Abandoning the fruits of every action is what the sages mean by the word “renunciation.” And what the great scholars call “sannyasa” [renunciate] is the very state of the person who practices this renunciation.

Some sages assert that all self-serving action must be renounced, while others maintain that acts of sacrifice, austerity, and charity must never be abandoned.

Now listen to the nature of renunciation from my lips. The scriptures [the Vedas, the original holy scriptures] distinguish three orders within it.

One must not at all renounce acts of sacrifice, austerity, and charity: they must be performed. Truly, these sacrifices, austerities, and charities sanctify even great souls.

But all these practices must be performed without expecting any fruit, only out of a sense of duty. This is My ultimate thought.

One must never renounce the prescribed duty. Of the person who, under the influence of illusion, abandons it, their renunciation is said to be ignorance.

And one who, out of fear, or deeming it burdensome, shirks the prescribed duty is said to be dominated by passion. Such an act can never confer the elevation that results from renunciation.

But one who performs the prescribed duty for the sole reason that it must be performed, without any attachment to the fruits of his action, his renunciation proceeds from virtue.

The intelligent person, established in virtue, who neither hates unfavorable action nor attaches himself to favorable action, experiences no doubt about acting. Truly impossible for the incarnate being is the renunciation of all actions. And therefore, true renunciation will be said to be practiced by one who renounces the fruits of action.

The triple fruit of actions—desirable, undesirable, and mixed—lies, after death, in wait for the person who has not practiced renunciation. But the sannyasi [the renouncer] will neither enjoy nor suffer from such a fruit.

The Five Factors of Action.

Let Me instruct you on the five factors of action, described in the philosophy of Sankhya [Analytical philosophy of all that exists. Analytical description of the body and the soul]: they are the place, the doer, the senses, the effort, and, above all, the Supreme Soul.

Whatever action, good or bad, a person performs through the body, the mind, or the word, it proceeds from these five factors.

And therefore, he who believes himself to be the only actor, who does not consider the five factors of action, does not display great intelligence, and thus finds himself incapable of seeing things in their true light.