In plain words
This buddhi has been taught to you in Sāṅkhya. Now hear the buddhi of yoga; endowed with it, Partha, you will cast off the bondage of action.
Word for word
This buddhi has been declared to you in Sāṅkhya; but hear this [buddhi] in yoga, endowed with which buddhi, O son of Pṛthā, you will cast off the bondage of karma.
The commentators
Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
शोकमोहापनयनाय लौकिको न्यायः ‘स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य’(भ. गी. २ । ३१) इत्याद्यैः श्लोकैरुक्तः, न तु तात्पर्येण । परमार्थदर्शनमिह प्रकृतम् । तच्चोक्तमुपसंह्रियते — ‘एषा तेऽभिहिता’(भ. गी. २ । ३९) इति शास्त्रविषयविभागप्रदर्शनाय । इह हि प्रदर्शिते पुनः शास्त्रविषयविभागे उपरिष्टात् ‘ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम्’(भ. गी. ३ । ३) इति निष्ठाद्वयविषयं शास्त्रं सुखं प्रवर्तिष्यते, श्रोतारश्च विषयविभागेन सुखं ग्रहीष्यन्ति इत्यत आह —
एषा ते तुभ्यम् अभिहिता उक्ता साङ्ख्ये परमार्थवस्तुविवेकविषये बुद्धिः ज्ञानं साक्षात् शोकमोहादिसंसारहेतुदोषनिवृत्तिकारणम् । योगे तु तत्प्राप्त्युपाये निःसङ्गतया द्वन्द्वप्रहाणपूर्वकम् ईश्वराराधनार्थे कर्मयोगे कर्मानुष्ठाने समाधियोगे च इमाम् अनन्तरमेवोच्यमानां बुद्धिं शृणु । तां च बुद्धिं स्तौति प्ररोचनार्थम् — बुद्ध्या यया योगविषयया युक्तः हे पार्थ, कर्मबन्धं कर्मैव धर्माधर्माख्यो बन्धः कर्मबन्धः तं प्रहास्यसि ईश्वरप्रसादनिमित्तज्ञानप्राप्त्यैव इत्यभिप्रायः ॥ ३९ ॥
In plain words
The verses just given, about 'also keeping your own dharma in view' (BG 2.31), were only meant to lift Arjuna out of grief and confusion for the moment — they're a worldly rule of thumb, not the real point of this teaching. What this chapter is actually about is the vision of the ultimate reality, and Kṛṣṇa gathers that topic back up in his own words: 'this is what has been taught to you' (BG 2.39) — said precisely to show how the teaching divides into two distinct paths. Because once that division is made clear, later on Kṛṣṇa will say, 'the path of knowledge for the Sāṅkhyas, the path of action for the yogins' (BG 3.3), and the teaching itself will flow easily along its two channels, and anyone listening will follow it easily too, each topic in its own place. With that in mind, he speaks —
This understanding — this knowledge — has already been given to you, Kṛṣṇa says, in the language of Sāṅkhya, the path that discerns what is ultimately real; and knowing it directly uproots the very fault, grief and delusion, that keeps you turning in saṃsāra. But there is also Yoga, the road to that same destination, walked without clinging, past the pull of every opposite — pleasure and pain, heat and cold — walked for the sake of Īśvara alone: action offered up, and stillness gathered in. Listen now, Kṛṣṇa says, to this second understanding, which I am about to explain. And he praises it first, simply to draw Arjuna toward it, saying: armed with this understanding centered on yoga, Pārtha, you will let go of the bondage of action — for action itself, under the names of merit and demerit, is exactly what binds you — you will let it go, and only through knowledge born of Īśvara's grace. That is the sense of it.
Close to the Sanskrit
For the removal of grief and delusion, a worldly maxim — 'having regard also for one's own dharma' (BG 2.31) — is stated by such verses, but not as the [chapter's] real intention. The vision of ultimate reality is what is under discussion here. And that [topic], having been stated, is being summed up — 'this has been declared to you' (BG 2.39) — thus, for the purpose of showing the division of the scripture's subject-matter. For here, the division of the scripture's subject-matter having been shown, further on 'by the discipline of knowledge for the Sāṅkhyas, by the discipline of action for the yogins' (BG 3.3) — thus the scripture, having the two disciplines as its subject, will proceed smoothly, and the hearers too will grasp it easily by the division of subject-matter; with this in view, he speaks —
This buddhi — jñāna — has been declared, stated, to you, in respect of Sāṅkhya, whose topic is discrimination of the ultimate reality; [it is] directly the cause of the removal of the fault that is the source of saṃsāra, namely grief, delusion and the rest. But in Yoga — the means of attaining that same goal — with non-attachment, preceded by the abandonment of the pairs of opposites, for the purpose of worshipping Īśvara, in karma-yoga, [that is] in the performance of action, and in samādhi-yoga, listen to this understanding now being spoken next. And he praises that understanding, for the purpose of encouraging [Arjuna] — endowed with which understanding, whose subject is yoga, O Pārtha, you will abandon karma-bondage — action itself, called by the name dharma and adharma, is the bond, the bond of action — that you will abandon, precisely through the attainment of knowledge whose cause is the grace of Īśvara. Such is the purport.
Gītā Vāhini
బుద్ధిపూర్వకముగా ఫలాసక్తి వదలి చేసిన కర్మనే “నిష్కామకర్మ” అని అందురు. అదే “బుద్ధి యోగం”. బుద్ధి నిర్మలము కానిదే ఫలాసక్తి వదలేది వీలుపడదు కదా? కాబట్టి దానినే “యోగ బుద్ధి” అని కూడనూ అందురు. దీని సహాయంతోనే నీవు కర్మ బంధాలను వదలించుకో, నీవు కర్మాతీతుడవు కమ్ము. పోనీ, అసలు బంధనలను కలిగించే కర్మలు చేయకుండా ఉందామని తలంచిన అది సాధ్యము కాదు. అసలు కర్మచేయక ఉండుటకు వీలులేదు. అది ఎట్టివారి చేతనూ కాదు. అందులకనే గీతలో కృష్ణుడు మూడవ అధ్యాయములో “నహి కశ్చిత్ క్షణమపి” అని అంటున్నాడు.
In plain words
Karma done with the Buddhi's deliberation, letting go of attachment to the fruit, is called “niṣkāma karma”. That is “Buddhi Yoga”. Unless the Buddhi is pure, attachment to the fruit cannot be given up, can it? So that is also called “Yoga Buddhi”. With its help alone, free yourself from the bonds of karma, and become one who has gone beyond karma. Suppose someone thinks, 'Let me simply not do the karmas that bring bondage.' That is not possible. It is not possible to remain without doing karma at all. No one can do that. That is why, in the third chapter of the Gītā, Kṛṣṇa says, “Not anyone, even for a moment.”