Bhagavad Gita · Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 5, Shloka 20 (5.20)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
न प्रहृष्येत् प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत् प्राप्य चाप्रियम्
स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद् ब्रह्मणि स्थितः
॥ 5.20 ॥
na prahṛṣyet priyaṃ prāpya nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam
sthirabuddhirasammūḍho brahmavid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ
Translation
"Not elated on obtaining the pleasant, not shaken on obtaining the unpleasant — such a person of steady intellect, free of delusion, a knower of Brahman, is established in Brahman."
Interpretation
Shankaracharya. Deha-mātrātma-darśināṃ hi priyāpriya-prāptī harṣa-viṣādau kurvāte na kevalātma-darśinaḥ — it is those who take the body alone to be the self whom the pleasant and the unpleasant make elated or dejected, not one who sees the self alone. Sarva-bhūteṣu ekaḥ samaḥ nirdoṣaḥ ātmā iti sthirā nirvicikitsā buddhiḥ — "in all beings there is one, equal, flawless self" — this steady, doubt-free intellect; such a person is akarma-kṛt sarva-karma-saṃnyāsī — a renouncer of all actions.
Acharya Ramanuja. Prācīna-karma-vāsanayā yat priyaṃ yac ca apriyam — the pleasant and unpleasant that come because of old vasanas; sthire ātmani buddhiḥ yasya sa sthira-buddhiḥ — one whose intellect rests in the steady self; asammūḍhaḥ — asthireṇa śarīreṇa sthiram ātmānam ekīkṛtya mohaḥ saṃmohaḥ tad-rahitaḥ — treating the steady self as one with the unsteady body is delusion; free of that. Knower of Brahman = upadeśena brahma-vit san tasmin brahmaṇi abhyāsa-yuktaḥ — knowing through instruction and engaged in practice.
The difference: Shankara — certainty of one self and complete renunciation of action; Ramanuja — a steady experience of the self through the guru's teaching and practice, which is possible for the karma yogi too.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.