236. Tyagi
K rishna defines a renunciant ( tyagi ) and says, “Those who neither avoid akushala (disagreeable or miserable) action nor are attached to kushala (agreeable or well-being) action are tyagi . Pervaded by purity, being intelligent ( medhavi ), he is free from doubts ( sansaya-rahit )’’ (18.10). We are all motivated to perform kushala karmas (actions) and avoid akusala ones. We tend to perform karmas that promote the well-being of the self, family, organization or society. Though this looks logical, it is the result of the division of karmas as akushala and kushala . A tyagi is the one for whom this internal division disappears. Krishna calls them intelligent and in one way, dropping the internal division can be termed as true intelligence. With the dissolution of division, oneness arises, and their doubts disappear. As a result, the tyagi neither hates nor gets attached to any actions. Krishna further says, “It is impossible for the embodied beings to give up activities tot...