त्याग

Tyaga

tyāga

relinquishmentLetting go of attachment to action and its fruit, rather than of action itself.

Editorial overviewGita layer: Sadhak Sanjivani

In simple words

Tyaga means giving something up. In the Gita it mostly means giving up clinging to results and the feeling of 'this is mine', while still doing what needs to be done.

What is it?

Tyaga (relinquishment) names the inner giving-up of attachment, ownership and desire for results. The Gita's eighteenth chapter distinguishes it from sannyasa, the outward renunciation of actions, and classifies relinquishment by the three gunas: giving up duty out of confusion, giving it up because it is painful, and doing duty while relinquishing attachment and fruit. Only the last is presented as the relinquishment the text recommends. The idea links karma yoga, bhakti (offering actions to God) and the renunciate ideal.

Scholar’s note

Gita 18.1–12 frames a debate between those who say action itself should be abandoned (a position associated with some renunciate and Sankhya-leaning views) and those who hold that sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be given up. The classifications tamasa, rajasa and sattvika tyaga (18.7–9) are central. Commentators differ on whether tyaga is a preparatory discipline (Shankara, for whom full renunciation suits the knower) or the fulfilment of the path itself (Ramanuja, and Swami Ramsukhdas, who stresses giving up the sense of 'mine' as immediately available to anyone).

How its meaning differs

Editorial overview

Each tradition in its own terms. None is ranked.

Advaita Vedanta

In Shankara's reading, relinquishing the fruits of action purifies the mind; for the one established in knowledge, the notion of being a doer is itself relinquished, which is the deepest tyaga.

Vishishtadvaita Vedanta

Ramanuja reads tyaga as giving up the sense of agency, ownership and fruit by recognising that the Lord is the true agent and owner, so that action becomes worship.

Bhakti traditions

Devotional traditions treat relinquishment as offering: whatever is done, eaten or given is handed over to God, so that nothing is held as one's own.

Jain philosophy

Jain ethics values tyaga concretely as renunciation of possessions and indulgences, culminating in the vows of the ascetic, as a means of stopping the inflow of karmic matter.

Sikh philosophy (Gurmat)

Sikh thought generally prefers inner detachment while living as a householder over outward renunciation of family and work.

In the Bhagavad Gita — as Sadhak Sanjivani explains it

Summary based on Sadhak Sanjivaniसाधक-संजीवनीपर आधारित सार

Of the views Krishna lists, one says tyaga is giving up the fruit of all actions — that is, doing one's duty without wanting its fruit (18.2). An embodied person cannot give up action completely, so the one who gives up the fruit of action is called the true renouncer (18.11). Swamiji explains this means giving up the desire for the fruit, since the fruit itself cannot be given up; outer renunciation is not really renunciation — inner renunciation is (18.11). Sattvic tyaga is doing prescribed action as mere duty, giving up attachment and fruit; this breaks one's connection with the action (18.9). Giving up the desire for the fruit of all actions brings peace at once — 'tyagat shantir anantaram' (12.12). Liberation comes not from giving up things but from giving up desire (12.12).

भगवान्ने जो मत बताये, उनमें एक यह है कि सब कर्मोंके फलकी इच्छाका त्याग करके कर्तव्य करते रहना त्याग है (१८।२)। देहधारीके लिये कर्मोंका सर्वथा त्याग सम्भव नहीं, इसलिये जो कर्मफलका त्यागी है वही त्यागी है (१८।११)। स्वामीजी बताते हैं कि यहाँ फलकी इच्छाका त्याग समझना चाहिये, क्योंकि फलका त्याग तो हो ही नहीं सकता; बाहरका त्याग वास्तवमें त्याग नहीं, भीतरका त्याग ही त्याग है (१८।११)। 'केवल कर्तव्यमात्र करना है' — ऐसा समझकर आसक्ति और फलेच्छा छोड़कर किया गया कर्म सात्त्विक त्याग है, जिससे कर्मसे सम्बन्ध-विच्छेद हो जाता है (१८।९)। कर्मफलकी इच्छाके त्यागसे तत्काल शान्ति मिलती है — 'त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम्' (१२।१२)। मुक्ति वस्तुके त्यागसे नहीं, इच्छाके त्यागसे होती है (१२।१२)।

बाहरका त्याग वास्तवमें त्याग नहीं है, प्रत्युत भीतरका त्याग ही त्याग है। अगर कोई बाहरसे त्याग करके एकान्तमें चला जाय तो भी संसारका बीज शरीर तो उसके साथ है ही।

Sadhak Sanjivanion Gita 18.11

What is real peace?Do I have to leave the world to be spiritual?

Where it appears in the Gita

Full text available

5.12

युक्त: कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्।

कर्मयोगी कर्मफलका त्याग करके नैष्ठिकी शान्तिको प्राप्त होता है। (परन्तु) सकाम मनुष्य कामनाके कारण फलमें आसक्त होकर बँध जाता है।

6.1

अनाश्रित: कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति य:।

कर्मफलका आश्रय न लेकर जो कर्तव्य कर्म करता है, वही संन्यासी तथा योगी है और (केवल) अग्निका त्याग करनेवाला (संन्यासी) नहीं होता तथा (केवल) क्रियाओंका त्याग करनेवाला (योगी) नहीं होता।

12.12

Better than meditation is giving up the fruit — peace follows at once

ध्यानसे कर्मफलत्याग श्रेष्ठ है—त्यागसे तत्काल शान्ति

श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते।

Giving up desire for the fruits of all actions is not the lowest means; it brings supreme peace immediately.

सब कर्मोंके फलकी इच्छाका त्याग निम्न साधन नहीं है; उससे तत्काल परमशान्ति मिलती है।

18.2

काम्यानां कर्मणां न्यासं सन्न्यासं कवयो विदु:।

(कई) विद्वान् काम्य कर्मोंके त्यागको संन्यास समझते हैं (और) (कई)विद्वान् सम्पूर्ण कर्मोंके फलके त्यागको त्याग कहते हैं। कई विद्वान् ऐसा कहते हैं कि कर्मोंको दोषकी तरह छोड़ देना चाहिये और कई विद्वान् ऐसा (कहते हैं कि) यज्ञ, दान और तपरूप कर्मोंका त्याग नहीं करना चाहिये।

18.9

कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन।

हे अर्जुन! ‘केवल कर्तव्यमात्र करना है’— ऐसा (समझकर) जो शास्त्रविहित कर्म आसक्ति और फलेच्छाका त्याग करके किया जाता है, वही सात्त्विक त्याग माना गया है।

18.11

न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषत:।

कारण कि देहधारी मनुष्यके द्वारा सम्पूर्ण कर्मोंका त्याग करना सम्भव नहीं है। इसलिये जो कर्मफलका त्यागी है, वही त्यागी है— ऐसा कहा जाता है।