense that the two terms are applied to him. It is not, on the other hand, meant that he is in reality a Sannyāsin and a Yogin. The Lord, accordingly, says: