|| 2.39 ||

एषा तेऽभिहिता सांख्ये बुद्धिर्योगे त्विमां श्रृणु। बुद्ध्यायुक्तो यया पार्थ कर्मबन्धं प्रहास्यसि।।

eṣā te ’bhihitā sāṅkhye buddhir yoge tv imāṁ śṛṇu buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha karma-bandhaṁ prahāsyasi

Word by Word

eṣā (all this) — te (unto you) — abhihitā (described) — sāṅkhye (by analytical study) — buddhiḥ (intelligence) — yoge (in work without fruitive results) — tu (but) — imām (this) — śṛṇu (listen) — buddhyā (by intelligence) — yuktaḥ (dovetailed) — yayā (by which) — pārtha (O Arjuna) — karma-bandham (bondage of reaction) — prahāsyasi (you can be released from)

Translation

Thus far I have described this knowledge to you through analytical study. Now listen as I explain it in terms of working without fruitive results. O son of Prith, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.

Meaning

Kṛṣṇa marks a transition in His teaching. He says that so far He has described this knowledge through analytical study, or Sāṅkhya. Now, He wants Arjuna to listen as He explains it in terms of ‘Yoga’, or working without desiring results. Sāṅkhya is the intellectual understanding that the soul is distinct from the body. Yoga is the practical application of that knowledge in the world. Kṛṣṇa promises that when Arjuna acts with this specific intelligence, he will be released from the bondage of karma. He is showing that spiritual life doesn’t require one to stop acting; it requires one to change the ‘consciousness’ behind the action. This is the key to freedom: using one’s intelligence to work in a way that doesn’t create new knots of entanglement in the material world.
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