Chapter 3: Karma Yoga – Transforming All Activities into Yoga: Verse 3
श्रीभगवानुवाच।
लोकेऽस्मिन् द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ ।
ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् ।।
śrī bhagavān-uvāca
loke’smin dvividhā niṣṭhā purā proktā mayānagha
jñāna-yogena sāṅkhyānāṃ karma-yogena yoginām – 3.3
Lord Krishna said: Right in the beginning, had been enunciated by Me the two-fold discipline, niṣṭhā (for gaining supreme felicity, śreyas). For the knowledge-oriented Sānkhya seekers, it is Jñāna-yoga, and for the yogis it is Karma-yoga.
Chapter 3: Karma Yoga – Transforming All Activities into Yoga - Verse 3
Swami Nirviseshananda Tirtha
Krishna elucidates that right from the ancient past the spiritual path was singular, one alone, but with two phases. For those given to knowledge and introspection, it is jñāna-niṣṭhā, pursuit of wisdom. For others given to activity, it is karma-niṣṭhā, action-oriented.
In both, one’s personality, consisting externally of body and senses, and internally of mind, intelligence and ego, is employed. The question is whether the votary conjuncts his pursuit with regular activity and interaction, or divests it from them. Krishna has already said that for Arjuna the action-oriented pursuit is appropriate. Karma-niṣṭhā tends to bring maturity, leading to jñāna-niṣṭhā, like a student leaving school and joining college.
