Gita reflection Ch 5 verses 2 & 3

28th April 2024

• There are two types of renunciation or monkhood. The first type is when someone embraces monkhood after realizing their true self. The second type is when someone decides to engage exclusively in study and reflection to realize the Self.
• However, the first type is very rare. Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji observed that embracing sannyasa, or monkhood, does not give someone a license to remain a parasite in society. 
• Selfless action is necessary to strengthen detachment, which mere solitude cannot provide.
• Lord Krishna also points out that both those who embrace monkhood of this kind and the non-monks who work selflessly in the world can obtain a higher degree of spiritual maturity. 
• Indeed, the true monk is someone who neither hates nor desires anything in the world. He who has gone beyond the pairs of opposites such as joy and sorrow, success and failure is free, even while working in the world.