आदित्यवत् ज्ञान - Introduction to Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5

The fifth chapter starts with Arjun asking which is superior, Karma Sanyas or Karma Yoga. Shri Krishna says without a doubt that Karma Yoga because it is the path that everyone can follow.

For most, Karma Sanyas is impossible to follow as we find it difficult to give up all our duties, relations, and possessions. Even if we try to give them up, our mind+senses revolt and make it harder for us to progress on the spiritual path.

Therefore, Karma Yoga is better for most, as it is easier to let body+mind do what it needs without getting attached to the activities or their results. Shri Krishna even adds that people who follow Karma Yoga are also Sanyasis, as they give up on the fruits of their actions.

Karma Yoga purifies our minds and opens the doors of higher spiritual knowledge, understanding, and experiences, taking us to the highest state of self-realization, where we will achieve a perpetual state of blissfulness, even while being in this body.

Towards this, the Shlokas 2 to 12 from this chapter focus on karma yoga and the purification of the mind. The Shlokas from 13 onwards concentrate on the highest state of self-realization, where we understand who is the real doer and what is our true identity.

Towards the end of this chapter, in Shlokas 26-27, Shri Krishna also emphasizes the importance of meditation/Nidhidhyasan as, without that, knowledge only stays as just the knowledge in the brain and does not become a living experience.

Shlokas 26-27 also act like a cliffhanger for the topic of meditation, which gets covered in great detail in the sixth chapter.