How can we reconcile the Gita (3.4) – don’t give up work – and the Bhagavatam (1.5.17) – give up work?

From Sushant Kulkarni

Krishna says in the Gita (3.4) “Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one achieve perfection.”
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.5.17) we have- tyaktva sva dharmam caranam bujam harer…
So how to understand these seemingly contradictory instructions?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
levels of understanding. Thank you.
Hare Krishna Question to Sushant Kulkarni Prabhu How do we reconcile the Gita’s instruction not to give up work and the Bhagavatam’s instruction to give up work? The Bhagavad Gita says in 3.5 3.4 that that just by giving up work one doesn’t become free from karma and just by taking sannyas one doesn’t attain perfection but in contrast the Bhagavatam says So, the Bhagavatam says that when if one queues up one’s prescribed duties so that one takes shelter of Lord Hari then even if because of immaturity one falls down then also one will have made some lasting spiritual advancement, there is no loss actually on the other hand what gain will be there by sticking to one’s prescribed duties. So how do we reconcile these two statements? Answer Every scripture has a contextual side and it has an eternal side eternal aspect to it. So the context of the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavatam are in fact radically or diametrically opposite The Bhagavad Gita is spoken when a person who is who has social responsibilities is about to give up those responsibilities in the name of spirituality.
That is Arjuna giving up the war and at that time Dharma requires that Arjuna fight the war and the Bhagavad Gita presents the eternal spiritual message according to that context whereas the Bhagavatam is spoken for a person who is facing death in a short time as a part of the inevitable destiny now of course this specific verse is not spoken by Shukadeva Goswami to Parikshit Maharaj, it is spoken by Shukadeva Goswami to Naimisharan Sages and actually even more specifically it is spoken by Narad Muni to Vyasadev but the whole Bhagavatam is a spiritual history that means it is a compilation of historical conversion that happened at different times for the purpose of helping people to fix their mind in Krishna at the time of death and accordingly fix their mind, accordingly mould their life. So the point is the Bhagavatam’s overall message is focused on a person who is about to die and the message is presented accordingly in the Bhagavatam and because of this there is a significant difference between the practical action calls that come about in the Bhagavatam and in the Bhagavad Gita although the essential message is that we have to move from this world to the spiritual world and we have to practice yoga for that purpose but the way in which yoga is to be practiced that varies and the Bhagavad Gita focuses on Bhakti Yoga which is more akin to Karma Yoga in form not in substance that means the Bhagavad Gita focuses on practicing Bhakti but while doing one’s duties in this world whereas the Bhagavatam focuses on practicing Bhakti Yoga that is more similar not in substance again but at least in external form somewhat similar to Gyan Yoga that means renounce the world so of course the devotees don’t do dry speculation they do hearing and chanting but the focus is in the Bhagavatam on renunciation in the Bhagavad Gita on action. So this is one level of understanding, one way of understanding the various differences that we may encounter in the practical action calls in the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavatam now going more specifically to the verses let us look at the context the context in the third chapter is that Arjuna is thinking that by renouncing the world I will be better off so Krishna is freeing Arjuna from that misconception by telling him that renunciation alone is not the way to perfection.
Renunciation is only a step to purification and purification will eventually lead to perfection so and then he will tell in the same section that that purification will be better served Arjuna if you stay in the world and do your responsibilities in the world so now moving forward the Gita also focuses so this particular message is for Arjuna the choices are Jnana Yoga which is like renouncing the world and acting in the world so Krishna is telling just renouncing the world is not going to lead to perfection and then he will tell how you can act in the world without becoming entangled in it so that is the message of the Gita and now so that is the context of this verse it’s primarily a comparison between renouncing the world for the sake of Jnana Yoga and acting in the world for the sake of doing one’s duty and Krishna will tell how that duty can be done in a devotional consciousness and which will be actually a better form of renunciation than physical renunciation. Now Yaktva Swadharmam verse is basically a glorification of the path of Bhakti as compared to the other path like Karma and Jnana and there actually if we see in 1.5 first kind of chapter Narada Muni is chastising Vyasadev because he has not glorified Bhakti purely and he is telling him that without Bhakti ultimate perfection will be nearly impossible and people will rationalize their material attachments as Dharmic by quoting you so he says so that’s why what you have done is a disservice and therefore focus on doing the best service by speaking about the pure message of the Bhagavatam Bhagavato Yasho Amalaha speak the pure glories of the Supreme Lord and that is the context in which the Bhagavatam has the message spoken by and this particular verse comes up so it is saying that from the eternal perspective that one may do one’s prescribed duties but if one does not understand the ultimate purpose then those prescribed duties may lead to some slight relative material improvement but they will not lead to any substantial transformation and they will not lead to any eternal benefit on the other hand if one tries to serve Krishna and love Krishna then that will lead to eternal benefit and of course it’s also explained that the person who is not able to complete the path of transcendence will still be protected by the Lord also so in that sense what is the loss so the essential message is that don’t the thrust of this verse is that don’t give people any rationalization for continuing their materialism and their neglect of spirituality in the name of scripture therefore speak in scripture unambiguously about the necessity of pursuing transcendence wholeheartedly and that means just by doing one’s material duties one will stay on in bondage by doing spiritual duties one will move towards liberation even if one doesn’t attain so therefore the second is far better than the first now how does all this apply practically to us the defining underlying principle for us would be that accept that which is favorable and reject that which is unfavorable so we focus on finding according to our nature and according to our particular situation how best we can serve Krishna and accept that so even if somebody becomes a brahmachari that does not mean that the person is actually renouncing the world and going to jungle first and foremost whether a person renounces or acts within the present age within the framework of Krishna consciousness the essential focus is action action in the service of the Lord and that action can be done in the engaged order and both can be doubted in Krishna’s service so we should recognize from the first verse that we shouldn’t rush into premature renunciation thinking that itself will lead to perfection that’s the message we can derive for us from the Nakarmanamana Ramayan verse and Tattvasadharma what we can draw from that verse is that we shouldn’t hesitate to pursue transcendence in the name of worldly duties and how specifically this balance one can adopt and eventually which ashram one can choose for practicing bhakti that one will have to decide based on one’s own psychophysical nature in consultation with mature spiritual mentors. Thank you.
Hare Krishna