Arjuna says:
Kṛṣṇa, You recommend the renunciation of action and at the same time instruct me on karma-yoga. Tell me conclusively which is the better of the two.

Lord Kṛṣṇa says:
Renunciation of action and karma-yoga, both lead to the highest state. But of the two, karma-yoga is superior to the renunciation of action.

One who neither resents nor desires anything is a true renunciate. Whoever is free from the pairs of opposites is easily liberated from bondage, O Arjuna.

Only the inexperienced speak of jñana-yoga and karma- yoga as separate. One who is firmly established in either path, attains the fruit of both.

That state which is attained by the jñana-yogī is also attained by the karma-yogī. The one who sees that both are really one, is truly wise.

But renunciation is hard to achieve without karma-yoga. The sage who follows this yoga quickly attains realization.

One who is devoted to the path of action, who is pure of mind, who is self-controlled, who has conquered the senses, sees the Supreme Self in all beings. Even while acting, one remains untainted.

Despite seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, and breathing, the one who is engaged in yoga practise and sees the truth, declares within himself: ‘I do nothing’.

Even while speaking, releasing, grasping, opening, and closing the eyes, he is always aware it is just the senses operating among sense-objects.

One who acts without attachment, surrendering one’s actions to the Lord, is not tainted by sinful actions, just as a lotus leaf is unaffected by water.

Renouncing all attachment to action, and using the body, the mind, the intellect and the senses, the yogīs act only to purify themselves.

Giving up the fruits of action, the yogī attains everlasting peace. But the one who is attached to the results of action, impelled by desire, is subject to bondage.

Mentally renouncing all actions and being in full control, the embodied Self lives happily in the city of nine gates (i.e., the body), neither acting nor causing the body to act.

The master of the body — the Self, does not initiate activities, nor does It induce people to act, nor does It create the fruits of action. It is a person’s inherent nature that does all this.

The all-pervading Lord does not take on the sin or merit of any person. Knowledge is covered by ignorance and so, beings are deluded.

But for some, the ignorance covering the Self is destroyed by knowledge; this knowledge acts like the sun and reveals a higher reality.

When one strives for the supreme goal, with their mind, faith and intelligence fully absorbed in it, the knowledge gained frees them from contamination. They go to the place from which there is no return.

The sages perceive with equal vision, a good and learned brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater.

Those who have reached this equanimity have risen beyond the conditions of the material world. The Self is pure and unchanging, and because such persons are situated in the Self, they are the same.

One who neither rejoices at gaining what is pleasant, nor grieves at receiving what is unpleasant, whose mind is fixed and undeluded, he has knowledge of the Self and he dwells in the Self.

When the mind is detached from external sensations, one finds happiness in the Self, and when through yoga the mind is on the Lord, one enjoys endless bliss.

The pleasures that arise from contact with the external world are a source of suffering. They have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna, and so the wise do not rejoice in them.

A person who can resist the impulses arising from desire and anger whilst still in the body, is a true yogī and a joyful person.

One who is joyful within, whose pleasure is within, and is illuminated within, is a true yogī. He is liberated within the Supreme and he attains the Supreme.

The sages who are free from the pairs of opposites, who are self-controlled and are devoted to the welfare of all beings, become cleansed of all impurities and attain the bliss of the Supreme.

To those who are free from desire and anger, whose minds are controlled, and who have attained self-mastery, liberation is close at hand.

Shutting out all external contacts, focusing the gaze between the eyebrows, suspending the inward and outward breaths within the nostrils;

And having controlled the senses, mind, and intellect, the sage who desires liberation gives up desire, fear and anger, and attains it.

And knowing Me as the supreme enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, as the Lord of all the worlds, and the Friend of every being, one attains peace.