Some seekers, intent on spiritual discipline, dedicate themselves to the subtle offering of breath: they merge the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming into the outgoing. Others, with great devotion, restrain the very movement of their breath, practicing deep control over the life force. There are also those who, with careful regulation of their diet, offer their breaths into each other, harmonizing the vital energies within. All of these practitioners, understanding the true nature of sacrifice, find that their sins are consumed by the very act of sacrifice. Those who partake in this nectar of sacrifice, who truly understand its essence, attain the eternal Brahman. For one who does not engage in sacrifice, not even this world is attainable—how, then, could the higher worlds be reached, O best of the Kurus? In this way, Arjuna, many kinds of sacrifice are spread out before the mouth of Brahman. Know that all these are born of action. When you understand this truth, you shall find liberation. Yet, Krishna continues, the sacrifice of knowledge is superior to any material offering. All actions, O Arjuna, ultimately culminate in knowledge. To gain this wisdom, approach the wise with reverence, humility, and a sincere desire to serve and learn. They, who have seen the truth, will impart this knowledge to you. When you come to know this, O Pandava, you will never again fall into confusion or delusion. Through this knowledge, you will see all beings within your own self and also within Me. Even if you are the greatest of sinners, you will cross over all evil by the boat of knowledge alone. Just as a blazing fire turns fuel to ashes, so too does the fire of knowledge reduce all actions to ashes. Nothing in this world is as purifying as knowledge. In due time, one perfected in yoga discovers this truth within themselves. The one who has faith, is devoted, and has mastered the senses attains knowledge, and with it, supreme peace. But the ignorant, the faithless, and those who doubt are lost; for the doubting soul, neither this world, nor the next, nor happiness exists. Actions do not bind one who, through yoga, has renounced action, whose doubts have been cut away by wisdom, and who is self-possessed. Therefore, Arjuna, with the sword of knowledge, cut away the doubt that has arisen in your heart from ignorance. Stand up, established in yoga! At this point, Arjuna asks, “O Krishna, you praise both the renunciation of actions and the path of yoga. Tell me decisively, which of these is superior?” The Blessed Lord replies, “Both renunciation and karma-yoga lead to the highest good, but of the two, karma-yoga—the path of selfless action—is superior. Know that one who neither hates nor desires, who is free from dualities, is a true renunciant and is easily released from bondage. Only the immature speak of Sankhya (the path of knowledge) and Yoga (the path of action) as different; the wise see them as one, for whoever follows either path properly attains the fruit of both. The state reached by the Sankhyas is also attained by the Yogis. One who sees knowledge and action as one truly sees. “But renunciation, O mighty-armed one, is difficult to attain without yoga; the sage armed with yoga quickly reaches Brahman. The yogi, pure in mind, self-controlled, with conquered senses, and seeing the self in all beings, though acting, remains untouched by action. “The one established in yoga, knowing the truth, realizes: ‘I do nothing at all.’ Whether seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go, grasping, opening or closing the eyes, such a person is convinced that it is only the senses moving among their objects. Whoever performs actions, offering them to Brahman and abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin—just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water. “Yogis perform actions with body, mind, intellect, and even with the senses alone, abandoning attachment, for the purification of the self. The united one, abandoning the fruits of action, attains lasting peace; but the unsteady, attached to results through desire, remain bound. The self-controlled person, having mentally renounced all actions, dwells happily in the city of nine gates—the body—neither acting nor causing action. “Know, Arjuna, that the Lord does not create agency, actions, or the union with their fruits for people; nature alone acts. The all-pervading does not accept anyone’s sin or virtue; beings are deluded because knowledge is covered by ignorance. But for those whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of the self, that knowledge, like the sun, reveals the Supreme. “Those whose intellect, self, faith, and refuge are fixed in That, whose impurities are destroyed by knowledge, reach liberation and do not return to birth. The wise see with equal vision a learned and humble brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and even one who eats dog’s flesh. Even here, those whose minds are established in equality have conquered birth and death, for Brahman is flawless and equal, and thus they abide in Brahman. “One who knows Brahman, whose intellect is steady and undeluded, is not elated by pleasant experiences nor disturbed by the unpleasant, and is firmly established in Brahman. With the self unattached to external contacts and finding joy within, such a person, united with Brahman through yoga, attains imperishable happiness. Pleasures born of contact, O son of Kunti, are sources of pain; they have a beginning and an end, and the wise do not delight in them. “Whoever can withstand the force of desire and anger, even here before giving up the body, is truly a yogi and a happy person. One whose happiness, delight, and light are all within—such a yogi, having become Brahman, attains Brahman-nirvāṇa. “Those seers whose impurities are destroyed, whose doubts are cut away, whose minds are controlled, who delight in the welfare of all beings, attain Brahman-nirvāṇa. For those renunciates who are free from desire and anger, who have mastered their minds and know the self, Brahman-nirvāṇa is all around them.